101 Reasons to Move to New Hampshire
Among the many advantages of moving to New Hampshire, these 101 reasons are at the top. If you know of a good reason that should be added, let us know.
Politics
The New Hampshire Liberty Alliance (NHLA) is a non-partisan coalition working to increase personal freedom through education, political action, and charity. They actively lobby for and against legislation, rate legislators based on their pro- or anti-freedom voting records, recruit and train liberty candidates, and help organize fundraisers for those in need.
New Hampshire School Choice Scholarship Program helps low- and middle-income parents send their children to the schools of their choice by offering tax credits to corporations that make donations to nonprofit scholarship organizations.
New Hampshire has a large, politically active, and rapidly growing homeschooling population. Parents are not required to submit annual evaluations.
The Free State Project has been endorsed by many in the pro-liberty community, including Ron Paul, Penn Jillette, Peter Schiff, Lew Rockwell, and Walter Williams. In addition, the FSP has received support from Judge Andrew Napolitano, John Stossell and Neal Boortz.
In 2011, New Hampshire demonstrated extraordinary fiscal restraint when 11% was slashed from the state's previous budget.
New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary provides significant leverage in the national debate.
New Hampshire culture still reflects its famous motto, "Live Free or Die."
Independent voters comprise about 43% of the New Hampshire electorate, attesting to the citizens' spirit of independence and dissatisfaction with major parties.
There are more than 20 Free Staters who have served, or are currently serving, as elected members of the State House of Representatives. Free Staters have been elected as Democrats and Republicans.
New Hampshire has a long tradition of local control through town meetings, where town citizens vote on their budgets line-by-line, in the form of warrants.
New Hampshire has many liberty-minded members of its state government who are unaffiliated with the Free State Project.
New Hampshire has an active jury outreach movement. It is the only state to pass a law with such strong, supportive language as: "In all criminal proceedings the court shall permit the defense to inform the jury of its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy."
New Hampshire offers small, easy-to-canvass voting districts. Each member of the House of Representatives represents about 3,300 people.
Statewide officers in both the legislative and executive branches are elected every two years, giving voters the opportunity to clean house more often than in other states.
Dozens of successful, pro-liberty organizations have been created and reinforced, addressing education, taxes, guns, homeschooling, drugs, currency, and many other issues. Whatever your interest, you will likely find an existing group you can help or people willing to join you in the creation of a new one.
New Hampshire local elections are mostly nonpartisan.
The New Hampshire Liberty Alliance's annual Liberty Rating report card is based on pro-liberty and anti-liberty votes on legislation in the House and Senate. Liberty Ballot, a separate effort, identifies candidates who will reduce the size of government and allows voters to download a sample ballot with recommendations marked for each voting precinct.
New Hampshire has several gun rights organizations (Gun Owners of New Hampshire, Women's Defense League of New Hampshire, and Pro-Gun New Hampshire to name a few) that successfully work to expand gun freedoms and protect the state’s shall-issue concealed carry permit process, free open-carry laws, and the stand-your-ground law.
Mainstream newspapers and television stations have been receptive of, and fair to, the Free State Project.
Medical Marijuana legislation was passed in New Hampshire in 2012. Although the bill wasn't approved by the Senate, the NH State House became the first legislative body in the US to vote to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
New Hampshire is awash with pro-liberty media. On the radio, there is Free Talk Live, The Liberty Conspiracy, and The Katherine Albrecht Show. Other NH-based media that spread liberty worldwide include the Liberty Radio Network, the School Sucks podcast, Shire Liberty News, Free Keene, and The Ridley Report.
New Hampshire was the first state to adopt same-sex union legislation without a challenge to existing law. Marriage between two adults, regardless of gender, is now legal in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire is the only state in the nation to recognize and codify nanobreweries as separate from larger breweries. The nanobrewery license permits small breweries to manufacture up to 2,000 barrels of beer or specialty beer per year for an annual license fee of only $240.
New Hampshire has an active, peaceful community that engages in civil disobedience and generally challenges authorities. Activities such as organizing groups to publicly smoke marijuana, conducting open-carry litter pickups, filming police encounters, and detouring traffic prior to police checkpoints take place on a regular basis.
New Hampshire rejected the REAL ID (national identification card) program. Free State Project participants were crucial in securing this outcome.
New Hampshire has opted out of setting up a state exchange for The Affordable Care Act - better known as Obamacare.
Quality of Life
New Hampshire has the 3rd fewest fatalities per 100 million miles driven.
New Hampshire offers extraordinary opportunities for black bear, coyote, moose, white-tailed deer, turkey, waterfowl, and small-game hunting as well as deep-sea, river, lake and even ice fishing.
