Moving to New Hampshire from Iowa
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Iowa to New Hampshire — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Iowa to New Hampshire, you would find that New Hampshire is 29.1% more expensive than Iowa. A $75,000 salary in Iowa would need to be roughly $96,800 in New Hampshire to maintain the same lifestyle.
How Far Will Your Money Go?
How your spending power changes when you relocate from Iowa to New Hampshire.
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $96,800
To maintain the same standard of living in New Hampshire
Calculate with your salary →The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 7.8% more
Groceries
pay 24.7% more
Transportation
pay 19.1% more
Housing
pay 64.3% more
Childcare
pay 15.0% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 2.6% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in New Hampshire cost about 15% more than cities in Iowa.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Iowa and New Hampshire stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
New Hampshire performs significantly better than Iowa across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
New Hampshire generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Iowa leads in uninsured rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Iowa generally does better on what about housing?, though New Hampshire leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Iowa generally does better on infrastructure, though New Hampshire leads in internet access.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
New Hampshire performs significantly better than Iowa across all employment & economy metrics.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
New Hampshire performs significantly better than Iowa across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
What's the Climate Like?
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Des Moines | Concord |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 39°/21°F (4°/-6°C) | 37°/15°F (2°/-9°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 72°/52°F (22°/11°C) | 68°/43°F (20°/6°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 82°/62°F (28°/17°C) | 79°/54°F (26°/12°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 48°/31°F (9°/-1°C) | 48°/27°F (9°/-3°C) |
View all months
| Month | Des Moines | Concord |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°/14°F (-0.6°/-9.8°C) | 31°/10°F (-0.7°/-12.0°C) |
| Feb | 36°/19°F (2.3°/-7.3°C) | 35°/14°F (1.6°/-10.1°C) |
| Mar | 49°/30°F (9.4°/-1.3°C) | 44°/22°F (6.6°/-5.3°C) |
| Apr | 62°/41°F (16.8°/5.1°C) | 57°/33°F (14.1°/0.4°C) |
| May | 72°/52°F (22.4°/11.2°C) | 69°/43°F (20.5°/5.9°C) |
| Jun | 82°/62°F (27.6°/16.7°C) | 77°/53°F (25.2°/11.4°C) |
| Jul | 86°/67°F (29.8°/19.3°C) | 82°/58°F (27.9°/14.3°C) |
| Aug | 84°/65°F (28.8°/18.2°C) | 81°/56°F (27.2°/13.4°C) |
| Sep | 76°/55°F (24.5°/12.9°C) | 73°/47°F (22.6°/8.6°C) |
| Oct | 63°/43°F (17.3°/6.1°C) | 60°/36°F (15.8°/2.1°C) |
| Nov | 48°/31°F (8.8°/-0.8°C) | 48°/28°F (9.1°/-2.1°C) |
| Dec | 34°/18°F (1.1°/-7.8°C) | 36°/17°F (2.4°/-8.2°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in New Hampshire than Iowa?
Day-to-day costs in New Hampshire run about 29% higher than Iowa on average; specific cities can swing further.
How much money do I need to move to New Hampshire?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $24,200 in New Hampshire for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is New Hampshire safe?
New Hampshire performs significantly better than Iowa across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in New Hampshire compared to Iowa?
New Hampshire generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Iowa leads in uninsured rate.
What's the weather like in New Hampshire compared to Iowa?
The average high temperature in Concord is 58°F, compared to 60°F in Des Moines. Concord receives around 40.6 in of rainfall per year, while Des Moines gets 36.0 in.
