Best PlacesAlton Bay, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Alton Bay, 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.
Alton Bay ranks 3,276th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Alton Bay
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.
Alton Bay's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alton Bay ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- Household income$127,497 median, better than 94% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of towns
Where Alton Bay ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,285 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Alton Bay
A household needs to earn about $143,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alton Bay home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $127,497, 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 Alton Bay's effective rate of 0.99%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Alton Bay
Alton Bay runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alton Bay.
Who works in Alton Bay, and how
Work in Alton Bay centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Alton Bay
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Alton Bay.
What the weather is like in Alton Bay, month by month
Alton Bay 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 Alton Bay
The nearest airport, Portsmouth International at Pease, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 81 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alton Bay
Schools across Alton Bay average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gilford Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Gilmanton Elementary SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Alton Central School (elem)C− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gilford Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Gilford High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Kingswood Regional High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Prospect Mountain High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alton Bay school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alton Bay 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 Alton Bay against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Alton Bay
Is Alton Bay a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alton Bay ranks 3,276th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, civic engagement, and high incomes, 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 Alton Bay expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $535,138. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $127,497 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is Alton Bay safe?
Yes, Alton Bay is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $180 per resident a year.
Compare Alton Bay with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alton Bay. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alton Bay 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.
Alton Bay detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alton Bay: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alton Bay: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alton Bay: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alton Bay: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alton Bay 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.