From housing to health care, and from raising young ones to taking care of seniors, the high cost of living in New Hampshire has the average family running a deficit as wages fail to keep up with soaring prices of just about everything.

That’s the main takeaway of a report released Tuesday by the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute.

“The typical household income in New Hampshire didn’t cover the bare essential costs for a four-person family in 2024,” said Nicole Heller, senior policy analyst for the nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank.

That “typical” family is defined as two working parents, a 4-year-old child and an infant at the median household and earns nearly $100,000 a year but still falls short, Heller said.

“When paying all of the costs — housing, child care for two kids, food,

See Full Page