Best PlacesContoocook, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Contoocook, 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.
Contoocook ranks 2,299th 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 Contoocook
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.
Contoocook's strengths and weaknesses
Where Contoocook ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
- Household income$138,099 median, better than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
Where Contoocook ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,283 a month, better than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Contoocook
A household needs to earn about $150,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Contoocook home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $138,099; 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 Contoocook's effective rate of 2.21%, 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 Contoocook
Contoocook runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Contoocook.
Who works in Contoocook, and how
Work in Contoocook centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Contoocook
Contoocook has more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Contoocook and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Contoocook, month by month
Contoocook 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 Contoocook
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Contoocook
Schools across Contoocook average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bow Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Harold Martin SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Henniker Community SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bow Memorial SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Maple Street Elementary SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Hopkinton Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Hopkinton High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Bow High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- John Stark Regional High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Contoocook school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Contoocook 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 Contoocook against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Contoocook
Is Contoocook a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Contoocook ranks 2,299th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, health care access, and an educated workforce, 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 Contoocook expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $480,269. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $138,099 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Contoocook safe?
Yes, Contoocook is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $215 per resident a year.
Compare Contoocook with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Contoocook. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Contoocook 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.
Contoocook detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Contoocook: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Contoocook: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Contoocook: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Contoocook: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Contoocook 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.