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State Life Score

New Hampshire

Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C, 22nd percentile of the national corpus.

43.7
Life Score / 100
C
Grade (curved)
#40
of 51 states
22%
composite percentile

Data updated August 2026

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The verdict

New Hampshire is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #40 of 51 (43.7/100, grade C, 22nd percentile). Carried by safety at 98/100; held back most by schools at 2/100.

22nd
composite percentile
#40
of 51 peers
16th
cost dimension percentile
73rd
wages dimension percentile

Life Score shape · LOWER · SAFE-LED

New Hampshire at a glance

New Hampshire is a LOWER-band SAFE-LED state: safety leads at 98/100 while schools drags at 2/100 (DEAR cost · HIGH wages). According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, New Hampshire ranks #40 of 51 states by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #43 of 51 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.

Where New Hampshire sits among all US states

Composite Life Score vs the 50 states + DC

44 22nd percentile higher than 22% of 51 US states

25–30: 1 US states (2%). Below this entry. 30–35: 2 US states (4%). Below this entry. 35–40: 4 US states (8%). Below this entry. 40–45: 6 US states (12%). This entry sits in this band. 45–50: 10 US states (20%). Above this entry. 50–55: 12 US states (24%). Above this entry. 55–60: 10 US states (20%). Above this entry. 60–65: 4 US states (8%). Above this entry. 65–70: 2 US states (4%). Above this entry. This state 25 70 every US state, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data

Dimension detail

How New Hampshire scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 16/100 (20%)
Wages 74/100 (20%)
Rent 12/100 (15%)
Safety 98/100 (15%)
Schools 2/100 (10%)
Childcare 20/100 (10%)
Environment 70/100 (10%)

Read with New Hampshire

Nearest composite peers and cost poles (LOWER · DEAR/HIGH).

Alaska

ABS(composite) peer at 44.2 (Δ 0.5 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.

Rhode Island

ABS(composite) peer at 45.3 (Δ 1.6 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.

Tennessee

ABS(composite) peer at 45.3 (Δ 1.6 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.

Florida

ABS(composite) peer at 45.6 (Δ 1.9 vs this state); higher Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · SAFE-LED · DEAR/HIGH.

Connecticut (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 18/100 (Δ 2); cost stamp DEAR vs this state's DEAR.

Maryland (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 14/100 (Δ 2); cost stamp CEILING vs this state's DEAR.
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Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare