Best PlacesBow, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bow, 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.
Bow ranks 409th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bow
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.
Bow's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bow ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$167,856 median, better than 98% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
Where Bow ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,283 a month, better than only 11% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bow
A household needs to earn about $151,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bow home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $167,856, 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 Bow's effective rate of 1.75%, 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 Bow
Bow runs older than the country, 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 Bow.
Who works in Bow, and how
Work in Bow centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Bow
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bow.
What the weather is like in Bow, month by month
Bow sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 61° | 46° | 33° |
| July | 87° | 73° | 59° |
| October | 66° | 51° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Bow
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bow
Schools across Bow average a B+, better than 78% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bow Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Abbot-downing SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bow Memorial SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Rundlett Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Bow High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Concord High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bow school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bow 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 Bow against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bow
Is Bow a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bow ranks 409th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, health care access, and high incomes, and lowest on property taxes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bow expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $510,040. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $167,856 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Bow safe?
Yes, Bow is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $139 per resident a year.
Compare Bow with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bow. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bow 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.
Bow detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bow: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bow: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bow: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bow: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bow 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.