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Jobs & commute in Center Harbor

Center 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

What stands out

Getting to work from Center Harbor, in brief

Jobs & income grade

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.

Household income $104,313 (±$16,162) · NH $99,031 · U.S. $80,734Higher than 80% of U.S. towns
Poverty 2.0% · NH 7.2% · U.S. 12.5%Lower than 97% of U.S. towns
Job access by car EPA, jobs within a 45-minute driveMore than 18% of U.S. towns

Unemployment (2.8%) is left out: Center Harbor’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.

BA−

A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Center Harbor could be anywhere from B to A−.

How TownRatings grades jobs & income →

★ What stands out · The jobs

What the 349 jobs in Center Harbor are

349 jobs are based in Center Harbor.

Jobs based in Center HarborJobs Center Harbor residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms5%16%
Trade, transport & utilities25%18%
Services: health, schools, offices70%65%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less13%14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month25%22%
Over $3,333 a month61%64%

Who does it

29 or younger25%17%
30 to 5439%46%
55 and older36%37%
+2%

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.

Day and night

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.

468live here, work elsewhere
27live and work here
322work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,000
Workday900
1,000live here− 470head out to work+ 320come in to work= 900on a workday

About 900 people are in Center Harbor on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.71jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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.

The commute map

Where Center Harbor’s working residents head each day

Laconia: 41 residents work here (8%)Manchester: 13 residents work here (3%)FranklinConcord: 32 residents work here (6%)Plymouth: 34 residents work here (7%)Center HarborNew Hampton: 34 residents work here (7%)Bristol: 25 residents work here (5%)CamptonMeredith: 46 residents work here (9%)Tilton: 13 residents work here (3%)MoultonboroughHoldernessGilford: 11 residents work here (2%)MeredithLaconiaPlymouthNew HamptonConcordBristolCenter Harbor
1
Meredith5 mi away
9%46
2
Laconia8.8 mi away
8%41
3
Plymouth11.2 mi away
7%34
4
New Hampton8.2 mi away
7%34
5
Concord32.6 mi away
6%32
6
Center Harbor (in town)right here
5%27
7
Bristol11.4 mi away
5%25
8
Manchester49.7 mi away
3%13
9
Tilton16.3 mi away
3%13
10
Gilford14.3 mi away
2%11
Everywhere elseother towns and states
44%219
The top trips

Where Center Harbor clocks in

Lines 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.

Time on the road

Commuting from Center Harbor: about 25 minutes a trip

A year of commuting
189 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Center Harbor25 min
New Hampshire27 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
9%

of Center Harbor workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How Center Harbor gets to work
88%Drive alone
10%Carpool
<1%Transit
1%Walk

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 far

How many miles Center Harbor commutes

10 mi25 mi50 mi60 miMeredith: 9% · 5 miLaconia: 8% · 8.8 miPlymouth: 7% · 11.2 miNew Hampton: 7% · 8.2 miConcord: 6% · 32.6 miBristol: 5% · 11.4 miManchester: 3% · 49.7 miTilton: 3% · 16.3 miGilford: 2% · 14.3 miMeredith 9%Laconia 8%Plymouth 7%New Hampton 7%Concord 6%Center Harbor
Center HarborTop destinations (size = commuters)
28%Under 10 mi137 residents
35%10–24 mi175 residents
20%25–50 mi97 residents
17%Over 50 mi86 residents

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.

Getting around · Walkability grade

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.

EPA walkability index 7.8 of 20 · typical NH town 6.3 · U.S. 6.9Higher than 64% of U.S. towns
Walk, bike or transit 1.1% of commuters · NH 3.6% · U.S. 7.1%Higher than 31% of U.S. towns
B−B−

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.

Towns its size

Center Harbor places 423rd of 3,133 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400

#TownPeopleHousehold incomePovertyUnemploymentWork in townGrade
1Somerset MD1,151$250K1.9%2.3%1%A+
2Bellerose NY1,169$232K1.6%6.1%2%A+
3Baxter Estates NY1,014$154K1.0%3.1%1%A+
…
421Tioga TX1,302$86K7.4%2.9%1%B+
422Rock Creek Township IN1,277$77K4.2%7.9%1%B+
423Center Harbor NH1,049$104K2.0%2.8%5%B+
424Pleasant Hill OH1,270$72K3.4%4.2%4%B+
425Lovett Township IN1,047$94K0.9%0.0%1%B+
…
567Springfield NH1,306$101K3.4%1.0%2%B+
…
602Richmond NH1,234$89K2.7%13.4%2%B+
…
625Harrisville NH1,000$103K3.6%3.0%5%B
…
3,133Oglala SD1,071$21K68.8%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.

Next door

16% of Center Harbor works in a town next door

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Moultonborough22 min
Center Harbor25 min
Meredith26 min
Holderness27 min
New Hampton33 min

Jobs & commute next door

TownCenter Harbor workers thereJobs & incomeWalkabilityCommuteHousehold income
Center Harbor–B+B−25 min$104,313
New Hampton7%BB−33 min$95,250
Meredith9%B−A−26 min$87,019
Holdernessunder 3%C+B−27 min$107,863
Moultonboroughunder 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.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

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.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Center Harbor

Center Harbor home →

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.