Property Tax in Merrimack County, New Hampshire
In Merrimack County, New Hampshire, the typical homeowner pays $6,617 a year in property taxes on a home worth a median of $330,600. The figures on this page are the Census Bureau's published medians (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023), shown exactly as released.
What the Merrimack County numbers mean
Read the two medians together: $6,617 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Merrimack County, and $330,600 is the middle home value. Neither figure describes a specific property — together they describe the typical homeowner's situation in the county.
The derived effective rate for Merrimack County is 2.00% (median tax ÷ median value). Treat it as an estimate for comparison only: it comes from survey medians of different households, not from the county's rate schedule.
The key figures for Merrimack County
| Measure | Merrimack County |
|---|---|
| Median real estate taxes paid per year | $6,617 |
| Median home value | $330,600 |
| Derived effective rate* | 2.00% |
| Equivalent monthly tax | $551 |
| Tax per $100,000 of value (derived) | $2,002 |
| Illustrative tax on a $400,000 home (derived rate) | $8,008 |
For context, the New Hampshire medians are $6,505 of tax on $367,200 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.
Merrimack County at a glance
- Median tax rank in New Hampshire: #3 of 10 counties
- Median home value rank in New Hampshire: #6 of 10
- Population rank in New Hampshire: #3 of 10 (155,018 residents)
- Population density rank: #4 of 10 (166 people per square mile)
- Land area rank in New Hampshire: #3 of 10 (932 sq mi, 10.4% of the combined county land area)
- Median tax as a monthly figure: $551; per $1,000 of home value: $2.00
How Merrimack County compares
The median tax bill in Merrimack County is about the same as the state median ($6,505 for New Hampshire) and about 123% higher than the US median ($2,969 nationally). By median taxes paid, the county ranks #3 out of 10 New Hampshire counties with published Census data — 2 counties in the state have a higher median bill.
Comparisons cut both ways: a county can have a modest rate but high bills because homes are expensive, or a high rate but modest bills because homes are cheaper. Merrimack County's derived rate of 2.00% sits above the derived US figure of 0.98%.
Some extra context for Merrimack County: the median bill works out to about $551 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $2,002 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 155,018 people — the #3 most populous county in New Hampshire, spread over 932 square miles, a density of about 166 people per square mile. Its median home value, $330,600, ranks #6 among the state's 10 counties with data.
Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 57 record a higher median tax bill than Merrimack County — it sits in the top 2% nationally. The county holds roughly 11.2% of New Hampshire's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $330,600 versus $367,200), and a decade at the derived rate of 2.00% adds up to about 20.02% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Coos County, medians $3,511 — $3,106 less than Merrimack County per year.
Counties nearest Merrimack County in the New Hampshire ranking
| County | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockingham County, NH | $7,512 | $461,400 | 1.63% |
| Hillsborough County, NH | $6,791 | $385,500 | 1.76% |
| Strafford County, NH | $6,582 | $332,400 | 1.98% |
| Cheshire County, NH | $5,968 | $257,200 | 2.32% |
Merrimack County and its population peers
Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Merrimack County beside the counties closest to it in population anywhere in the country — communities of a similar scale operating under different state and local tax systems. Ranked by median tax paid within this peer group of 9, Merrimack County's $6,617 bill is the highest.
| County | Population | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampshire County, MA | 156,595 | $5,326 | $363,400 | 1.47% |
| Bibb County, GA | 156,543 | $1,826 | $165,800 | 1.10% |
| Santa Fe County, NM | 155,175 | $2,110 | $416,900 | 0.51% |
| Washington County, MD | 155,033 | $2,444 | $275,900 | 0.89% |
| Monroe County, MI | 155,001 | $2,492 | $215,700 | 1.16% |
| Johnson County, IA | 154,881 | $4,587 | $293,100 | 1.56% |
| Wilson County, TN | 153,587 | $1,743 | $397,000 | 0.44% |
| Penobscot County, ME | 153,571 | $2,435 | $193,800 | 1.26% |
The closest population match is Washington County, Maryland (155,033 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $2,444 on a median home value of $275,900 — $4,173 more than Merrimack County pays.
Staying within New Hampshire, the counties nearest Merrimack County by population are Hillsborough County (424,732 residents, median tax $6,791 on a median value of $385,500); Rockingham County (317,163 residents, median tax $7,512 on a median value of $461,400); Strafford County (131,743 residents, median tax $6,582 on a median value of $332,400); Grafton County (91,759 residents, median tax $5,624 on a median value of $298,500). The spread in their median bills — all under the same state framework — shows how much of the property tax burden is decided county by county and district by district.
How the tax is worked out
Think of the final bill as three ingredients: the assessed value of the property, the exemptions subtracted from it, and the combined rate of every district the property sits in. Merrimack County's medians imply a derived rate of 2.00%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $8,008 a year, or around $667 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.
Illustrative bills in Merrimack County at the derived rate
The derived rate of 2.00% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Merrimack County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 1.77% and the US figure of 0.98%:
| Home value | Illustrative tax / year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $3,003 | $250 |
| $250,000 | $5,005 | $417 |
| $350,000 | $7,007 | $584 |
| $500,000 | $10,010 | $834 |
| $750,000 | $15,015 | $1,251 |
Illustration only: real bills are computed from the assessed value, exemptions, and the combined rates of the property's actual taxing districts.
Checking your assessment in Merrimack County
Most successful appeals are won on facts, not arguments. Start with the property record card held by the Merrimack County assessor: wrong square footage, an extra room, or a missing homestead exemption are common and fixable. Next, line your assessed value up against recent sales of genuinely similar homes nearby. Many disputes end at an informal conversation with the assessor's office; if yours does not, file the formal appeal with the review board named on your notice before its deadline, evidence attached, and keep paying the bill in the meantime so penalties do not build up.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the median property tax in Merrimack County, New Hampshire?
The median real estate tax paid in Merrimack County, New Hampshire is $6,617 per year, on a median home value of $330,600 (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What is the effective property tax rate in Merrimack County, New Hampshire?
The derived effective rate is 2.00% — the median bill ($6,617) expressed as a share of the median home value ($330,600). No authority sets a rate this way; it exists to make counties with different home prices comparable.
How does Merrimack County compare with the rest of New Hampshire?
Merrimack County ranks #3 of 10 New Hampshire counties with published data by median taxes paid. Its median bill of $6,617 is about the same as the New Hampshire median of $6,505.
How are property taxes calculated in Merrimack County, New Hampshire?
Three steps produce the bill: an assessment of market value by the local assessor, a reduction for exemptions you qualify for (a homestead exemption is the common one), and multiplication by the combined rates of the county, municipality, school district and any special districts covering the property. The median result in Merrimack County is $6,617 of tax on a $330,600 median home value.
Can I appeal my property tax assessment in Merrimack County, New Hampshire?
Yes. Request your property record card from the Merrimack County assessor's office and check it for errors, then compare your assessed value with recent sales of similar homes. If it still looks too high, file a formal appeal with the local review board named on your assessment notice before the deadline printed on the notice — windows are short, often 30 to 90 days.