Best Places03603, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 03603, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
03603 ranks 22,760th 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 03603
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.
03603's strengths and weaknesses
Where 03603 ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 03603 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Household income$53,545 median, better than only 15% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 03603
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 03603 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $53,545, 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 03603's effective rate of 2.23%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 03603
03603 runs older 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 03603.
Who works in 03603, and how
Work in 03603 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 03603
03603 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 03603 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 03603, month by month
03603 sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 58° |
| October | 64° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of 03603
The nearest airport, Lebanon Municipal, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around 03603
Schools across 03603 average a C, better than 35% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Sarah Porter SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- North Walpole SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Unity Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vilas Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Claremont Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Charlestown Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Fall Mountain Regional High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Stevens High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 03603 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
03603 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 03603 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 03603
Is 03603 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 03603 ranks 22,760th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low taxes, clean air, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on property taxes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 03603 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $217,120. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $53,545 median income, cost of living beats 9% of zip codes.
Is 03603 safe?
Yes, 03603 is safer than 65% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $274 per resident a year.
Compare 03603 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 03603. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 03603 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.
03603 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 03603: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 03603: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 03603: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 03603: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
03603 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.