Best Places03809, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 03809, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
03809 ranks 6,959th 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 03809
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.
03809's strengths and weaknesses
Where 03809 ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 03809 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Short commute36.2 minutes each way, better than only 9% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 03809
A household needs to earn about $115,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 03809 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $111,956; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 03809's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 03809
03809 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 03809.
Who works in 03809, and how
Work in 03809 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 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 03809
03809 has more parkland per resident than 94% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 03809 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 03809, month by month
03809 sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 03809
The nearest airport, Portsmouth International at Pease, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around 03809
Schools across 03809 average a C+, better than 40% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Alton Central School (elem)C− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Kingswood Regional High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Prospect Mountain High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Farmington Senior High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 03809 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
03809 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 03809 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 03809
Is 03809 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 03809 ranks 6,959th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low taxes, low crime, and tree cover, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 03809 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $430,573. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $111,956 median income, cost of living beats 80% of zip codes.
Is 03809 safe?
Yes, 03809 is safer than 92% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $172 per resident a year.
Compare 03809 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 03809. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 03809 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.
03809 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 03809: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 03809: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 03809: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 03809: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
03809 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.