👋 Hey everybody,
Rae here — one of the core members building Freedom Village.
Since COVID, and now with proposed asset taxes in San Francisco and an openly socialist agenda gaining traction in New York City, the U.S. is undergoing a very real reshuffling of its citizens.
That’s not surprising. I’ve lived in San Francisco, New York City, and Miami, and spent meaningful time in Austin and Los Angeles.
What is surprising is how little New Hampshire gets talked about.
The zeitgeist keeps pointing to Austin and Miami. Likely because it’s warm there — and cold here. But I think that’s starting to change.
New Hampshire is the Texas or Florida of the North. Yes, winters are real. But summers in Austin and Miami are borderline unlivable. Climate cuts both ways.
What NH offers instead:
Low taxes, lower overall friction than traditional tech hubs, founders meeting in living rooms, startups and creators mixing over dinner — and early-stage energy that’s quietly compounding.
We’re also uniquely positioned geographically:
Within 1 hour of Boston’s universities and biotech ecosystem
Within reach of NYC’s financial institutions
Without Boston or NYC politics, prices, or bureaucracy
New Hampshire, by the numbers (with sources)
New Hampshire consistently punches above its weight on the things that matter most:
Safety: Ranked the #1 safest state in the U.S.
→ U.S. News & World Report, Public Safety Rankings https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/crime-and-corrections/public-safetyCrime: Lowest violent crime rate and among the lowest homicide rates nationwide
→ FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) https://cde.ucr.cjis.govHealth: Regularly ranked top 5 healthiest states; high life expectancy and strong access to care
→ America’s Health Rankings https://www.americashealthrankings.orgIncome: Median household income ~$95K (well above the national average)
→ U.S. Census / Data USA https://datausa.io/profile/geo/new-hampshireTaxes:
No state income tax
No sales tax
No capital gains tax
→ NH Department of Revenue Administration https://www.revenue.nh.gov
Unemployment: Consistently below the national average
→ Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.govCost of living: Higher housing costs than the U.S. average, but partially offset by higher incomes and no income/sales tax
→ BEA + Census https://www.bea.govQuality of life: Top-tier rankings for child well-being, education, and livability
→ Annie E. Casey Foundation https://www.aecf.org
Bottom line: Low crime, strong health outcomes, high incomes, and personal freedom — quietly, without hype.
Why New Hampshire is a natural home for builders and techno-optimists
Freedom as a founding principle
“Live Free or Die” isn’t irony — it’s operational.
Strong property rights and local governance
Minimal bureaucracy
Town meetings still matter
Personal responsibility is cultural, not rhetorical
Lower taxes, lower friction
No income tax — your labor is yours
No capital gains or dividend tax — founders and investors keep the upside
No sales tax — lower everyday friction
No estate tax — legacy stays in families
Balanced budgets and low state debt
→ NH Treasury & DRA https://www.treasury.nh.gov
There are no billionaire taxes or wealth taxes being debated here.
Politically heterodox, not tribal
Fiercely independent electorate
Libertarians, centrists, conservatives, and classical liberals coexist
Civil discourse still happens in person
Over 10,000 Free Staters have relocated and now hold elected seats
→ Free State Project https://www.fsp.org
Pro-innovation, pro-nuclear, anti-bureaucracy
~56% of NH’s power comes from nuclear energy (Seabrook Station)
→ U.S. Energy Information Administration https://www.eia.govProjects move faster due to local control
Real ability to prototype without drowning in red tape
New Hampshire is quietly leading on Right to Try
New Hampshire has one of the most advanced Right to Try frameworks in the country — and it’s expanding.
Right to Try allows patients with serious or life-threatening conditions to access investigational treatments that have passed safety trials but are not yet fully FDA-approved.
While many states adopted early versions, New Hampshire has gone further, modernizing its laws to:
Broaden access to experimental therapies
Reduce friction for doctors and patients
Provide clearer legal protections for providers
Position the state as a hub for responsible medical innovation
→ NH Right to Try statutes & reforms https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us
This is a state focused not on whether patients should have options — but on how to make access work better.
