Best PlacesCharlestown, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Charlestown, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Charlestown ranks 31,578th 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 Charlestown
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.
Charlestown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Charlestown ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
Where Charlestown ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,277 a month, better than only 11% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Charlestown
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Charlestown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $54,125, 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 Charlestown's effective rate of 2.24%, 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 Charlestown
Charlestown's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Charlestown.
Who works in Charlestown, and how
Work in Charlestown centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Charlestown
Charlestown has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Charlestown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Charlestown, month by month
Charlestown sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 58° |
| October | 64° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Charlestown
The nearest airport, Lebanon Municipal, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Charlestown
Schools across Charlestown average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sarah Porter SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- North Walpole SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Unity Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vilas Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Claremont Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Charlestown Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Fall Mountain Regional High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Stevens High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Charlestown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Charlestown 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 Charlestown against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Charlestown
Is Charlestown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Charlestown ranks 31,578th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, clean air, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on property taxes 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 Charlestown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $210,804. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $54,125 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Charlestown safe?
Yes, Charlestown is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $265 per resident a year.
Compare Charlestown with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Charlestown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Charlestown 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.
Charlestown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Charlestown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Charlestown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Charlestown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Charlestown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Charlestown 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.