New Hampshire is ranked 4th nationally in the index for child well-being.
In addition to many small and unique family-owned businesses, most large, national chain stores are within short driving distance.
New Hampshire is the least expensive state in which to own a vehicle.
New Hampshire has a plethora of gun clubs throughout the state.
Music fans will appreciate The Dover Brickhouse, the Verizon Wireless Arena, and the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion at Meadowbrook - which USA Today named one of America's Top 10 Music Venues.
The annual New Hampshire Liberty Forum, Porcupine Freedom Festival, Keenevention, and Freecoast Festival attract thousands of liberty lovers from around the world.
New Hampshire offers an incredibly diverse mix of communities. Whether you are interested in living in a city, in the suburbs, on a farm, by the beach, in the mountains, or on a lake, you can find your dream home in New Hampshire.
The Free State boasts many fun attractions, including comedy clubs, Canobie Lake Amusement Park, indoor rock climbing, indoor surfing, indoor skydiving, many water parks, NASCAR, and Funspot - the largest arcade in the world.
New Hampshire offers many private/non-government schooling options, including home schools, Montessori schools, Waldorf schools, religious schools, boarding schools, and traditional private high schools.
Being in New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project offers the added benefit of knowing you are part of something historic. Rather than just talking about liberty and accepting your loss of freedoms, you will be an active participant in making history, achieving Liberty in Our Lifetime!
The FSP Welcome Wagon is a team of fellow liberty activists eager to welcome you to New Hampshire, ensuring that plenty of people are able to come lend support to your move. They can put you in touch with local liberty lovers, help host "Meet and Greet" and "New Movers" parties, and welcome you to local functions and events.
New Hampshire residents rank #1 in knowledge of fundamental economics and financial concepts.
Communication with the NH liberty community is a phone call away. Through Porcupine 411, reports of speed traps and check points, political events, and news as-it-happens are recorded and broadcast via text and email as audio file attachments.
Photo credit: Johan Larsson
New Hampshire has an active pro-liberty social community. Participants host weekly events like Taproom Tuesdays and Social Sundays, movie nights and holiday parties, along with weekly and monthly meetups throughout the state. Your social calendar will always be full!
New Hampshire offers over 600 private, non-profit organizations ranging from food banks, to youth mentoring, to health services.
Shire Sharing - founded by a Free Stater - is a collaborative effort among liberty activists to address social ills through voluntary action and private charity. Among other projects, it has provided hundreds of Thanksgiving meals to needy families since 2011.
New Hampshire has been ranked #1 in the country for quality of life and livability according to many studies over the years.
New Hampshire is home to 23 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities, including Ivy League member, Dartmouth. There are also several trade schools in New Hampshire.
With the lowest homicide rate in the country, New Hampshire consistently ranks as the safest state.
New Hampshire is home to people of all religions as well as those who are non-religious. The New Hampshire population is among the most religiously tolerant, with 73% believing that other religions can lead to eternal life.
New Hampshire is the 5th healthiest state in the nation.
Air transportation to and from New Hampshire is facilitated by 118 registered airports, 64 registered heliports, and 6 registered sea plane bases.
New Hampshire's health system ranks 2nd overall.
New Hampshire offers an extensive wireless infrastructure and ranks highest in percentage of households that have access to broadband internet.
Government
New Hampshire legislators are only paid a salary of $100 per year, helping ensure the existence of a citizen legislature committed to public service.
New Hampshire officials, from town clerks to the state governor, are accessible to the public and generally have a "walk-right-in" office policy.
New Hampshire is the only state that has banned the use of automatic license plate readers (ALPR) by law enforcement.
New Hampshire has one of the smallest state bureaucracies.
New Hampshire's constitution expressly protects citizens’ right to revolution (Section 1, Article 10).
Image: Some rights reserved by James Walsh
New Hampshire has no general sales tax.
New Hampshire offers the best representation of any state in the nation with a 400-member House of Representatives for a population of 1.3 million people.
Image: Some rights reserved by J. Stephen Conn
New Hampshire has no general personal income tax. Dividends and interest are taxed at only 5%.
New Hampshire's unique Executive Council provides an additional check on the power of the Governor. Support of the independently elected, five-member council is required for state contracts over $10,000, high-level agency appointments, and pardons.
New Hampshire state law prohibits the use of eminent domain for private use or private development.
New Hampshire has no inventory tax.
New Hampshire offers some of the least restrictive gun laws in the nation: no license is required to open carry and a concealed carry license is available on a shall-issue basis.
New Hampshire has no tax on machinery or equipment.