Builder-friendly terrain
Affordable land relative to coastal tech hubs
Access to water, forests, and coastline
More zoning flexibility than neighboring states
Boston-level talent within a 1-hour drive — without Boston politics or prices
Notably, Alex Karp (Founder & CEO of Palantir) and Jeremy Hitchcock (Founder of Dyn and Minim) both live here.
Self-reliant culture, high trust, low noise
People fix their own snowblowers and build their own barns
Neighbors show up when it counts
Lowest crime rate in the country
Founders meet around fire pits, not panels
A gateway to the Northeast
1 hour to Boston and the Atlantic
~4 hours to NYC
~3 hours to Montreal
International airports in Boston, Portland, and Manchester
It’s fucking beautiful here
Ocean access, ski mountains, forests — all within reach.
Mount Washington has incredible hiking
People surf all year long at Rye Beach
Stunning summers full of grilling, fresh seafood, and campfires
Clean, safe protected lands
Four seasons and quintessential holiday season
If you’re curious about how we’re building Freedom Village here in New Hampshire, subscribe to this Substack to stay in the loop and subscribe to our community event calendar on Luma.
Thanks for reading, what did I miss?
✌🏻 Rae
Love it. You hit a lot of the big ones but I'd also add:
-Fleshing out the nature stuff, the whole state has amazing hiking, not just Mt. Washington! White mountains + Monadnock are famous + to really spell out how much nature there is, ~82% of the state is forest (second only to Maine) + ~35% of NH's land is conserved
-Our own universities are nothing to sneeze at either-- the public university system here gets relatively little public funding but that has also forced it to be more enterprising and scrappy, UNH is an R1 research institution (fewer than 150 universities nationwide have this classification) + is consistently ranked among top public universities + Dartmouth College is in Upper Valley too
-State economy is diverse and well poised for growth
"New Hampshire ranks first among all 50 states in the economic complexity of its international trade, a measure that points to economic sustainability and strong economic growth in the future, according to a research project launched by MIT economists... 'We don’t have Boeing making finished planes in New Hampshire, but the stuff that goes into the planes Boeing makes comes from New Hampshire. Same with SpaceX, same with Airbus,' said Jeff Rapsis, executive director of the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire."
https://read.nhbr.com/nh-business-review/2025/07/04/#?article=4321254
Also legit ranked #1 for economic opportunity last year
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/opportunity/economic-opportunity
-Ranked #1 for taxpayer ROI
https://wallethub.com/edu/state-taxpayer-roi-report/3283
-I also think it's a plus that socially, NH is surprisingly tolerant (% wise NH is more approving of same-sex marriage than the national average). As you write, the political culture here is dynamic + the ideal of "live and let live" is strong
-With 400 members representing ~1.6 million people, NH's House of Reps is technically the most representative legislative body per capita in the nation. It is not perfect but as you heard BIA Pres Mike Skelton say at the live "I would take this setup over what other states have"
And honestly this is the short version ...
Thanks for writing this, tapping into similar themes I get super jazzed about with Yankee Dynamism, very hyped to see a chorus growing for how well NH is poised to lead on many of the challenges of today. Boston Globe even wrote a piece on it not so long ago
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/08/opinion/growing-appeal-new-hampshire/?event=event12
We have problems of course, but those are well covered in the media and other places. Size & age I would consider our biggest relative "weaknesses", but they can also be reimagined as opportunities. Older population = more opportunity for disruption & leadership for enterprising types. Smaller size = more social capital, which lets us solve problems in more creative ways.
My personal biggest gripe is that we are #2 in the country for per capita adoption of vanity plates (behind Virginia?!?!) but I would like us to be #1, we really should be #1. I did mention this goal to the governor and I have her support ;)
We need to visit 😎