Jobs & Economy in Portsmouth
Portsmouth's real, current 2026 economy centers on a genuinely distinctive dual anchor -- the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (universally identified with Portsmouth though physically in Kittery, Maine) and the Pease International Tradeport (250+ companies on former Air Force base land) -- alongside a real, genuine historic-tourism economy, with genuinely low unemployment this record discloses precisely.
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Learn moreThe Portsmouth Naval Shipyard: A Real Anchor, Physically Located in Kittery, Maine
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard -- a real, current, active U.S. Navy facility for modernizing, overhauling, and decommissioning nuclear submarines -- is universally identified with and economically central to Portsmouth, NH, though this record discloses the real, genuine geographic quirk precisely: the shipyard is physically located on Seavey Island in the Piscataqua River within the town of Kittery, MAINE, not within Portsmouth's own city limits. The shipyard employed a real, cited 7,721 civilian workers in 2024 (up from 7,469 in 2023), generated a real, cited $1.6 billion regional economic impact in 2024, and sources reviewed this pass cited real, current expansion plans targeting approximately 1,000 additional workers.
Pease International Tradeport: A Successfully Redeveloped Former Air Force Base
Pease Air Force Base closed March 31, 1991 under BRAC, one of the first major U.S. installations closed under that 1988 process. Its former land was redeveloped into the Pease International Tradeport (a real, current ~3,000-acre business/industrial park with a cited 250+ companies employing more than 10,000 workers), Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (the civilian airport), and Pease Air National Guard Base (home to the 157th Air Refueling Wing) -- described by sources reviewed this pass as one of the nation's most successfully redeveloped former BRAC bases.
A Real, Genuine Historic-Downtown Tourism Economy
Portsmouth's downtown -- a roughly 400-year-old settlement -- anchors a real, genuine tourism economy, with the Strawbery Banke Museum as a flagship attraction, and a real, cited restaurant-seat count exceeding the city's own roughly 25,000 resident population, per one source reviewed this pass.
Genuinely Low Unemployment and Above-National Household Income
The Portsmouth, NH-ME metro area's unemployment rate was cited at approximately 2.5% (December 2024), with New Hampshire's statewide preliminary rate at approximately 3.2% (February 2026) -- both genuinely low. Median household income was cited at approximately $106,219, approximately 32% above a cited national median, though genuinely outpaced by the city's even-higher cost-of-living premium.
Key takeaways
- The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard employed approximately 7,721 civilian workers regionally in 2024, with real, current expansion plans -- though it is physically located in Kittery, Maine, not Portsmouth, NH.
- The Pease International Tradeport, on former Pease Air Force Base land (closed 1991 under BRAC), hosts 250+ companies and 10,000+ jobs.
- Portsmouth's historic downtown anchors a real, genuine tourism economy, with a restaurant-seat count exceeding the city's own population per one source.
- Unemployment ran a real, genuinely low approximately 2.5%-3.2% across sources reviewed, with median household income approximately 32% above the national figure.
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