New Hampshire is the only state that does not have a mandatory seat belt law for adults.
Reflecting New Hampshire’s relationship and openness to the public, the state capitol building has no metal detectors (and, at 190 years old, is “the oldest state house in the nation in which the legislature still occupies its original chambers").
Photo by Walter Parenteau
New Hampshire is one of only three states that places no helmet restrictions on motorcyclists.
New Hampshire's constitution does not specifically prohibit secession.
New Hampshire is the only state that does not mandate automobile liability insurance or charge a related fee for being uninsured. Compared to national averages, New Hampshire has more insured drivers, and, as of 2014, the 3rd lowest insurance rates in the country.
New Hampshire is one of the few states that very lightly regulates raw milk sales.
New Hampshire has no capital gains tax.
New Hampshire is the only state with no laws restricting knife ownership, except for convicted felons.
Economy
New Hampshire offers one of the lowest tax burdens as a percentage of gross income in the country.
New Hampshire is friendly to small businesses and entrepreneurs. New Hampshire is frequently among the top 5 in nationwide rankings of business-friendly states.
The Manchester-Nashua metro area ranks 1st on the Forbes List of America's 100 Cheapest Places To Live.
New Hampshire's median household income of $71,322 is the highest in the country.
Portsmouth has one of the lowest unemployment rates out of 372 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and thus is among the "30 Best Markets to Find a Job."
New Hampshire has a very active cryptocurrency economy and has the longest running Bitcoin meetup group. Many legendary Bitcoiners are FSP supporters or participants, and the inventors of the first Bitcoin ATM - Lamassu - are participants of the FSP. The Free State Project community is also gold/silver currency-friendly.
New Hampshire has a tax of $1.78/pack of cigarettes; $0.30/gallon of beer; and zero tax on cigars, spirits and wine. These are among the lowest in the region.
Photo by Mike Oliveri
New Hampshire has a diverse economy, making it hospitable to movers from many lines of work.
As of September 2014, NH unemployment was 4.4%; US average was 5.9%.
Early FSP movers have taken advantage of the tremendous business climate in NH by starting a number of successful businesses, including bars/restaurants, a microbrewery, alternative currencies, construction companies, HVAC contractor/reseller, real estate practice, freedom-oriented bookstore, computer consulting, web hosting, radio/TV shows, and non-profit organizations.
New Hampshire's #3 ranking in Stroll's Locavore Index is demonstrated by an active and diverse agricultural sector that ranges from livestock to dairy products to apples to flowers. Furthermore, New Hampshire receives the 3rd lowest farm subsidy dollars from the Federal Government - less than 0.1% of the total subsidy dollars handed out.
New Hampshire shares a border with Canada, facilitating international trade and travel.
Manchester ranks #2 on Kiplinger's list of Tax-Friendly Cities.
New Hampshire's household disposable income is the highest in the country.
New Hampshire has the lowest percentage of residents and children living in poverty in the country.
New Hampshire is the best state to find a home, based on housing availability and housing affordability.
New Hampshire offers five Free Trade Zones, including those at Manchester Airport and the Port of New Hampshire.
Retail businesses benefit from proximity to Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Canada as residents shop in New Hampshire to benefit from the lack of sales tax.
Geography and Environment
New Hampshire is a great place for hikers, boasting 48 mountains with peaks higher than 4,000 feet, access to the Appalachian Trail, and numerous trails of various distances and difficulties throughout the state. This includes the most-hiked mountain in the Western Hemisphere - Mount Monadnock - and the tallest mountain in the Northeast - Mt. Washington - affording 100-mile views of three states and Canada.
With its deep-water port on the Atlantic Ocean, New Hampshire has access to worldwide trade markets.
New Hampshire enjoys all four seasons. Fall foliage attracts tourists from all over; in winter, snow-related recreational activities are popular; spring brings blooming wildflowers and greenery galore; and in the summer, outdoor festivals abound.
New Hampshire's location allows the FSP to target the libertarian population living among the 13 million people in the other five New England states.
New Hampshire is a state with breathtaking beauty and scenery - the ocean, lakes, mountains, forests, rivers, picturesque New England towns, covered bridges, and historical homes.
New Hampshire's relatively small geographic size facilitates activism statewide and makes frequent collaboration and meetings among FSP members possible.
New Hampshire offers abundant water resources. The potential for water shortages in NH is insignificant.
New Hampshire is considered at very low risk for hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and forest fires.
New Hampshire offers outdoor activities throughout the year, including biking, bird watching, boating, camping, climbing, fishing, golfing, going to the beach, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, skate boarding, skiing, and snowmobiling.
