Best Places03856, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 03856, 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.
03856 ranks 1,485th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 03856
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.
03856's strengths and weaknesses
Where 03856 ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$188,153 median, better than 99% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of zip codes
Where 03856 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,375 a month, better than only 11% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 03856
A household needs to earn about $181,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 03856 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $188,153, 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 03856's effective rate of 1.52%, 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 03856
03856 runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 03856.
Who works in 03856, and how
Work in 03856 centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 03856
The coast is about 16 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 03856, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 03856, month by month
03856 sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 03856
The nearest airport, Portsmouth International at Pease, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 47 miles away.
The best schools in and around 03856
Schools across 03856 average a B, better than 69% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Stratham Memorial SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Newmarket Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Newfields Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newmarket Jr.-sr. High (elem)B+ · 47% proficient
- Cooperative Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Epping Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Newmarket Jr.-sr. High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Exeter High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 03856 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
03856 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 03856 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 03856
Is 03856 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 03856 ranks 1,485th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low taxes, high incomes, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 03856 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $631,332. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $188,153 median income, cost of living beats 98% of zip codes.
Is 03856 safe?
03856 is safer than 49% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $293 per resident a year.
Compare 03856 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 03856. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 03856 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.
03856 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 03856: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 03856: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 03856: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 03856: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
03856 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.