MA or NH? What To Know Before You Choose a Side of the Border

By Chris Doherty

Christian Doherty lists and sells more homes than any other agent in the Greater Lowell, Massachusetts market with over 300 homes sold in the past 12 months. Chris is ranked in the top 1% of all agents in the United States.

If you live in the Greater Lowell area, you’ve almost certainly thought about it. The state line is right there. Southern New Hampshire is a 20-minute drive. And the pitch sounds irresistible: no income tax, no sales tax, lower home prices. Why wouldn’t you cross the border?

After 26 years of selling real estate on both sides of the state line, I can tell you that the answer is more nuanced than most people realize. For some buyers, New Hampshire is the clear move. For others, it’s a trade-off that ends up costing more than they expected. The difference comes down to details that nobody puts in one place for you. Let me do that now.

The tax picture is not what you think

New Hampshire has no state income tax on earned wages. As of 2025, the state also eliminated its last remaining tax on interest and dividends. And there’s no sales tax. On paper, that’s a clear win over Massachusetts, which charges a flat 5% income tax and a 6.25% sales tax.

But here’s the detail that changes the equation for a lot of buyers in our area: if you live in New Hampshire and work in Massachusetts, Massachusetts still taxes your wages. There is no reciprocity agreement between the two states. If your employer is in Massachusetts and you commute across the border every day, you’re paying the 5% Massachusetts income tax on those earnings regardless of where you sleep at night.

The income tax savings only fully kick in when your income source is also in New Hampshire. If you work for a New Hampshire-based employer, or if you’re fully remote with an employer that doesn’t require Massachusetts presence, you get the full benefit. If you’re commuting to an office in Lowell, Boston, or anywhere else in Massachusetts, that no-income-tax advantage shrinks significantly or disappears entirely.

The property tax trade-off

Here’s the other side of the equation that surprises people. New Hampshire has some of the highest property taxes in the country. The average effective rate runs between 1.86% and 2.05%, compared to Massachusetts at roughly 1.14% to 1.23%.

On a $500,000 home, that difference is real. In Massachusetts, your annual property tax would be roughly $5,850. In New Hampshire, the same home would cost you roughly $10,250 in property taxes. That’s an additional $4,400 per year, or roughly $370 per month, that you’re paying in property taxes that you didn’t have to pay in Massachusetts.

For a high earner working remotely who saves the full 5% Massachusetts income tax, that property tax premium is more than offset by the income tax savings. For a family earning $75,000 and commuting to Massachusetts for work, the math looks very different. You’re paying Massachusetts income tax anyway, and now you’ve added $4,400 a year in additional property taxes on top of it.

The sales tax advantage is real but often overstated

New Hampshire’s zero sales tax is a genuine benefit, especially for large purchases like vehicles, furniture, and appliances. For a family making a big year of taxable purchases, say $20,000 on a car, furniture, and appliances, the savings compared to Massachusetts comes out to about $1,250. In a typical year with more routine spending, the benefit is smaller.

That’s real money. But it’s also the number that gets used to sell the whole move, and it doesn’t account for the property tax increase you’re absorbing on the other side.

Home prices and where they’re heading

Right now, the statewide median sale price in Massachusetts is around $688,000, while in New Hampshire it’s around $533,000, according to Redfin. That gap of roughly $155,000 still gives buyers priced out of certain Massachusetts communities a real entry point across the border.

What I’m seeing in my market right now is that prices in Southern New Hampshire are climbing faster than in Northern Massachusetts. That gap is narrowing. The surge of Massachusetts buyers crossing the border over the past several years, driven by remote work and the pandemic, has pushed New Hampshire prices up significantly. The NH median has nearly doubled since 2019.

For buyers looking today, the price advantage is still there. But it’s not as dramatic as it was three or four years ago, and the trajectory suggests it will continue to compress.

Schools vary by town, not by state line

This is one of the biggest misconceptions I see. Buyers will say “New Hampshire schools are better” or “Massachusetts schools are better” as a blanket statement. Neither is accurate. School quality in both states varies dramatically by town. Some of the best public school districts in New England are in Massachusetts. Some are in New Hampshire. And some of the weakest are in both states too.

If school quality is a factor in your decision, research the specific district and the specific school. Don’t make a six-figure real estate decision based on a state-level average that tells you nothing about the classroom your child will sit in.

The commute factor

From Southern New Hampshire towns like Salem, Londonderry, and Nashua, a commute to the Boston area runs 40 to 70 minutes depending on the day and the route. From the Seacoast area like Portsmouth and Exeter, plan on 60 to 90 minutes.

If you’re commuting into the Greater Lowell area, the drive from Southern NH is generally manageable. If you’re commuting to Boston, the time and toll costs are worth calculating before you commit. And remember, if that commute takes you to a Massachusetts employer, you’re paying Massachusetts income tax on those wages anyway.

Who actually wins on each side

After decades of helping buyers navigate this decision, here’s what I’ve seen.

New Hampshire makes clear financial sense if you work remotely or your employer is based in New Hampshire, you have a higher income where the income tax savings outweigh the property tax increase, and you’re comfortable with the trade-offs on specific school districts and commute times.

Massachusetts makes more financial sense if you work in Massachusetts and will continue to commute there, you’re buying a higher-value home where the property tax difference becomes significant, and the specific schools or communities you’re targeting are on this side of the border.

The worst position to be in is the one most people don’t realize they’re walking into: living in New Hampshire, commuting to Massachusetts, and paying Massachusetts income tax plus New Hampshire property taxes. That’s the most expensive combination of the two states, and it catches people who moved for the “no income tax” headline without reading the fine print.

Run the numbers for your specific situation, not the state-level averages:

• Your income
• Your home value
• Your employer location
• Your school needs
• Your commute tolerance

When you do that math, the answer becomes clear, and it’s different for every family.

If you want help running that comparison, I’d love to walk through it with you. I’ve been selling on both sides of this border for over 26 years. I know the Greater Lowell and Southern New Hampshire markets equally well, and I can give you an honest picture of what each looks like for your specific situation. Call or text me at (978) 746-0124, email me at chris@dohertyproperties.com, or visit chrisdoherty.com. This is exactly the kind of conversation I have every week, and it always helps to do the math before you make the move.