New Hampshire has always had much larger scale industry than Vermont due to having ocean ports, being proximate to Boston, and having much gentler topography in the southern part of the state. This led to the development of larger cities like Manchester and Nashua, then the development of large suburbs in the mid-20th century.

There’s a great Brave Little State episode that really gets in the weeds on this topic.

NH has lower taxes and has allowed more land to be developed for business and housing compared to VT. As others have said the proximity to Boston as well

-Plenty of jobs but it depends on what field your in.
-There’s very little housing, you’ll struggle to afford anything unless you’re bringing tons of out of state cash with you.
-no, I wouldn’t move here.

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And the ocean

The biggest reason is that there are almost three times as many people in New Hampshire

I live in the Upper Valley. Moved here 19 years ago. I love it. I did bring my job with me but nearly everywhere is hiring. A town like Randolph has a nice downtown, grocery store, a movie theater, a live theater, along with several interesting restaurants. Not as touristy as a Stowe or Woodstock so you might get something less expensive. I highly, highly recommend the Vermont way of life. I will never leave and fully intend to be buried in my backyard (which, as fate would have it, is completely legal here)

I’d move there just for the tax benefit if I could.

Before equal housing opportunities real estate agents would not allow many people to move to VT. It was kept intentionally restricted for many years and now is the fallout of that.

Also NH has coastline and a sea port.

There are tax credits in place already. Up to $2000 I think. Plus rebates - check Efficiency Vermont.

Most of NH’s population is in southern NH. Proximity to Boston.

Beat me to it

The primary reason is the southeast quadrant of NH is pretty much part of the Boston metro area. Outside of that region, population density between VT and NH is pretty similar.

Those damn cows will get ya though

NH's proximity to Boston. Southern NH is basically a Boston suburb.

Boston

Oh they just need to rake the forests right?

I paid $2500 a few years ago each for very simple 1 outdoor/1 indoor unit , wall mount outside and run straight up the wall to an outside wall. I ran the electric to the outside wall. This is for the Fujitsu RLS3H. all sizes (9/12/15) cost about the same. I expect prices a bit more these days just because of COVID, etc.

This single unit pretty much heats our entire home 1800 sqft well insulated and sealed. We have a tiny 11k btu Rinnai in the basement which I really like to have for backup.

Replaced oil furnace /baseboards with 2 carrier heat pumps and a Mitsubishi mini split for outbuilding cottage. The Carriers use the AC ducts which were easy but probably not optimal since they are set high in rooms where heat should be lower.

Total price for 3500 square feet was about $30k after incentives. The installers screwed some stuff up and had to return twice but when working they do just fine. We left the oil there for backup and we use it when temps go below zero. The remaining oil in our tank may last forever. The heat pumps work below zero but aren’t as efficient and basically go toward the price of resistance heating.

Overall happy and would do it again. I would have opted for removing the oil but was a little skeptical.

Last summer I had a system installed in my house, two outside units 24k each, and 5 inside wall units, four 8k and a 16k which does my house minus the basement. It is a Fujitsu system, I used it primarily for cooling and worked great and barely caused my power to go up in the summer. In the fall I used it a little for heat but once it got steadily below freezing I went to my NG baseboard heat witch is cheaper and more efficient. The install for the split took about a week and cost $12k, I was able to get the normal rebate, but none of the income dependent ones. Shop around and good luck.

We had two ductless mini splits installed in December. A lot of rebates through efficiency Vermont right now. We installed at 9k and 12k btu and the cost total was under $8k. Also, depending on financial situation, you could receive additional rebates.

I’m fairly sure there are going to be federal incentives coming down the road (part of the infrastructure bill that was passed last year) but it will take a couple years for that to get filtered down through the states. I’m personally waiting it out to see what energy efficient incentives will be offered.

This is the answer. St. J Academy is an incredible high school with kids from around the world, and the downtown is vibrant. Housing is tight like everywhere, but not completely insane like many parts of the state.

Wan is amazing, you can't go wrong with her. The trouble is she books out a month in advance, she's that good. I suggest the combo massage