Southern New Hampshire is within commuting distance of Boston, and has reasonable variety of the type of jobs you'd expect to see about a hour or two away from

Southern New Hampshire is within commuting distance of Boston, and has reasonable variety of the type of jobs you'd expect to see about a hour or two away from a major metropolitan area--also there are still some farmland being converted to residences which makes housing relatively affordable compared to Greater Boston. These forces fall off once you move beyond the southern NH cities--Northern New Hampshire is a lot like Vermont, but with less tourism.