Mahadev Maitri Foundation
US Initiatives

New Hampshire

493 Schools192 Districts167K Students
$34,704
Avg Per-Pupil Spend
+142% nat'l
25.9%
Free Lunch Rate
-26.3pp vs nat'l
87.4%
Graduation Rate
≈ nat'l avg
45/100
Opportunity Score
Moderate
⇄ Compare New Hampshire with another state
About New Hampshire Public Schools

New Hampshire has the lowest state tax burden in the continental US — no income tax, no sales tax — which has historically made equitable school funding a constitutional battleground. The Claremont cases of the 1990s established that adequate public education is a fundamental right under the state constitution, compelling the legislature to create a statewide property tax and adequacy grants. The state's 167 school districts are almost entirely locally governed, with enormous variation in per-pupil spending between wealthy towns in the seacoast region and poorer North Country communities. New Hampshire launched an innovative Education Freedom Account program in 2021, one of the nation's first statewide ESA programs. Student performance on NAEP is consistently above average, in part due to favorable demographics.

State Snapshot
State BoardNew Hampshire State Board of Education
AssessmentNH SAS (New Hampshire Statewide Assessment System)
Compulsory Ages6–18
School CalendarSchool year typically begins after Labor Day
Total Enrollment167,417
Public Schools493
Neighboring States
VermontMassachusettsMaine
Largest District
Manchester School District
12K students
Highest Per-Pupil
Freedom School District
$146,694/student
Top Graduation Rate
Oyster River Coop School District
97.5% grad rate
School Districts (192)
Per-pupil spending in New Hampshire ranges from $16,719 to $146,694 across districts with available data. State avg: $34,704.
DistrictSchoolsStudentsPer-PupilGrad RateFree LunchOpp.
Large Districts — 10,000+ Students
Manchester School District2112K$16,719↓52%74.5%↓15%49.7%↑92%47
Medium Districts — 1,000–9,999 Students
Nashua School District199,833$20,917↓40%84.3%38.5%↑49%45
Bedford School District64,161$17,991↓48%94.0%↑8%5.9%↓77%48
Londonderry School District64,117$20,628↓41%95.0%↑9%11.4%↓56%45
Concord School District74,025$22,849↓34%84.0%34.5%↑33%54
Rochester School District113,891$18,080↓48%84.9%38.1%↑47%44
Dover School District53,743$18,992↓45%89.0%26.5%44
Salem School District83,607$25,876↓25%93.0%↑6%14.1%↓45%46
Merrimack School District63,561$21,324↓39%89.0%7.3%↓72%47
Timberlane Regional School District73,312$21,677↓38%93.0%↑6%6.8%↓74%44
Derry Cooperative School District83,124$36,573↑5%—22.5%↓13%47
Pinkerton Academy School District13,060—90.0%10.6%↓59%47
Hudson School District63,056$19,351↓44%88.0%14.4%↓44%—
Keene School District73,044$21,400↓38%88.0%32.1%↑24%45
Windham School District43,009$18,092↓48%95.0%↑9%2.6%↓90%50
Goffstown School District52,766$16,845↓51%93.0%↑6%11.9%↓54%49
Portsmouth School District62,482$23,440↓32%95.0%↑9%14.0%↓46%54
Exeter Region Cooperative School District22,398$26,566↓23%95.0%↑9%7.1%↓72%46
Merrimack Valley School District72,226$20,939↓40%92.0%↑5%27.5%↑7%42
Oyster River Coop School District52,141$30,447↓12%97.5%↑12%8.0%↓69%58
Governor Wentworth Regional School District82,131$26,484↓24%92.0%↑5%30.9%↑20%45
Milford School District52,123$20,098↓42%93.0%↑6%14.7%↓43%41
Contoocook Valley School District111,969$25,093↓28%92.0%↑5%22.1%↓14%45
Laconia School District51,828$21,852↓37%87.0%45.8%↑77%42
Kearsarge Regional School District71,728$24,478↓29%92.0%↑5%14.3%↓45%42
Pelham School District31,686$24,350↓30%97.5%↑12%8.0%↓69%—
Bow School District31,663$19,736↓43%97.5%↑12%4.3%↓83%47
Claremont School District61,649$22,054↓36%77.0%↓12%39.7%↑53%38
Lebanon School District41,631$28,176↓19%97.5%↑12%23.7%↓8%—
Monadnock Regional School District71,621$22,692↓35%77.0%↓12%31.2%↑21%45
Conway School District51,540$22,875↓34%96.0%↑10%33.3%↑29%—
Pembroke School District31,431$19,548↓44%92.0%↑5%21.4%↓17%41
Fall Mountain Regional School District121,418$23,666↓32%92.0%↑5%36.4%↑41%44
Sanborn Regional School District41,395$23,605↓32%97.5%↑12%5.9%↓77%47
Amherst School District21,347$23,298↓33%—5.2%↓80%51
Somersworth School District41,328$23,181↓33%77.0%↓12%37.5%↑45%38
Winnisquam Regional School District41,283$19,714↓43%87.0%35.9%↑39%45
Hooksett School District31,251$34,934—15.8%↓39%47
Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District41,233$22,382↓36%82.0%↓6%27.3%↑5%42
Litchfield School District31,204$21,624↓38%97.5%↑12%9.4%↓64%—
Raymond School District41,171$20,920↓40%92.0%↑5%17.2%↓34%43
Newfound Area School District61,167$21,983↓37%87.0%27.8%↑7%44
Shaker Regional School District41,161$21,449↓38%87.0%30.8%↑19%46
Hollis-Brookline Cooperative School District21,139$19,966↓42%95.0%↑9%3.4%↓87%—
Gilford School District31,126$22,003↓37%87.0%15.0%↓42%—
Mascoma Valley Regional School District41,090$27,433↓21%92.0%↑5%31.4%↑21%45
Winnacunnet Cooperative School District11,063$26,031↓25%94.0%↑8%16.8%↓35%—
Hillsboro-Deering Cooperative School District31,044$25,767↓26%87.0%36.6%↑42%—
Dresden School District21,014$25,400↓27%92.0%↑5%4.3%↓83%55
Berlin School District31,010$21,748↓37%87.0%50.6%↑96%42
Showing 50 of 192
Frequently Asked Questions
Data sourced from NCES Common Core of Data, EDFacts, and Opportunity Atlas. Figures reflect the most recent available federal dataset (2021-22 / 2022-23). Learn more about our data sources.