Best Places03858, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 03858, 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.
03858 ranks 2,390th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 03858
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.
03858's strengths and weaknesses
Where 03858 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Household income$138,137 median, better than 94% of zip codes
Where 03858 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,387 a month, better than only 10% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 03858
A household needs to earn about $127,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 03858 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $138,137, 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 03858's effective rate of 1.25%, 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 03858
03858 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 03858.
Who works in 03858, and how
Work in 03858 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. 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 3%
Life in 03858
The coast is about 19 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 03858, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 03858, month by month
03858 sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 03858
The nearest airport, Portsmouth International at Pease, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 35 miles away.
The best schools in and around 03858
Schools across 03858 average a C, better than 39% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- South Hampton Barnard SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Memorial SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Timberlane Regional Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- John G WhittierD+ · 27% proficient
- Sanborn Regional Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Amesbury HighA− · 65% proficient
- Timberlane Regional High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Sanborn Regional High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 03858 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
03858 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 03858 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 03858
Is 03858 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 03858 ranks 2,390th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, low taxes, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 03858 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $458,182. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $138,137 median income, cost of living beats 88% of zip codes.
Is 03858 safe?
Yes, 03858 is safer than 99% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $123 per resident a year.
Compare 03858 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 03858. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 03858 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.
03858 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 03858: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 03858: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 03858: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 03858: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
03858 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.