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Place dossier plate
SheetNH-KEENE-NH · Keene, NH 22,923 pop · income 60th pct · 18 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Keene
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Keene on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hopewell · lowest
48,681
Hopewell · lowest
48,681 median HH income
30.8% of the leader · rank #1
Maysville · near
78,182
Maysville · near
78,182 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #2
Veazie · near
78,182
Veazie · near
78,182 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #3
Winfield · near
78,182
Winfield · near
78,182 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #4
Keene · this city
78,183
Keene · this city
78,183 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #5
Jeffersontown · near
78,185
Jeffersontown · near
78,185 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #6
West Springfi… · highest
157,800
West Springfi… · highest
157,800 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Keene on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 22,923.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Keene - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Keene lands in the 60th percentile for household income and the 25th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
60th
percentile, household income
51st
percentile, home value
86th
percentile, median rent
25th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Keene, NH
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 22,923 residents in Keene, a small city within New Hampshire. Median household income here is $78,183 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 3.0%. Typical homes in Keene are valued around $232,500, and the median resident age is 35.9 years. 43.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 60.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 13 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 86% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 2352.0 in FBI UCR data, near the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Keene's yearly average temperature at 45.4°F with 46.1 inches of precipitation per year and 59.8 inches of snowfall.
New Hampshire carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, New Hampshire scores 104.2 (Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,894 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in New Hampshire run around $307, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 69.9 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Keene's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from schools and households to housing and income to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to within-city variation to reported crime to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Keene, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Keene?
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 10 public schools within the city match. 43.4% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
How far does income reach against housing in Keene?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Keene?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within New Hampshire, the closest population matches are Portsmouth (22,332 residents, $105,756 income); Derry (21,668 residents, $88,901 income); Laconia (16,982 residents, $68,427 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Prairie, KS (22,937 residents); West Springfield, VA (22,905 residents); Hopewell, VA (22,944 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
PlainCities matches 18 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Keene?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 45.4°F, with 46.1 inches of precipitation and 59.8 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for New Hampshire is 69.9 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
69.9
Annual precipitation
46.1 in
Mean temperature
45.4°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 69.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
69.0%
Work from home
13.0%
Public transit
0.1%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 11,964 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Keene?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2352.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 3% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
2352.0
Violent rate
179.2
Property rate
2172.8
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +23 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 13 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
2020 estimate
23,049
2025 estimate
23,072
Period change
+0.1%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Poverty rate B+
3.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B+
43.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C
$78,183
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime C-
179 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living F
104.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Keene profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 79/100 (B+) · 3.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 78/100 (B+) · 43.4%
Household income: 58/100 (C) · $78,183
Violent crime: 51/100 (C-) · 179 /100k
Cost of living: 23/100 (F) · 104.2 index
Where Keene sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Keene's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Keene highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Keene, NH (this city): home $232,500, crime 2,352/100k
Hopewell, VA : home $165,100, crime 2,421/100k
New Brighton, MN : home $345,900, crime 1,312/100k
Radcliff, KY : home $163,300, crime 2,171/100k
Watertown, WI : home $211,500, crime 1,238/100k
Portsmouth, NH : home $640,600, crime 1,472/100k
Derry, NH : home $356,700, crime 827/100k
Laconia, NH : home $308,800, crime 2,678/100k
Lebanon, NH : home $345,100, crime 1,700/100k
Claremont, NH : home $171,900, crime 2,059/100k
Rochester, NH : home $262,600, crime 1,221/100k
How does Keene compare to other US cities?
Here's how Keene stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income60% higher than other cities
Home value51% pricier than other cities
Median rent86% pricier than other cities
Safety25% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at New Hampshire, Keene ranks #50 of 53 New Hampshire cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Keene against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New Hampshire only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New Hampshire-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Keene near the bottom of New Hampshire's cities
Among the 100 New Hampshire cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Keene ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Keene only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#42 of 92
54th percentile in New Hampshire
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 100
0th percentile in New Hampshire
Median Home Value
#66 of 94
30th percentile in New Hampshire
Poverty Rate
#52 of 99
46th percentile in New Hampshire
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#31 of 100
69th percentile in New Hampshire
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within New Hampshire only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
60th percentile nationally for median household income · 25th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Keene's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Keene's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Keene's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$232,50049th percentilemore affordable than 49% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Keene's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,552 of 15,516
More affordable than 58% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#863 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.0×, Keene sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,552 of 15,516 and #863 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$78,183Keene, NH median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Keene, NH median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Keene, NH.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)43.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
22,923
Median Income
$78,183
Median Home Value
$232,500
Median Age
35.9
Poverty Rate
3.0%
Labor force participation
60.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
43.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2352.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
179.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2172.8
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
45.4°F
Annual Precipitation
46.1"
Annual Snowfall
59.8"
Schools
Total Schools
10
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Keene's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
23,049 residents
2021
22,723 residents
2022
22,890 residents
2023
22,979 residents
2024
23,119 residents
2025
23,072 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
13
housing units authorized
Single-Family
13
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
7
7
0
$0.8M
2020
3
3
0
$0.4M
2021
2
2
0
$0.5M
2022
14
14
0
$7.6M
2023
7
5
2
$1.7M
2024
13
13
0
$1.6M
Permit volume increased 86% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
69.0%
Carpool
11.2%
Public Transit
0.1%
Walk
5.0%
Work from Home
13.0%
Other
1.7%
Based on 11,964 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New Hampshire statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $307
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New Hampshire at $307 (electricity about $150 , water and sewer about $52 ).
These are New Hampshire statewide averages, not a meter reading for Keene. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New Hampshire's BEA cost-of-living index is 104.2 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Keene is $1,894/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New Hampshire statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 69.9 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New Hampshire statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Keene sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Keene compares to similar-size New Hampshire cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.