New Hampshire property tax by county

Property tax rate by county in New Hampshire

Effective rate = median real estate taxes paid divided by median home value. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2020-2024), tables B25103 and B25077.

Why county rates vary so much

Property tax is set locally, not by the state, so the rate depends on the county, city, school district, and special districts where a home sits, and on how those local budgets compare to local home values. A county with low home values can still have a high effective rate if its local budgets are large, and a wealthy county can have a low effective rate. The effective rate shown here is the median tax bill divided by the median home value, which is the standard way to compare places; your own bill depends on your assessment and any exemptions.

For New Hampshire's income and retirement taxes, see New Hampshire income tax and New Hampshire retirement taxes.

How does New Hampshire assess homes for property tax?

New Hampshire assessors value property at its full and true value, which is a 100% of market value standard on paper rather than a fractional assessment. Property tax here is assessed and billed entirely by cities and towns, so the assessing officials you deal with work for your municipality and not for the state. Because actual town assessments sit above or below full value depending on how long ago that town last revalued, no single statewide ratio is honest, which is why none is shown.

Each municipality must reappraise all its real estate to full and true value at least once every fifth year. Between those revaluations the market moves while the assessment card stays put, so the state runs an annual sales-to-assessment study and publishes a separate equalization ratio for every town. Values are fixed as of April 1 each year, and the property tax year runs April 1 to March 31.

Is there a homestead exemption in New Hampshire?

New Hampshire grants no across-the-board homestead exemption to owner-occupants. Every property tax exemption in state law is targeted at a specific group, such as people 65 and older, people receiving Social Security disability benefits, and people who are legally blind or deaf. Most of those are local options, meaning your town has to vote to offer one before you can claim anything, and the town also picks the dollar amount. The state helps lower income homeowners through a rebate program instead.

Other state relief for homeowners:

• Seniors and disabled owners: The elderly exemption is adopted town by town, and each town sets its own dollar amounts for three age bands: 65 to 74, 75 to 79, and 80 and over. State law only sets floors. No age band may be exempted by less than $5,000 of assessed value, and a town cannot set its income cutoff below $13,400 for a single person or $20,400 for a married couple, or its net asset cutoff below $35,000 excluding your home and up to two acres. You also need three consecutive years of New Hampshire residency and must own the home yourself or have been married five years to the owner. A separate local-option exemption covers people eligible for Social Security disability benefits, again in an amount each town chooses.
• Disabled veterans: New Hampshire helps veterans with credits subtracted from the tax bill itself, not with exemptions that reduce assessed value. The standard veterans' credit is $50, and a town may vote to raise it to anywhere from $51 to $750, and may extend that same amount to all veterans regardless of wartime service. A veteran rated totally and permanently disabled from service connection receives a standard $700 credit, which a town may vote up as high as $5,000. Separately, a qualifying veteran who owns a home specially adapted through a VA adapted housing grant is exempt from all property taxation on that homestead.
• A legally blind resident gets at least $15,000 of assessed value exempted and a town may vote a larger amount; a town may separately adopt a $15,000 exemption for deaf or severely hearing impaired residents. Towns may also adopt an optional combat service credit of $50 to $500. If you are 65 or older or on Social Security disability and the bill is causing real hardship, local assessors can defer taxes at 5% annual interest up to 85% of your equity, which postpones the bill rather than forgiving it. The state also rebates part of the state education property tax for low and moderate income homeowners, claimed directly from the Department of Revenue Administration between May 1 and June 30 rather than from your town.

New Hampshire sets these rules and each county's property tax office applies them, which is where the application, the filing deadline and the form come from. Some counties add programs of their own; where we have checked a county, its page lists them.

When are property taxes due in New Hampshire?

There is no single statewide due date, because the billing schedule is a local choice. Under the default in state law a town sends one annual bill and interest starts December 1. Most municipalities have instead voted to bill twice a year, with a July 1 payment computed from half the prior year's rate and the balance due December 1. A smaller group running a July to June fiscal year bills quarterly, due July 1, October 1, January 2 and March 31, so check your own tax collector.

That is the state rule. Each county issues and collects its own bill, so the dates printed on your statement are the ones that bind you.

How do you appeal a property assessment in New Hampshire?

You contest the assessed value with the your local selectmen or assessors, then either the Board of Tax and Land Appeals or the county superior court. The filing deadline is typically March 1 following the notice of tax to apply to the town, then September 1 to appeal further. You start with your own town, not the state. File a written abatement application with the selectmen or assessors by March 1 after the final tax bill goes out. They must grant or deny it in writing by July 1, and if they never answer, the law treats the silence as a denial. From there you pick one of two paths, the Board of Tax and Land Appeals for a $65 filing fee or a petition to the county superior court, and either filing must be in by September 1. You may use one path or the other for a given year, not both.

New Hampshire property-tax rules from primary state sources (revenue department and statute), reviewed September 7, 2026. Exemption amounts and credits change; confirm the current figures with your county assessor. Sources: assessment, exemptions, due dates, appeals.