Best Places03461, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 03461, 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.
03461 ranks 5,653rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 03461
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.
03461's strengths and weaknesses
Where 03461 ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 03461 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,272 a month, better than only 18% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 03461
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 03461 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $102,257, 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 03461's effective rate of 1.28%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 03461
03461 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 03461.
Who works in 03461, and how
Work in 03461 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 03461
03461 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 03461 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 03461, month by month
03461 sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 03461
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around 03461
Schools across 03461 average a C, better than 30% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Rindge Memorial SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Highbridge Hill Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Jaffrey Grade SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Boynton Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Murdock Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Jaffrey-rindge Middle SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Mascenic Regional High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Monadnock Regional High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Murdock High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 03461 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
03461 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 03461 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 03461
Is 03461 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 03461 ranks 5,653rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low taxes, low crime, and population health, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 03461 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $414,737. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $102,257 median income, cost of living beats 66% of zip codes.
Is 03461 safe?
Yes, 03461 is safer than 93% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $170 per resident a year.
Compare 03461 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 03461. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 03461 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.
03461 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 03461: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 03461: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 03461: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 03461: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
03461 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.