The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
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By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Grafton County is a county of New Hampshire with 92,120 residents. Its economy produced $9,869 million in 2024 (ranked #4 of 10 counties) and had 54,323 jobs with an average annual pay of $73,105 (#3 for pay). The unemployment rate was 1.6% in 2026M09. It is part of the Lebanon-Claremont, NH-VT micropolitan area (central county).
Grafton County produced about $9,869 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 8.3% of the combined output of the 10 counties of New Hampshire that BEA reports (about 6.6% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 4th of 10 on that measure. Per resident that is $107,135, 25% above the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $85,554. In current dollars output grew 3.9% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 54,323 jobs located in Grafton County on average in 2024, spread over 3,418 employer sites (about 16 jobs per site). That is 0.59 jobs for every resident, above the 0.40 of the typical county in New Hampshire, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $73,105, about the same as the average of all counties in the state ($73,105 against $71,477). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs rose 1.4% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are health care and social assistance (27.8% of private jobs, $95,233 a year on average), retail trade (14.4% of private jobs, $39,869 a year on average), educational services (12.2% of private jobs, $103,666 a year on average). Together they hold 54.4% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is professional and technical services at $119,483 a year, followed by educational services ($103,666). The county is specialised in several industries: educational services (5.2 times the US share, 5,881 jobs); health care and social assistance (1.7 times the US share, 13,333 jobs); arts, entertainment, recreation (1.7 times the US share, 1,515 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: retail trade ($39,869), accommodation and food services ($33,867). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Grafton County was 1.6%, 18% below the average of the state's counties (1.6% against 1.9%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 49,742. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 1.6% (2026M09) to 2.9% (2025M11); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $88,261 (ACS 2020–2024), 11% below the state median ($88,261 against $99,031). The guide covers 4 cities with this as the main county: Lebanon, Hanover, Plymouth, Littleton. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $932 in Littleton to $2,254 in Hanover, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Grafton County in output are Rockingham County, Merrimack County, Strafford County, Cheshire County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 10 counties of New Hampshire ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 92,120 | 5 of 10 |
| GDP 2024 | $9,869 million | 4 of 10 |
| GDP per resident | $107,135 | 1 of 10 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 54,323 | 4 of 10 |
| Average annual pay | $73,105 | 3 of 10 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +1.4% | 2 of 10 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 1.6% | 2 of 10 |
| Median household income | $88,261 | 6 of 10 |
Federal jobs in New Hampshire (127) →All cities of New HampshireState guide: New Hampshire
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is Grafton County.
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 13,333 | 27.8% | $95,233 | 1.71 |
| Retail trade | 6,904 | 14.4% | $39,869 | 1.27 |
| Educational services | 5,881 | 12.2% | $103,666 | 5.24 |
| Accommodation and food services | 5,403 | 11.3% | $33,867 | 1.09 |
| Manufacturing | 4,621 | 9.6% | $73,572 | 1.04 |
| Professional and technical services | 2,170 | 4.5% | $119,483 | 0.57 |
| Construction | 1,661 | 3.5% | $68,792 | 0.58 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 1,515 | 3.2% | $31,497 | 1.66 |
| Administrative and waste services | 1,332 | 2.8% | $58,706 | 0.42 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 1,005 | 2.1% | $46,369 | 0.61 |
| Finance and insurance | 908 | 1.9% | $114,351 | 0.41 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 825 | 1.7% | $51,025 | 0.36 |
| Wholesale trade | 625 | 1.3% | $82,830 | 0.29 |
| Management of companies | 521 | 1.1% | $102,296 | 0.57 |
| Information | 427 | 0.9% | $136,053 | 0.42 |
| Real estate and rental | 405 | 0.8% | $58,160 | 0.48 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 335 | 0.7% | $70,100 | 0.76 |
| Utilities | 118 | 0.2% | $127,028 | 0.57 |
| Mining, oil and gas | 36 | 0.1% | $79,701 | 0.18 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 49,742 |
| Employed residents | 48,968 |
| Unemployed residents | 774 |
| Unemployment rate | 1.6% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 54,323 |
| Employer sites | 3,418 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsborough County | 426,378 | $38,133 million | $89,434 | 201,342 | $79,660 | 2.2% |
| Rockingham County | 319,082 | $32,666 million | $102,374 | 157,028 | $73,537 | 2.1% |
| Merrimack County | 155,967 | $13,792 million | $88,431 | 77,147 | $68,857 | 1.7% |
| Strafford County | 132,575 | $7,984 million | $60,225 | 46,517 | $64,687 | 1.7% |
| Grafton County | 92,120 | $9,869 million | $107,135 | 54,323 | $73,105 | 1.6% |
| Cheshire County | 77,297 | $5,175 million | $66,952 | 31,134 | $59,392 | 1.9% |
| Belknap County | 64,659 | $4,296 million | $66,437 | 25,854 | $56,999 | 1.7% |
| Carroll County | 51,804 | $3,405 million | $65,734 | 19,693 | $51,660 | 1.7% |
| Sullivan County | 43,715 | $2,200 million | $50,332 | 13,867 | $58,062 | 1.5% |
| Coos County | 31,271 | $1,816 million | $58,074 | 11,886 | $53,380 | 1.7% |
92,120 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$9,869 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
1.6% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
54,323 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $73,105 (BLS QCEW).