[douche]

It's probably almost entirely that south-east New Hampshire is a bedroom community for Boston. Most of Vermont is far enough away from Boston and New York that people can't easily commute, whereas if you live in Portsmouth or Exeter or Nashua, NH, it's under an hour to Boston.

[ghaff]

I wouldn't really describe SE NH as a bedroom community for Boston though there's some of that. A lot of Massachusetts tech, for example, is actually North and Northwest of Boston for various historical reasons. There's also a fair bit of tech and other industry in SE New Hampshire. But your basic point stands--that SE NH (in particular) has access to tech and other good industrial jobs that Vermont residents generally don't.

[acomjean]

As someone who worked used to work in tech in Woburn MA (30 minutes North of boston), and had a fair number of NH living co-workers, I would say this is true. Though a lot of tech is moving into the city proper as commutes here continue to worsen.