Census-designated place · Carroll County, New Hampshire

North Conway, New Hampshire

North Conway is a census-designated place in Carroll County, New Hampshire. It has 2,041 residents. North Conway, New Hampshire has a quality-of-life score of 86 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,127 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New Hampshire it ranks #35 of 66 cities and towns. It ranks best on students per teacher (low), unemployment rate (low) and restaurants and bars (high). It ranks worst on comfortable days (low), natural hazard risk (high) and child care cost burden (high).

86Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,127 of 15,651 cities and towns
New Hampshire: #35 of 66 in NH
Population: 2,041 (2020-2024)
Land area: 7 mi²
Density: 299.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 3353860

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety80#3,106/15,637
Economy55#7,012/15,631
Housing58#6,359/14,977
Health71#4,483/15,609
Healthcare72#4,415/15,650
Environment61#6,103/15,453
Education90#1,612/15,649
Infrastructure48#8,169/15,650
Community97#460/15,651
Leisure & amenities98#341/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where North Conway, New Hampshire ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Carroll County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Students per teacher · low9.9×
98/100New Hampshire 11.4×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsCarroll County value
Unemployment rate · low0.0%
98/100New Hampshire 3.2%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Restaurants and bars · high18.2 /10k
98/100New Hampshire 9.7 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCarroll County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high13.8 /10k
98/100New Hampshire 7.1 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCarroll County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.8 µg/m³
97/100New Hampshire 5.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyCarroll County value
Public libraries · high3.0 /10k
96/100New Hampshire 1.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCarroll County value

Weaknesses

Comfortable days · low22.9%
7/100New Hampshire 22.2%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationCarroll County value
Natural hazard risk · high82.7
16/100New Hampshire 54.52025Federal Emergency Management AgencyCarroll County value
Child care cost burden · high36.2%
19/100New Hampshire 34.6%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarroll County value
Drought exposure · high72%
21/100New Hampshire 63%United States 43%Nov 2025–Oct 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAACarroll County value
Average weekly wage · low$1,023
22/100New Hampshire $1,556United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCarroll County value
Job growth · low-1.3%
22/100New Hampshire -1.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataCarroll County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
2,179 (2015-2019) → 2,041 (2020-2024)
−6.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
53.6% (2015-2019) → 37.7% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Child poverty rateImproving
15.1% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−15 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Average commute timeWorsening
14.0 min (2015-2019) → 20.1 min (2020-2024)
+43%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
7.2% (2015-2019) → 13.2% (2020-2024)
+6 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
5.0× (2015-2019) → 6.1× (2020-2024)
+22%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, North Conway, New Hampshire improved on 0 of 8 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 8 measures

Change of every measure of North Conway, New Hampshire between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Bachelor's degree or higher	53.6%2015-2019	37.7%2020-2024	−16 points	Within the margin of error	0%
Broadband subscriptions	82.7%2015-2019	83.4%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	10%
High school diploma or higher	99.7%2015-2019	98.5%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4392015-2019	0.4482020-2024	+0.009	Within the margin of error	42%
Median household income	$61,1852015-2019	$71,1982020-2024	+16%	Within the margin of error	26%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	24.5%2015-2019	25.4%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Rent-burdened households	35.0%2015-2019	38.9%2020-2024	+3.9 points	Within the margin of error	41%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like North Conway, New Hampshire five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of North Conway, New Hampshire in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, North Conway, New Hampshire itself moved −12.9 points in standing on average over the same 7 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,041 residents (±483)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 10–19 men (−9.7 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

2,041 residents (±483)

North Conway, New Hampshire
New Hampshire share

White99%2,014
Black0.0%0
Hispanic or Latino0.4%†9

Education

1,879 residents (±444)

North Conway, New Hampshire
New Hampshire share

No high school diploma1.5%†28
High school or GED38%†713
Some college20%†

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,176 households (±295)

North Conway, New Hampshire
New Hampshire share

Under $25k24%†284
$25k–50k19%†219
$50k–75k9.4%†110
$75k–100k27%†323
$100k–150k8.8%†104
$150k–200k4.7%†55
$200k or more6.9%†81

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $50k–75k (−17.3 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,176 households (±295)

North Conway, New Hampshire
New Hampshire share

Own48%†561
Rent52%†615

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

615 households (±213)

North Conway, New Hampshire
New Hampshire share

Under $75023%†143
$750–1,00028%†172
$1,000–1,50024%†

Home values

561 homes (±271)

North Conway, New Hampshire
New Hampshire share

Under $150k12%†70
$150k–250k27%†150
$250k–400k8.9%†

Age of homes

1,816 homes (±342)

North Conway, New Hampshire
New Hampshire share

2010 or later6.2%†112
2000–20090.8%†14
1980–199932%†

Size of homes

1,816 homes (±342)

North Conway, New Hampshire
New Hampshire share

Studio6.2%†113
1 bedroom12%†213
2 bedrooms42%†762

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

1,113 workers (±399)

North Conway, New Hampshire
New Hampshire share

Drive alone65%†726
Carpool20%†223
Public transit0.0%0
Walk1.3%†15
Bike0.0%0
Work from home13%†149
Other0.0%0

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Walk (−11.6 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

964 workers (±390)

North Conway, New Hampshire
New Hampshire share

Under 15 min34%†331
15–29 min54%†520
30–44 min6.2%†60

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Carroll County, the county holding most of North Conway's residents.

Carroll County has 1,896 employer establishments, 362 for every 10,000 residents (1.46× the US rate of 248; 1.29× New Hampshire's), with 17,163 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,599. The Census Bureau also counts 6,198 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,896; 6,198 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 362; US 248 · New Hampshire 280
Paid employees: 17,163
Average annual pay: $47,599; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Carroll County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	183	34.9	1.90×More than typical	2,544	$30,923	11
Specialty trade contractors	183	34.9	2.26×More than typical	790	$64,251	825
Full-service restaurants	101	19.3	2.51×More than typical	1,763	$33,007	4
Services to buildings and dwellings	84	16	2.38×More than typical	305	$82,311	514
Construction of buildings	82	15.6	2.07×More than typical	328	$71,918	416
Ambulatory health care services	80	15.3	0.73×Fewer than typical	705	$55,348	258
Building equipment contractors	77	14.7	2.44×More than typical	251	$62,020	150
Lessors of real estate	76	14.5	1.18×About typical	235	$52,472	778
Traveler accommodation	69	13.2	7.30×More than typical	1,430	$31,775	55
Landscaping services	64	12.2	3.49×More than typical	242	$93,149	179
Clothing and accessories stores	53	10.1	2.79×More than typical	487	$26,926	36
Automotive repair and maintenance	48	9.2	1.82×More than typical	182	$52,923	70

Rank places for an industry Open Carroll County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 52,398 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in North Conway, New Hampshire: $0 per resident (US $2,008).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0; US $2,008
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.7%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

39KFY2017
65.1KFY2018
58.7KFY2019
83.7KFY2020
81.8KFY2021
149.4KFY2022
61.6KFY2023
59.1KFY2024
73.1KFY2025

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 10, 2026, loaded Oct 10, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in North Conway, New Hampshire, so they do not add up across cities.

North Conway, New Hampshire's figures are part of those of Carroll County, NH ($2.2M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: North Conway is mostly in Carroll County.

See federal money in Carroll County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

North Conway, New Hampshire is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).