New Hampshire schools face a continuing need to replace departing teachers even as enrollment falls, according to an October 13 analysis by the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. Its central forecast is about hiring turnover, not an expectation that schools will add more than 1,100 teaching positions every year.
The institute, citing New Hampshire Employment Security projections for 2024–2034, reports 1,114 annual openings across kindergarten, elementary, middle and secondary teaching occupations. About 95% would result from people leaving the workforce or moving into different occupations. Net employment growth is approximately 55 jobs annually. Those measures should not be read as a count of currently unfilled classrooms.
The Bulletin’s reporting on the study describes recruitment pressure alongside declining enrollment. Analyst Ben Reynolds told the publication that districts still need specialist teachers and cannot necessarily reduce staffing in direct proportion to a smaller student population. The distinction matters when assessing whether a district’s staffing problem reflects enrollment, turnover or particular qualifications.
Recruitment has several moving parts
The institute’s degree data show education bachelor’s completions at New Hampshire institutions falling from 567 in 2015 to 283 in 2025. That is one potential source of new educators, not the entire hiring pool: graduates can leave the state, and teachers can qualify through other routes. The report cautions that no single indicator captures statewide shortages.
The issue predates this month’s analysis. A legislative committee’s 2023 report identified low salaries, burnout, student behavior and school culture among recruitment and retention concerns. It also described financial barriers during student teaching, including unpaid work and continuing tuition expenses. These are historical findings, not a new legislative action.
The committee reported that districts compete with one another and neighboring states for qualified staff. It highlighted differences in compensation between communities with stronger property-tax bases and less-resourced districts, alongside testimony about beginning teachers unable to accept jobs because affordable housing was unavailable. Its findings indicate why statewide totals can conceal sharply different local recruitment conditions.
Housing changes the salary calculation
New Hampshire Housing’s affordability report, using 2024 wages and rents, illustrates that constraint. It lists a $66,123 median salary for elementary teachers excluding special education, supporting monthly rent of $1,653 under a 30%-of-income benchmark. The statewide median two-bedroom rent was $2,024—a $371 monthly gap.
The rent benchmark allocates part of gross earnings to housing; it is not a measurement of what individual households actually pay or can find.
That comparison concerns a particular occupation and historical market data, not every teacher’s household budget. A second income, different apartment size or different community would change the calculation. But the housing report explicitly connects high rents with difficulty attracting and retaining essential workers. Read alongside the legislative findings and new workforce analysis, it shows why filling teaching positions involves more than the number of students enrolled.
