Keene is a medium-sized city located in the state of New Hampshire. With a population of 22,774 people and five associated neighborhoods, Keene is the 12th largest community in New Hampshire. Keene has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.Unlike some cities, Keene isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Keene are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Keene is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Keene who work in sales jobs (10.38%), teaching (10.20%), and office and administrative support (9.69%). Also of interest is that Keene has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Of important note, Keene is also a city of artists. Keene has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Keene’s character. A relatively large number of people in Keene telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 14.06% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.Keene is also a college town, where lots of students live while attending area colleges. Because of the high percentage of people living in Keene enrolled in college, Keene has a number of services, amenities and opportunities geared towards the needs and activities of students. Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Keene spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 16.96 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.The education level of Keene ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Keene, 44.07% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree. The per capita income in Keene in 2022 was $37,968, which is lower middle income relative to New Hampshire, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $151,872 for a family of four. However, Keene contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. The people who call Keene home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Keene residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Keene include Irish, English, Italian, French, and German. The most common language spoken in Keene is English. Other important languages spoken here include French and Spanish.
