What Registered Nurses earn in Rockingham County, NH
The median pay for Registered Nurses in Rockingham County, NH is $106,180 per year, which works out to $51.05 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, the labor market that Rockingham County, NH belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $121,820, which is 14.7% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 64,240 people working in this occupation across the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Rockingham County, NH has roughly 319,082 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Registered Nurses in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $81,880 a year ($39.37 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $188,670 or more ($90.71 an hour). That is a gap of $106,790 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $94,870 at the 25th percentile and $153,380 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.3 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Registered Nurses in Rockingham County, NH is $51.05. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $106,180, and the same salary is $8,848 a month before taxes or about $4,084 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $40.02 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Rockingham County, NH compares
Compared with the New Hampshire average
Pay for Registered Nurses in Rockingham County, NH is in line with the statewide figure: $106,180 locally against an employment-weighted New Hampshire average of $105,164, a difference of only $1,016 (1.0%).
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Registered Nurses is $99,368 across the contiguous United States. At $106,180, Rockingham County, NH pays $6,812 more, which is 6.8% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Rockingham County, NH
Among the 581 occupations with published wages in Rockingham County, NH, Registered Nurses ranks number 120 by median pay, ahead of about 79% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Natural Sciences Managers at $291,000 a year, which is $184,820 more than the median for Registered Nurses.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $106,180 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $22,931 a year, which leaves $83,249, or $6,937 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $22 goes to taxes and $78 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 21.6%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $90,430. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $14,809, an effective 13.9% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $6,583 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,540. FICA totals $8,123, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in New Hampshire
There is no state income tax on wages in New Hampshire, which means Registered Nurses in Rockingham County, NH keep the full $83,249 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $5,309 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $442 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Rockingham County, NH
IRS Statistics of Income data for Rockingham County, NH show an average adjusted gross income of $130,341 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 16.6% across all filers. Filers in the $100,000 to under $200,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 11.8%, compared with the 13.9% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Rockingham County, NH
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Rockingham County, NH: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $83,249 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Rockingham County, NH is $1,756 a month, or $21,072 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,289 a month. For Registered Nurses, a one-bedroom absorbs 25.3% of take-home pay and 19.9% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 3.2% of gross pay for Registered Nurses in Rockingham County, NH. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using New Hampshire residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $2,473 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $737, for $3,210 in total. Gasoline in New Hampshire averages $3.25 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,505.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $29,222 a year, 35% of take-home pay. That leaves $54,026 a year, or $4,502 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 50.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Registered Nurses afford to live in Rockingham County, NH?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $106,180 that ceiling is $2,655 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,756 is $899 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $33.77 an hour; the median for Registered Nurses is $51.05, which is 51% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $40.02 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 10.1 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,289 a month means $1,145 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,338 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $61,364.
How fast you can save
At $4,502 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 3 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 6 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Registered Nurses pay in Rockingham County, NH
What is the hourly wage for Registered Nurses in Rockingham County, NH?
The median is $51.05 per hour, based on $106,180 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $39.37 at the 10th percentile to $90.71 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Registered Nurses in Rockingham County, NH?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $106,180 becomes $83,249 a year. That is $6,937 a month, $3,202 every two weeks or $1,601 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Registered Nurses in Rockingham County, NH?
Total taxes are $22,931 a year, an effective rate of 21.6%: $14,809 federal income tax, $8,123 FICA and no New Hampshire income tax.
Is pay for Registered Nurses in Rockingham County, NH above the New Hampshire average?
It is about the same. The local median of $106,180 is within 1.0% of the New Hampshire average of $105,164.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Registered Nurses salary in Rockingham County, NH?
A one-bedroom costs $1,756 a month against take-home pay of $6,937, which is 25.3% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $2,655 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Registered Nurses in Rockingham County, NH?
About $4,502 a month ($54,026 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $29,222 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Rockingham County, NH at the 30% guideline?
$33.77 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $21,072 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Registered Nurses is $51.05.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the New Hampshire rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.