Best PlacesCandia, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Candia, 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.
Candia ranks 2,833rd of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Candia
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.
Candia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Candia ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$134,218 median, better than 96% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of towns
Where Candia ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,375 a month, better than only 7% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- Short commute34.6 minutes each way, better than only 15% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Candia
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Candia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $134,218, 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 Candia's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 Candia
Candia 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 Candia.
Who works in Candia, and how
Work in Candia centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Candia
The coast is about 32 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Candia, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Candia, month by month
Candia sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 29° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Candia
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 50 miles away.
The best schools in and around Candia
Schools across Candia average a B−, better than 56% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Henry W. Moore SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Auburn Village SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Lamprey River Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Iber Holmes Gove Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Manchester Central High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Pembroke AcademyC+ · 40% proficient
- Manchester Memorial High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Candia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Candia 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 Candia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Candia
Is Candia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Candia ranks 2,833rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, low crime, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Candia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $429,481. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $134,218 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is Candia safe?
Yes, Candia is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $133 per resident a year.
Compare Candia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Candia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Candia 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.
Candia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Candia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Candia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Candia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Candia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Candia 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.