Best PlacesDunbarton, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dunbarton, 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.
Dunbarton ranks 3,191st 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 Dunbarton
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.
Dunbarton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dunbarton ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
Where Dunbarton ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% 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
- Short commute35.1 minutes each way, better than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dunbarton
A household needs to earn about $152,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dunbarton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $122,939, 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 Dunbarton's effective rate of 1.68%, 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 Dunbarton
Dunbarton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dunbarton.
Who works in Dunbarton, and how
Work in Dunbarton centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Dunbarton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dunbarton.
What the weather is like in Dunbarton, month by month
Dunbarton 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 Dunbarton
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 57 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dunbarton
Schools across Dunbarton average a B+, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bow Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Dunbarton Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bow Memorial SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Mountain View Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Goffstown High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Bow High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dunbarton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dunbarton 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 Dunbarton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dunbarton
Is Dunbarton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dunbarton ranks 3,191st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, few empty homes, and health care access, 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 Dunbarton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $517,829. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $122,939 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Dunbarton safe?
Yes, Dunbarton is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $227 per resident a year.
Compare Dunbarton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dunbarton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dunbarton 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.
Dunbarton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dunbarton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dunbarton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dunbarton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dunbarton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dunbarton 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.