Best PlacesBretton Woods, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bretton Woods, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bretton Woods ranks 12,589th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bretton Woods
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.
Bretton Woods' strengths and weaknesses
Where Bretton Woods ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of towns
Where Bretton Woods ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bretton Woods
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bretton Woods home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $79,318; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Bretton Woods' effective rate of 1.27%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bretton Woods
Bretton Woods runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bretton Woods.
Who works in Bretton Woods, and how
Work in Bretton Woods centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Bretton Woods
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bretton Woods.
What the weather is like in Bretton Woods, month by month
Bretton Woods sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 57 degrees. January highs sit near 16, with lows near 1. No month averages between 55 and 75 degrees.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16° | 8° | 1° |
| April | 31° | 24° | 17° |
| July | 57° | 51° | 47° |
| October | 41° | 35° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Bretton Woods
The nearest airport, Lebanon Municipal, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bretton Woods
Schools across Bretton Woods average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Edward Fenn SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Lin-wood Public School (elem)B− · 44% proficient
- Bethlehem Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gorham Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Lin-wood Public School (middle)C · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Profile Senior High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Gorham High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- White Mountains Regional High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bretton Woods school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bretton Woods 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 Bretton Woods against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bretton Woods
Is Bretton Woods a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bretton Woods ranks 12,589th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, heat safety, and health care access, and lowest on the weather and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bretton Woods expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $302,615. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $79,318 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Bretton Woods safe?
Yes, Bretton Woods is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $187 per resident a year.
Compare Bretton Woods with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bretton Woods. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bretton Woods 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.
Bretton Woods detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bretton Woods: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bretton Woods: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bretton Woods: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bretton Woods: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bretton Woods 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.