The New Hampshire Forum, By The Numbers
From April 2 to May 25, 2026, Granite Staters answered this question: If New Hampshire's state leaders and residents could solve one problem, what should it be?
Total Number of Visits to Our Digital Platform
Total Actions Taken
Total Issues Submitted
Counties Represented
Based on Zip Code
Total Number of Contributors
Across New Hampshire
18,641 Granite Staters have contributed — from every one of the state’s ten counties.
Contributors per county
Total contributors
18,641
Counties represented
10 of 10
Shared a zip code
9,517
Contributors by county
An additional 9,124 contributors gave without providing a zip code.
What Granite Staters Want To Fix
When we asked what needs to be fixed, New Hampshire residents contributed more than 500 issues, inspiring thousands more comments and reactions.
Tap a circle below to see what your fellow Granite Stater said. (Note: Some duplicate submissions were removed or combined, and some issues fit in multiple categories.)
See the full issues data set here.
- Taxation, Revenue & the Economy: 124
- Education Funding & Quality: 96
- Government, Elections & Civic Engagement: 83
- Housing Affordability, Land Use & Real Estate: 70
- Social Issues, Rights & Economy: 50
- Infrastructure, Transportation & Energy: 40
- Healthcare, Mental Health & Social Services: 39
- Environment & Natural Resources: 22
What Granite Staters Agree On
Based on Granite Staters’ inputs, we identified the top 18 issues informed by contributors’ engagement on the topics and shared them with the public on April 5, 2026.
Once again, Granite Staters from across the state stepped up and 2,200 people selected what matters most. These are the results. See the full voting dataset here.
Voters with at least 1 issue in top 6
Voters with at least 1 issue in top 3
Reliance On Property Taxes For School Funding Strains Local Taxpayers
New Hampshire is one of the lowest-ranked states in the nation for state-level contributions to K-12 education, leaving school costs to be carried largely by local property taxpayers, resulting in inequities across districts and making it increasingly difficult to sustain.
Narrow Tax Base Places Burden On Property Owners
New Hampshire relies heavily on local property taxes to fund state and local services, with no broad-based income or sales tax, resulting in large pressures on homeowners, renters, and small towns.
Housing Costs Limit Opportunity For Working Residents
Home prices and rents have climbed sharply across New Hampshire, leaving many working residents, young people, and first-time buyers unable to find housing they can afford.
Healthcare Costs Strain Families And Limit Access
Contributors raised concerns about the rising cost of healthcare, gaps in coverage, and questions about access to specific kinds of care creating affordability concerns alongside housing and energy.
Energy Costs And Grid Vulnerabilities Threaten Reliability
New Hampshire residents pay among the highest electricity rates in the country, and the regional grid is heavily dependent on imported power and fossil fuels during peak winter demand creating concerns for costs and long-term reliability.
Rising Costs Put Seniors On Fixed Incomes At Risk
Rising property taxes, the taxation of Social Security, and gaps in senior services are putting strain on older New Hampshirites, including food insecurity, missed payments, and being pushed out of long-held homes.
Granite Staters Who Raised Their Voice
This data reflects participation since The New Hampshire Forum launch on April 5 to May 25, 2026, plus a short pre-launch window.
Our outreach efforts aimed to include every demographic in rough proportion to the state population. At the conclusion of the voting round, some groups were still underrepresented in our participant pool, including Black / African-American Granite Staters and younger (age 18-29) Granite Staters. To support top issue selection, we conducted additional analysis that confirmed their top priorities strongly aligned with the three dominant themes that emerged statewide: rising cost of living, housing costs, and education quality.
Age
Political Lean
Race / Ethnicity
Methodology
Every result in this report was produced by a transparent, repeatable process. Here’s exactly how it worked.
For more information, check out The New Hampshire Forum’s website, which includes project background and our privacy policy.
Disclaimer: The Forum is a demonstration project designed to test a new approach to public engagement using multiple digital tools. The data reflects input contributed by participants who choose to engage in the process. As we adapt the design to foster broad participation, we are actively reviewing data to improve accuracy and reduce duplication. This is not a formal research study, and while we strive for rigor, some errors or inconsistencies may occur.
What’s Happened and What’s Ahead
More work lies ahead to shape the future of New Hampshire. Here is where we will go next.
Hover over a step to read the full description.
Identifying the Top Issues (CLOSED)
Community Conversations
In-Person Civic Assembly
Engagement and Advocacy
Next Step: Realtime, Small-Group Conversations on the Top Issues
Starting in June 2026, Granite Staters are invited to join Community Conversations (register here), small-group discussions focused on the top issues identified through the digital engagement process outlined in this report. Here’s how we’re taking your votes forward as conversation topics:
Issue #1: Housing Affordability and Ownership
Many of the first phase contributors described a housing market that is hard to enter and hard to stay in. Part of the concern is cost: rents and home prices have outpaced wages, affecting workers, young adults, first-time buyers, and even higher earners. Part of the concern is who is buying; residents worry that ordinary buyers are competing against corporate investors and large property holders, including in rural communities. This Community Conversation will explore challenges and options around housing affordability, supply, and ownership across our state.
Issue #2: Property Taxes and Revenue Needs
New Hampshire pays for most public services in an unusual way. With no broad-based sales tax and no broad wage income tax, local property taxes carry much of the cost of schools, towns, and county services. According to contributors in our first phase, relying so much on one revenue source can strain homeowners, renters, landlords, businesses, and small towns. This Community Conversation will explore the current system, the trade-offs behind different choices, and questions Granite Staters may want lawmakers to examine.
Issue #3: Public Education Funding
Contributors in our first phase raised questions about the quality of K-12 education and how the state's schools are funded. Submissions pointed to literacy and math proficiency, differences between higher- and lower-performing schools, whether grades and graduation reflect real learning, the role of classroom technology, and how well schools prepare students for college, careers, and citizenship. This Community Conversation will explore the current system and the trade-offs across instruction, funding, equity, measurement, technology, and educator support.
Issue #4: Energy Cost, Sourcing, and Reliability
Contributors in our first phase raised energy as both an immediate affordability issue and a longer-term sourcing and reliability question. Electric bills are high compared with the national average, while the state is part of a regional New England grid where winter fuel prices, peak demand, imports, and resource availability can affect wholesale costs and reliability.
How to Join Community Conversations
Deliberative Community Conversations run from June to July 2026. Small-group conversations are forming across New Hampshire — and your voice belongs in the room.
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