New Hampshire Property Tax Rate by City: 2025 Investor Guide

New Hampshire has no state income tax and no general sales tax, which sounds like an investor's dream — until you look at the property tax bill. The state ranks 6th highest in the United States for effective property tax rates, with a statewide median effective rate of approximately 1.61% of fair market value. For real estate investors, this isn't an abstract statistic. It's a monthly cash flow number that determines whether a deal works.

Understanding how the mill rate works — and how dramatically it varies by municipality — is the first thing you need to get right when underwriting a New Hampshire rental property.

How the Mill Rate Works

New Hampshire property tax is expressed as a mill rate: dollars per $1,000 of assessed value. Properties are assessed at fair market value as of April 1st of each year, with state law requiring assessments to fall between 90% and 110% of actual market value.

The total rate you pay is the sum of four components: municipal, local school, state education, and county taxes. The local school portion tends to dominate in higher-rate communities, which is why rates vary so sharply between towns.

Tax bills are issued semi-annually. If taxes remain unpaid, interest accrues at 8% per annum. Once a tax lien is executed, that rate jumps to 14%.

2025 Property Tax Rates Across Key Investor Markets

Here are the confirmed 2025 mill rates for the markets where most investors focus their attention:

The spread between Concord ($29.11) and Moultonborough ($5.33) is enormous — over five times the carry cost per dollar of assessed value. An investor comparing a $500,000 property in Concord against one in Portsmouth needs to model $747 per month more in property tax in Concord. That difference alone can push a Concord deal into negative cash flow territory on a moderately leveraged purchase.

Why Concord and Manchester Underwriting Looks Different

Concord's $29.11 mill rate is the result of high local school spending funded almost entirely by property assessment. An investor underwriting a $500,000 multi-family asset in Concord must account for $1,213 per month in property taxes alone — before mortgage, insurance, maintenance, or vacancy. To clear a meaningful cash-on-cash return at that tax burden, you need rent rolls that justify the carrying cost.

Manchester at $20.24 is more workable. The city has a large inventory of two-to-four family Victorian-era properties that rent to healthcare workers, students at Southern New Hampshire University, and tech sector employees at the Millyard. A four-unit building in Manchester analyzed by investors on r/RealEstate was underwritten at an 8.2% cap rate with projected monthly cash flow of $1,310 — but commenters noted that projections must be conservative because rising municipal utility costs and property taxes can quickly compress those returns.

Nashua's $16.83 rate benefits investors who are targeting Massachusetts border commuters. The lower mill rate relative to Concord and Manchester, combined with proximity to the I-95/Route 128 employment corridor, makes Nashua one of the more investor-friendly urban markets in the state.

Calculating Your Tax Exposure

To estimate your tax bill on a prospective purchase, use the current mill rate for that municipality and multiply by the expected assessed value:

Annual tax = (Assessed Value / 1,000) × Mill Rate

For a $450,000 duplex in Manchester: (450,000 / 1,000) × 20.24 = $9,108 per year, or $759 per month

Important: don't use the current owner's tax bill as your baseline. When a property sells, the municipality often reassesses it at or near the sale price. The current owner may be assessed on a lower historical valuation. Always underwrite on the assessed value you expect to receive after acquisition.

The Lakes Region Advantage

Investors who can make the STR model work in the Lakes Region benefit from dramatically lower mill rates. Moultonborough's $5.33 rate means a $700,000 lakefront property produces only about $3,731 in annual property taxes — far more manageable against seasonal rental income. This is one reason short-term rental economics in the Lakes Region are often stronger than long-term rental economics in cities with high mill rates.

Where to Get the Current Rate for Any Town

The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration publishes the full statewide mill rate table each year after municipalities set their annual rates, typically in October through December. The DRA website is the authoritative source — municipal websites sometimes post their rates as well. Rates for towns like Penacook ($30.74) and Keene ($34.37) illustrate how dramatically rates can vary even in areas not commonly targeted by investors.

Building Tax Into Your Model

Property tax is the largest ongoing variable that differs between New Hampshire markets. The New Hampshire Investment Property Guide includes worksheets for calculating net operating income across different municipalities, including the business tax implications if you hold properties in an LLC.

The key practice: run your underwriting on actual current mill rates, not national averages. A model built on a 1% effective rate assumption will be materially wrong for most New Hampshire urban markets. Start with the real number, back into the rents you need, and then confirm those rents are achievable in the local market before you make an offer.

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