What Social and Community Service Managers earn in Strafford County, NH
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $85,430: the median annual pay for Social and Community Service Managers in Strafford County, NH. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $41.07 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $93,400, which is 9.3% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 5,730 people working in this occupation across the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Strafford County, NH has roughly 132,575 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Social and Community Service Managers in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $62,180 a year ($29.89 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $132,230 or more ($63.57 an hour). That is a gap of $70,050 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $70,620 at the 25th percentile and $104,910 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.1 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $41.07 an hour or $85,430 a year at the median for Strafford County, NH. Before any deductions, that is $7,119 a month, $3,286 every two weeks and $1,643 each week. After taxes the same job pays $33.01 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Social and Community Service Managers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Social and Community Service Managers this way: "Plan, direct, or coordinate the activities of a social service program or community outreach organization. Oversee the program or organization's budget and policies regarding participant involvement, program requirements, and benefits. Work may involve directing social workers, counselors, or probation officers."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Establish and maintain relationships with other agencies and organizations in community to meet community needs and to ensure that services are not duplicated"; "Prepare and maintain records and reports, such as budgets, personnel records, or training manuals"; "Direct activities of professional and technical staff members and volunteers"; "Evaluate the work of staff and volunteers to ensure that programs are of appropriate quality and that resources are used effectively".
Job outlook for Social and Community Service Managers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 231,000 jobs in 2025 to 247,700 in 2035, a change of +7.2%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 18,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 8.0% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. Work experience in a related occupation: less than 5 years. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $80,390 for this occupation; the Strafford County, NH median of $85,430 is 6.3% above it.
How pay in Strafford County, NH compares
Compared with the New Hampshire average
Pay for Social and Community Service Managers in Strafford County, NH is in line with the statewide figure: $85,430 locally against an employment-weighted New Hampshire average of $85,098, a difference of only $332 (0.4%). Within New Hampshire, Strafford County, NH already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Social and Community Service Managers is $82,161 across the contiguous United States. At $85,430, Strafford County, NH pays $3,269 more, which is 4.0% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Strafford County, NH
Among the 581 occupations with published wages in Strafford County, NH, Social and Community Service Managers ranks number 200 by median pay, ahead of about 66% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Natural Sciences Managers at $291,000 a year, which is $205,570 more than the median for Social and Community Service Managers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Social and Community Service Managers earning the Strafford County, NH median of $85,430, they add up to $16,779. The result is $68,651 of take-home pay a year ($5,721 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $20 goes to taxes and $80 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.6%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $69,680. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $10,244, an effective 12.0% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $5,297 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,239. FICA totals $6,535, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in New Hampshire
New Hampshire does not tax wage income, so the state income tax line for Social and Community Service Managers in Strafford County, NH is $0. That alone leaves more in the paycheck than the same salary would in a state with an income tax. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $4,272 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $356 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Strafford County, NH
IRS Statistics of Income data for Strafford County, NH show an average adjusted gross income of $92,275 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.1% across all filers. Filers in the $75,000 to under $100,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 9.7%, compared with the 12.0% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Strafford County, NH
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Strafford County, NH: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $68,651 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Strafford County, NH, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,600 a month ($19,200 a year), and at $2,093 for two bedrooms. For Social and Community Service Managers, a one-bedroom absorbs 28.0% of take-home pay and 22.5% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 4.0% of gross pay for Social and Community Service Managers in Strafford County, NH. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using New Hampshire residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $2,473 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $737, for $3,210 in total. Gasoline in New Hampshire averages $3.25 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,505.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $27,350 a year in Strafford County, NH. Subtract that from $68,651 of take-home pay and $41,301 remains, which is $3,442 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 48.3% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Strafford County, NH
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Strafford County, NH: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Strafford County, NH, set beside the New Hampshire and national medians.
Property taxes in Strafford County, NH
Homeowners in Strafford County, NH pay a median of $6,708 a year in real estate taxes, in line with the New Hampshire median of $6,667 and 115% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $362,800, the median tax bill is 1.85% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Social and Community Service Managers median of $85,430, a tax bill of that size would equal 7.9% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Strafford County, NH
Renters in Strafford County, NH pay a median gross rent of $1,488 a month in the Census survey, in line with the New Hampshire median of $1,491. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,600 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $362,800, 10% below the New Hampshire median of $402,500. Median household income is $88,570, 11% below the New Hampshire median of $99,031, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 21.7% of that income.
Commuting in Strafford County, NH
Workers in Strafford County, NH who travel to a workplace spend an average of 26.0 minutes each way, 3% below the New Hampshire average of 26.7. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.3 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 16.2% of workers in Strafford County, NH work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Social and Community Service Managers afford to live in Strafford County, NH?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $85,430 that ceiling is $2,136 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,600 is $536 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $30.77 an hour; the median for Social and Community Service Managers is $41.07, which is 33% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $33.01 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 11.2 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,093 a month means $1,047 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,642 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $47,943.
How fast you can save
At $3,442 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 3 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 6 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Social and Community Service Managers pay in Strafford County, NH
How much do Social and Community Service Managers make per hour in Strafford County, NH?
The median is $41.07 per hour, based on $85,430 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $29.89 at the 10th percentile to $63.57 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Social and Community Service Managers take home after taxes in Strafford County, NH?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $85,430 becomes $68,651 a year. That is $5,721 a month, $2,640 every two weeks or $1,320 a week.
How much tax do Social and Community Service Managers pay in Strafford County, NH?
Total taxes are $16,779 a year, an effective rate of 19.6%: $10,244 federal income tax, $6,535 FICA and no New Hampshire income tax.
Do Social and Community Service Managers earn more in Strafford County, NH than elsewhere in New Hampshire?
It is about the same. The local median of $85,430 is within 0.4% of the New Hampshire average of $85,098.
Can Social and Community Service Managers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Strafford County, NH?
A one-bedroom costs $1,600 a month against take-home pay of $5,721, which is 28.0% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $2,136 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Social and Community Service Managers in Strafford County, NH?
About $3,442 a month ($41,301 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $27,350 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Strafford County, NH at the 30% guideline?
$30.77 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,200 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Social and Community Service Managers is $41.07.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the New Hampshire rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.