States · New Hampshire · Belknap County

Barnstead, New Hampshire.

Typical home $452,828 (+1.9% in a year). Laconia, NH metro.

What it costs per month · Barnstead $2,377/mo

to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,479 (+165%) since Jan 2020.

What the home itself did
1 year
Up $8,361 +2%
$444,466$452,828 since Sep 2025
5 years
Up $126,241 +39%
$326,587$452,828 since Sep 2021

Monthly payment to buy the typical home

Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.

$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 Barnstead $2,377 New Hampshire $2,682 United States $1,922
$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 2002 2010 2018 2026
  • Barnstead$2,377
  • New Hampshire$2,682
  • United States$1,922

At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 11 years.

Typical home values in Barnstead, NH rose 1.9% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.

Living in Barnstead, Belknap County, New Hampshire

Barnstead is a town of 4,915 people in Belknap County. Half its households earn more than $111,660 a year and half less, against $92,783 across Belknap County; 3% of its people live below the poverty line. 94% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 6% are rented. Unemployment in Belknap County was 2.5% in August 2026, and the county had 0.2% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then restaurants and hotels.

People 4,915 in the 2020 census; median age 42.8
Household income $111,660 the median, give or take $11,758 · Belknap County: $92,783
Unemployment 2.5% Belknap County, August 2026; 3.0% a year before
Homes 94% lived in by their owners; 6% rented

Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.

What it’s like

The place. Barnstead is a small, quiet town where nearly everyone owns the home they live in, and renters are rare. Incomes run higher than across Belknap County, and very few households live below the poverty line. The population skews a little older, and a four-year degree is held by a minority of adults. Winters are cold and snowy, with January the coldest month, while July brings warm days and the year is fairly wet.

Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, followed by restaurants, hotels and entertainment, manufacturing and shops. Across Belknap County, some of the largest workplaces are Concord Hospital - Laconia, New Hampshire Ball Bearings and Pike Industries. The commute is a long one, and a fair number of people skip it by working from home.

Things to do. Locke Lake is in or beside town, and Halfmoon Lake and the Merrymeeting River are both a short drive away, so water is close at hand. Lake Winnipesaukee, one of the best known lakes in the state, is a longer drive away, as is New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a race track.

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  • 1,791households
  • 31%of adults have a degree
  • 3%below the poverty line
  • 31 mintypical commute
  • 13%work from home

What residents work in

  • Schools, hospitals and social care24%
  • Restaurants, hotels and entertainment11%
  • Manufacturing10%
  • Shops (retail)10%
  • Building trades8%
  • Government8%

Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Belknap County had 25,915 jobs in 2025, 0.2% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Weather through the year

Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 32° and 13°; warmest in July, 83° and 59° 20° 40° 60° 80° J 32° 13° F M A M J J 83° 59° A S O N D
Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 32° and 13°; warmest in July, 83° and 59° 20° 40° 60° 80° J 32° 13° F M A M J J 83° 59° A S O N D

Coldest in January, with highs near 32° and lows near 13°; warmest in July, with highs near 83° and lows near 59°. About 68 inches of snow and 42 inches of rain and melted snow a year.

Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Concord Municipal Airport weather station, 16 miles away (NOAA).

Largest workplaces in Belknap County

  1. Concord Hospital - LaconiaGeneral hospital727FTE
  2. New Hampshire Ball BearingsBall bearings manufacturing400
  3. Pike IndustriesAsphalt paving and installation390
  4. Laconia School DistrictSchool district364FTE
  5. Taylor CommunityContinuing care retirement communities325
  6. Smiths Tubular Systems - LaconiaAircraft engine and engine parts manufacturing309
  7. WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters287
  8. Shaker Regional School DistrictSchool district264FTE

Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 54 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 5,005 people in all across the county; Barnstead has none of its own. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023) and school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.

Natural hazards

  1. LightningRelatively high
  2. Ice stormsRelatively high
  3. Winter weatherRelatively moderate

FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Belknap County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.

From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Belknap County and the Laconia, NH metro.

Barnstead home values

Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.

$200,000 $300,000 $400,000 $500,000 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 Barnstead $452,828 New Hampshire $510,937 United States $366,157
$200,000 $300,000 $400,000 $500,000 2018 2022 2026
  • Barnstead$452,828
  • New Hampshire$510,937
  • United States$366,157

Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 4 Barnstead listings — the market is roughly in balance.

When this market ran hot

Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.

JFMAMJJASOND
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
falling flat warming hot overheating runaway

Market heat, inside the city limits

Share of listings with a price cut

The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.

10% 20% 30% 2026 Barnstead 28.35% United States 26.90%
10% 20% 30% 2026
  • Barnstead28.35%
  • United States26.90%

Homes for sale

Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.

5 10 15 20 25 2024 2025 2026 Barnstead 26
5 10 15 20 25 2024 2025 2026
  • Barnstead26

New listings per month

Sellers arriving at the market.

5 10 15 2026 Barnstead 10
5 10 15 2026
  • Barnstead10

Zip codes with a Barnstead address

A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Barnstead — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.

Zip codes in Barnstead

Zip Place Population Rent Home value
03225 Center Barnstead 3,834 — $449,063
03218 Barnstead 1,160 — $463,421