With an unemployment rate a full percentage point below the overall U.S. average as of late 2019, New Hampshire has a healthy work environment according to the state Employment Security, Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau. Year-over-year job gains as of September 2019 were more than 10,000 positions in the non-farm segment alone.
The state has a stable base to support continuing growth of that magnitude, with the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute finding that growth in the state has outpaced its New England neighbors over the past decade. Health care and social services and administrative and waste services are sectors that are leading future growth.
Growth in any area is good news for HR professionals, of course, and additional demand for HR leads to higher salaries over the course of a career.
Where the HR Jobs are Found in New Hampshire
Most human resources professionals in the state will find that their median salary levels are roughly at the national level for their positions. Most positions are found in the state’s urban centers, such as Dover and Manchester.
With smart manufacturing and high tech activity increasing along the Seacoast and in the Upper Valley areas near Portsmouth and Dartmouth, HR professionals are likely to see increasing availability of jobs in those areas together with the higher salaries that the tech industry commands.
Salaries for Human Resources Managers in New Hampshire
Managers in New Hampshire enjoy six-figure salaries at every level from the median to the top ten percent, with training and development positions having the highest wage at the median, with $118,560 per year, and general HR managers topping out at the high end with $193,270 annually. For specific metropolitan areas, we’ve listed detailed U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and employment data for 2018 below.
Manchester
Manchester dominates the state in both HR employment and salaries for all categories.
Dover
Dover area HR managers may not do as well as their Manchester counterparts, but are still comfortably in line with national averages at every stage.
Human Resources Specialist and Assistant Salaries Throughout New Hampshire
HR and training and development specialists are the most popular line-level HR positions in New Hampshire, employing 2,460 and 1,190 individuals respectively in 2018 according to BLS data. The wages for each position can vary considerably by geographic region, however.
Manchester
Manchester compensation and benefits specialists do particularly well, with both median and top ten percent wages well above most other specialists, as well as those employed in other parts of the state.
Dover
Training and development specialists in Dover start off at a fairly low median rate, but in the top ten percent, there is no better place to work in New Hampshire in the role.
Salary and employment data compiled by the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics in May of 2018 for human resources managers, specialists, and assistants – https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nh.htm#11-9111. The BLS salary data shown here represents median – 90th percentile salary ranges for the state and its MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) and includes workers at all levels of education and experience. This data does not represent starting salaries.
Job growth projections sourced from the New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau and published in the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Long Term Occupational Projections (2016-2026) database – https://projectionscentral.com/Projections/LongTerm. Employment conditions in your area may vary.
All salary and job growth data accessed in October 2019.