Photo: SatyrTN · CC BY-SA 3.0Center Harbor has higher household incomes than 80% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 2.0% of residents (New Hampshire 7.2%). Jobs and income earn Center Harbor B+; getting around on foot earns it B−. 9% of workers work from home; New Hampshire has 17%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Center Harbor, in brief
The figures behind Center Harbor’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Center Harbor is better than 73% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Center Harbor’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (2.8%) is left out: Center Harbor’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Center Harbor could be anywhere from B to A−.
What the 349 jobs in Center Harbor are
349 jobs are based in Center Harbor.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Center Harbor, 2014 → 2024: 342 → 349. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Center Harbor’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Center Harbor
On a workday 468 residents head out to work, 27 work right here, and 322 people come in from elsewhere.
About 900 people are in Center Harbor on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.71 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where Center Harbor’s working residents head each day
Where Center Harbor clocks in
9% of workers
8% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Commuting from Center Harbor: about 25 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Center Harbor workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 440 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across New Hampshire: 87% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many miles Center Harbor commutes
About 17% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how Center Harbor gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Center Harbor is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.6% across New Hampshire.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 483 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.5% of Center Harbor households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Center Harbor’s commuters take a bus or train.
Center Harbor places 423rd of 3,133 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 421 | Tioga TX | 1,302 | $86K | 7.4% | 2.9% | 1% | B+ |
| 422 | Rock Creek Township IN | 1,277 | $77K | 4.2% | 7.9% | 1% | B+ |
| 423 | Center Harbor NH | 1,049 | $104K | 2.0% | 2.8% | 5% | B+ |
| 424 | Pleasant Hill OH | 1,270 | $72K | 3.4% | 4.2% | 4% | B+ |
| 425 | Lovett Township IN | 1,047 | $94K | 0.9% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 567 | Springfield NH | 1,306 | $101K | 3.4% | 1.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 602 | Richmond NH | 1,234 | $89K | 2.7% | 13.4% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 625 | Harrisville NH | 1,000 | $103K | 3.6% | 3.0% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Center Harbor, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
16% of Center Harbor works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Center Harbor workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center Harbor | – | B+ | B− | 25 min | $104,313 |
| New Hampton | 7% | B | B− | 33 min | $95,250 |
| Meredith | 9% | B− | A− | 26 min | $87,019 |
| Holderness | under 3% | C+ | B− | 27 min | $107,863 |
| Moultonborough | under 3% | B+ | B+ | 22 min | $106,693 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Meredith. Darker towns draw more of Center Harbor’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Center Harbor: questions
What is the median household income in Center Harbor?
$104,313 (±$16,162) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Center Harbor?
2.0%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Center Harbor?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Center Harbor work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Meredith (9%, 5 mi), Laconia (8%, 9 mi), Plymouth (7%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Center Harbor walkable?
Center Harbor is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Center Harbor without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Center Harbor, from the people who make the trip.
More of Center Harbor
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.