From the heavily forested north country, to its rugged mountains and clear blue lakes, to its historic coast, New Hampshire is naturally a magnet for vacationers. New Hampshire covers 8,968 square miles, with a 2008 estimated population of 1,315,809 people – with 494,503 people living in rural New Hampshire (USDA-ERS). Concord is that state capital. The state’s largest cities are Manchester, Nashua, and Concord. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 95.6% of the state’s population is white, 1.2% is Black/African-American, and 2.5% is of Hispanic/Latino origin (2007).
There are 26 hospitals in New Hampshire, 16 of which are located in rural areas (North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center, Dec. 2008). The state has 13 hospitals currently identified by the Flex Monitoring Team as Critical Access Hospitals (April, 2009). There are 12 Rural Health Clinics in New Hampshire (CMS, 2009), and 9 Federally Qualified Health Centers provide services at 57 sites in the state (Kaiser, 2008). 11% of New Hampshire residents lack any health insurance (Kaiser, 2006-2007).
According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the average per-capita income for all New Hampshire residents in 2007 was $41,639, although rural per-capita income lagged at $38,652. Estimates from 2008 indicate a poverty rate of 9.7% exists in rural New Hampshire, compared to 6.7% in urban areas of the state. Data from 2000 finds that 13.8% of the rural population has not completed high school, while 11.8% of the urban population lacks a high school diploma. The unemployment rate in rural areas is 3.6%, while the rate in urban New Hampshire, is 3.9% (USDA-ERS, 2008).
For a national comparison, please see an overview of the United States.
Data Sources:
U.S. Census Bureau: State & County QuickFacts
USDA Economic Research Service: State Fact Sheets
North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
Kaiser Family Foundation State Health Facts
Flex Monitoring Team: Critical Access Hospital List
Organizations
Bi-State Primary Care Association (BSPCA)
State/regional organization
Works to foster the delivery of primary health care services to medically underserved and geographically, culturally, and linguistically isolated persons in the states of New Hampshire and Vermont.
Center for Rural Partnerships at Plymouth State University
State/regional organization
Works with diverse local populations and community leaders including elected officials, community groups, schools, developers and others to preserve and enhance New Hampshire's rural quality of life.
Endowment for Health
State/regional organization
Works to improve the health and reduce the burden of illness for the people of New Hampshire, especially the vulnerable and underserved.
HUD Community Development Block Grants: New Hampshire
Federal government
Contact information for the State CDBG program. Provides funding for community development projects.
National Network of Libraries of Medicine, New England Region (NN/LM-NER)
State/regional organization
Supports collaboration among 16 regional libraries and over 500 library and information centers in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
New England Rural Health RoundTable (NERHRT)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Composed of a diverse group of individuals and organizations committed to improving health and health care throughout rural New England communities. Serves as a regional rural health advocate for Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
New Hampshire Children's Trust Fund (NHCTF)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Supports community-based programs that prevent child abuse and neglect through grantmaking and other types of assistance.
New Hampshire Citizens Health Initiative
State/regional organization
Creates and sustains a public dialogue that will improve the systems that finance and provide health care in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NHDHHS)
State government
Helps people in partnership with families, community groups, private providers, other governmental agencies and many thousands of foster parents, neighbors, and citizens.
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services: Minority Health Office
State government
Focuses on the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate services to New Hampshire's residents. Maintains communication with racial, ethnic and other medically underserved populations to create partnerships to enhance the overall health of the communities by addressing health disparities.
New Hampshire Division of Child Support Services
State government
Helps families establish and enforce child support orders, both medical and financial. Can also establish paternity with or without the help of the courts.
New Hampshire Fuel Assistance Program
State/regional organization
Provides telephone numbers to local Community Action Agencies to learn about fuel assistance program.
New Hampshire Hospital Association (NHHA)
State/regional organization
Works to enhance the clinical and economic performance of hospitals, improve public confidence in hospitals, and expand access to coverage and care for the citizens of New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Rural Development Council
State/regional organization
Provides leadership in identifying critical rural issues and developing a statewide rural agenda for New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Rural Health & Primary Care Program
State government
Offers technical assistance to rural health care providers and organizations, supports clinician recruitment and retention efforts, and disseminates healthcare related information to rural healthcare stakeholders. A division of the Department of Health and Human Services.
New Hampshire: North Country Health Consortium
State/regional organization
A rural health network, created in 1997, as a vehicle for addressing common issues through collaboration among health and human service providers serving Northern New Hampshire.
Resources for Communities and People Solutions
State/regional organization
Helps support rural community infrastructure in the northeastern United States.
Southern New Hampshire Area Health Education Center (NH AHEC)
State/regional organization
Works to provide education and training opportunities in the New Hampshire communities.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: New Hampshire
Federal government
Works to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing. The HUD state office provides information about HUD housing programs and local contacts for the state.
USDA Rural Development State Offices: Vermont and New Hampshire
Federal government
Committed to helping improve the economy and quality of life in all of rural America. The Rural Development State Office provides information about Rural Development programs and applications for financial assistance.
