Best Places03851, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 03851, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
03851 ranks 12,045th 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 03851
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.
03851's strengths and weaknesses
Where 03851 ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of zip codes
Where 03851 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,297 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 03851
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 03851 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $103,762, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 03851's effective rate of 1.69%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 03851
03851 runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 03851.
Who works in 03851, and how
Work in 03851 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 03851
The coast is about 39 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 03851, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 03851, month by month
03851 sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 35° |
| July | 87° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 66° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 03851
The nearest airport, Portsmouth International at Pease, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around 03851
Schools across 03851 average a D, better than 9% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Milton Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nute Junior High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Nute High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 03851 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
03851 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 03851 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 03851
Is 03851 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 03851 ranks 12,045th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low taxes, low crime, and tree cover, and lowest on an overheated housing market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 03851 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $304,068. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $103,762 median income, cost of living beats 54% of zip codes.
Is 03851 safe?
Yes, 03851 is safer than 95% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $156 per resident a year.
Compare 03851 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 03851. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 03851 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.
03851 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 03851: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 03851: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 03851: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 03851: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
03851 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.