Concord Makes Best State Capitals To Live In List Again

CONCORD, NH — If you live here, you already know it’s not a bad place to be. But now, a national credit reporting firm – WalletHub.com – has made it official: Concord is one of the best state capitals to reside in the United States. The study eyed all 50 state capitals and used 51 key indicators – like affordability, overall living standard, economy, and health – to come up with the ranking.

“Our data set ranges from cost of living to K–12 school-system quality to number of attractions,” the report stated.

Among all capital cities, Concord ranks No. 1 in lowest unemployment rates and also received a health conditions ranking of 4th. The city was 6th when it comes to population below poverty level and median household income (adjusted for cost of living).

From there though the numbers drop to the middle range of all capital cities in the country.

Housing affordability comes in at 23rd of all capital cities in the nation – or nearly right in the middle. Adults with bachelor’s degrees or higher came in at 22nd while millennial newcomers was 21st.

And surprisingly, Concord ranks 27th in the percentage of state, local, and federal government employees as residents although, that’s not that surprising when one considers the city’s population compared to other capital cities as well as the fact that tens of thousands of people live in bedroom communities around the city and commute into the city on weekdays.

The 10th place ranking, however, is lower than it was last year, according to the study, when Concord was listed as 7th. Also this year, median income and poverty levels dropped from 5th place but health conditions rose to 4th.

Austin, TX, came in first in the nation; nearby Montpelier, VT, came in 17th, Boston, MA, was ranked 30th, and Augusta, ME, was 37th.

While the city of Concord may be tackling a lot of problems – like major drug problems and escalated crime in recent years, a high municipal debt load, streets that are in rough shape, as well as high property taxes – it regularly ranks high in a lot of these kinds of studies (meaning there are a lot worse places to live). SmartAsset, a financial advice website, ranked the city 4th best state capital in 2016. Policom Corporation has also regularly listed Concord as one of the top “micropolitan” communities (10,000 to 50,000) in the country, including 4th in 2011, and 1st in 2012.

Roadsnacks.net, however, listed Concord the 10th worst place to live in New Hampshire in November 2017, with the 11th highest unemployment rate in the state and high crime rates while SafeHome.org listed Concord 19th safest community in New Hampshire.

Read the full study at WalletHub.com.

Image via Tony Schinella, Patch staff.