Best PlacesEast Merrimack, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Merrimack, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
East Merrimack ranks 3,989th 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 East Merrimack
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.
East Merrimack's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Merrimack ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of towns
Where East Merrimack ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,341 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 11% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East Merrimack
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Merrimack home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,152, 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 East Merrimack's effective rate of 1.60%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in East Merrimack
East Merrimack 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 East Merrimack.
Who works in East Merrimack, and how
Work in East Merrimack centers on manufacturing and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in East Merrimack
East Merrimack has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of towns. The coast is about 45 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of East Merrimack and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Merrimack, month by month
East Merrimack sees roughly 61 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 East Merrimack
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Merrimack
Schools across East Merrimack average a B, better than 67% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Reeds Ferry SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Griffin Memorial SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Thorntons Ferry SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Litchfield Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Merrimack Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- James Mastricola Upper Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Merrimack High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Campbell High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Merrimack school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Merrimack 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 East Merrimack against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in East Merrimack
Is East Merrimack a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Merrimack ranks 3,989th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, walkability, and population health, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Merrimack expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $291,835. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $88,152 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is East Merrimack safe?
Yes, East Merrimack is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
Compare East Merrimack with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Merrimack. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Merrimack 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.
East Merrimack detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Merrimack: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Merrimack: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Merrimack: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Merrimack: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Merrimack 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.