Best Places03263, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 03263, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
03263 ranks 11,872nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 03263
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
03263's strengths and weaknesses
Where 03263 ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 03263 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,283 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 03263
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 03263 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,878, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 03263's effective rate of 2.07%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 03263
03263 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 03263.
Who works in 03263, and how
Work in 03263 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 03263
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 03263.
What the weather is like in 03263, month by month
03263 sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 61° | 46° | 33° |
| July | 87° | 73° | 59° |
| October | 66° | 51° | 39° |
Flying in and out of 03263
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 67 miles away.
The best schools in and around 03263
Schools across 03263 average a C−, better than 23% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Strafford SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Pittsfield Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Loudon Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Merrimack Valley Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Pittsfield Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Pittsfield High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Merrimack Valley High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 03263 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
03263 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 03263 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 03263
Is 03263 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 03263 ranks 11,872nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low taxes, low crime, and clean air, and lowest on property taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 03263 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $292,506. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $74,878 median income, cost of living beats 32% of zip codes.
Is 03263 safe?
Yes, 03263 is safer than 89% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $186 per resident a year.
Compare 03263 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 03263. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 03263 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
03263 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 03263: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 03263: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 03263: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 03263: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
03263 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.