Pros and Cons of Living in Concord
Concord's real, honest 2026 pros and cons center on a genuine no-income-tax draw weighed against a genuinely high property tax burden, above-national-median home prices, and an economic and schools profile trailing the rest of New Hampshire.
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Learn morePros: No Income Tax, Favorable National Crime Comparison, and Real Institutional Anchors
New Hampshire's real, current no-wage-income-tax and no-sales-tax structure (with the I&D tax fully repealed for tax years starting 2025) is a genuine draw. Crime runs meaningfully below the national rate, with an overall citywide B+ safety grade and A-range grades in all 6 rated neighborhoods. Concord Hospital Health System anchors a real, cited five-consecutive-year Forbes Best In-State Employer recognition, and the city sits at a genuine I-93/I-89 crossroads with useful Concord Coach Lines bus service to Boston.
Cons: A Genuinely High Property Tax Burden and Above-National-Median Home Prices
Concord's own cited effective property tax rate (~2.77%) runs toward the high end even of New Hampshire's already-high statewide range, and more than 2.7x the ~1.02% national comparison figure. Housing runs genuinely more expensive than the national median, not less -- Zillow's cited average home value ran approximately 10% above the national figure, with a genuinely hot recent price trend.
Cons: An Income, Unemployment, and Schools Profile Trailing the Rest of New Hampshire
Concord's median household income runs approximately 14% below New Hampshire's own statewide median, and its unemployment rate was cited as running meaningfully above the state's rate. Concord High School and the Concord School District post middling statewide rankings, with a real, disclosed, unresolved 2024-2025 Math-proficiency data anomaly.
Key takeaways
- Pro: New Hampshire's genuine no-income-tax, no-sales-tax structure.
- Pro: Crime runs meaningfully below the national rate, with strong neighborhood-level safety grades citywide.
- Con: A genuinely high property tax burden, even by New Hampshire's own already-high standards.
- Con: Home prices run above, not below, the national median, with a genuinely hot recent appreciation trend.
- Con: Income, unemployment, and school rankings all trail New Hampshire's own statewide averages.
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