Which New Hampshire counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 10 New Hampshire counties we have scored, Strafford County scores highest at 94 and Coos County lowest at 83. New Hampshire ranks 23rd of 50 overall, at 88 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 6 to 9 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 10 counties · 199 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsNew Hampshire ranks 23rd of 50, 88 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #12 and #28. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below. Caveat for New Hampshire: This state's rank could fall anywhere from #12 to #28 on a fresh draw of counties, so read its place loosely.

Every scored county in New Hampshire, best score first


Strafford → 363 people / sq mi	94	25	20	13	15	12	9
Belknap → 162 people / sq mi	91	25	20	13	15	11	7
Carroll → 56 people / sq mi	91	25	19	13	14	11	9
Cheshire → 110 people / sq mi	91	25	20	13	15	11	7
Rockingham → 461 people / sq mi	91	25	19	13	14	12	8
Sullivan → 82 people / sq mi	91	25	20	12	15	11	8
Hillsborough → 488 people / sq mi	90	25	20	13	14	11	7
Merrimack → 168 people / sq mi	89	25	20	13	14	11	6
Grafton → 55 people / sq mi	87	25	20	11	14	10	7
Coos → 18 people / sq mi	83	25	19	9	14	9	7

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

86% of New Hampshire's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Strafford, Belknap and Carroll. The weakest are Coos, Grafton and Merrimack. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price) and energy (sun, and heating and cooling needs).

What separates them

Buildability: Strafford County scores 9 of 10, Merrimack County 6. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Solar: Strafford County scores 13 of 15, Coos County 9. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
Food: Strafford County scores 12 of 15, Coos County 9. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.

Hazard, Legal and Water barely move across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Buildability is New Hampshire's weakest dimension, at 7 of 10 for the state as a whole. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $37k to $92k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full New Hampshire row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in New Hampshire

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in New Hampshire? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsNew Hampshire: 88 of 100, 23rd of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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