Tools
ERS State Fact Sheet: New Hampshire
Web site
Lists statistics on population, educational attainment, employment, income, farm characteristics, and farm financial indicators for the state.
National Healthcare Quality Report State Snapshot: New Hampshire
Web site
Health care quality report for the state, based on the National Healthcare Quality Report.
New Hampshire QuickFacts
Web site
Basic demographic and economic statistics for the state, with links to county-level data.
New Hampshire Health Centers Data
Web site
Provides access to information on Federally Qualified Health Centers for the state. Includes a map of FQHC locations, as well as information on the populations served by health centers, services provided, staff, patient visits, costs of care, and use of electronic health information.
New Hampshire Health Workforce: Highlights from the Health Workforce Profile
Web site
Highlights compile 2000 data on levels of employment, projected growth and key environmental factors that affect demand for health care. Details for medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, mental health and aides.
New Hampshire KIDS COUNT Data Center (KCDC)
Web site
Provides data on child well-being for the state.
New Hampshire State Health Facts
Database
The latest state-level data on demographics, health, and health policy, including health coverage, access, financing, and state legislation. Individual state profiles and 50-state comparisons.
Northern New England AgrAbility Project
Web site
Is a partnership with Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine Cooperative Extension and Alpha One Services, a non profit disability organization. Cooperative Extension and Alpha One are committed to supporting farm families affected by a disability to be productive and successful in agriculture.
State Profiles- New Hampshire: Health Information Technology (HIT)
Web site
Profiles the state’s health information technology (HIT) issues. Contains sections on demographics, HIT legislation, telemedicine, Health Information Exchanges (HIE) & Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO), grant funded HIT projects, and HIT survey information.
See also: Resources for All States: Tools Funding
BJ’s Charitable Foundation
Funding for safety, security and well-being of children and families, education and health programs, community service opportunities, and hunger and disaster relief.
Inactive Funding
Inactive Funding Opportunities -
Lists additional funding programs for this state that are not currently accepting applications. Programs that are inactive may be offered again in the future.
Documents, Reports and Other Publications
Changing Faces of New England: Increasing Spatial and Racial Diversity
Author(s): Keneth M. Johnson
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Discusses racial diversity in New England. Includes information about rural or Nonmetropolitan New England.
Date: 2008
Changing Faces of New Hampshire: Recent Demographic Trends in the Granite State
Author(s): Kenneth M. Johnson
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Discusses demographic trends within New Hampshire, including rural statistics and data.
Date: 2007
Demographic and Economic Profile: New Hampshire
Author(s): Kathleen K. Miller
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Discusses demographic and economic data including population, race, education, age, poverty, income, and more. Includes maps and graphics.
Date: 02 / 2009
Low-Income Families in New Hampshire
Author(s): Allison Churilla
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Compared to the nation, New Hampshire has the lowest percentage of people living in poverty and one of the lowest child poverty rates in the nation. Despite an overall well-being, one in seven families in New Hampshire was low-income in 2004, including 83,000 adults and 62,000 children in approximately 48,000 families.
Date: 2006
Navigating the Teen Years: Promise and Peril for Northern New Hampshire Youth
Author(s): Anne Shattuck
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Discusses the challenges that teenagers face growing up in rural areas of New Hampshire.
Date: 2009
Small Business Profile: New Hampshire
Sponsoring organization: Small Business Administration
Profile of the state's economy, covering the number of firms, industry composition, small business income, banking, women and minority business ownership, and employment.
Date: 2008
State of New Hampshire: Chapter 367 House Bill 1615-FN-A–Final Version
Contains the House Bill establishing the state Office of Rural Health in New Hampshire.
Date: 2009
State Profiles - New Hampshire: Reforming the Health Care System
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
Detailed profile of the state's health care system. Covers demographics, expenditures and financing, health status, utilization and quality of services, health care providers, Medicare, Medicaid, health insurance coverage, and key trends.
Date: 12 / 2005
Youth Aspirations and Sense of Place in a Changing Rural Economy: The Coos Youth Study
Author(s): Nena Stracuzzi
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Discusses the attitudes and experiences of youth in the rural community of Coos County, New Hampshire.
Date: 2009
See also: Resources for All States: Documents Success Stories
Community Life for Seniors Project
This project established a point of contact for the elderly population to access all needed health and social services available in the community with the specific goal of enabling elderly individuals to remain in as close to normal living circumstances for as long as appropriate and desirable.
Northern Tele-psychiatry Initiative
The Northern Tele-psychiatry Initiative will improve the mental health of children and teens, reduce the number of admissions to child psychiatric in-patient units, and help prevent the inappropriate prescribing of psychotropic medications by primary care practitioners to children and adolescents.
Caring Community Network of the Twin Rivers Project
This project will enhance existing mechanisms and expand the capacity of the network to provide effective, coordinated, and accessible services throughout the region that improve health outcomes of uninsured clients with chronic illness and provide appropriate services such as emergency room care.
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