Best PlacesEaton Center, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Eaton Center, 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.
Eaton Center ranks 10,491st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Eaton Center
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.
Eaton Center's strengths and weaknesses
Where Eaton Center ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
Where Eaton Center ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Eaton Center
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Eaton Center home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,046, 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 Eaton Center's effective rate of 1.19%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Eaton Center
Eaton Center 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 Eaton Center.
Who works in Eaton Center, and how
Work in Eaton Center centers on education 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 87%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Eaton Center
Eaton Center has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Eaton Center and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Eaton Center, month by month
Eaton Center sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 22° | 10° |
| April | 58° | 44° | 30° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 57° |
| October | 64° | 49° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Eaton Center
The nearest airport, Portland International Jetport, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 108 miles away.
The best schools in and around Eaton Center
Schools across Eaton Center average a C, better than 37% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Molly Ockett SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Madison Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Freedom Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sacopee Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- A. Crosby Kennett Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Sacopee Valley High SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Kennett High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Eaton Center school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Eaton Center 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 Eaton Center against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Eaton Center
Is Eaton Center a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Eaton Center ranks 10,491st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, low crime, and health care access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Eaton Center expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $341,504. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $82,046 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Eaton Center safe?
Yes, Eaton Center is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $127 per resident a year.
Compare Eaton Center with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Eaton Center. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Eaton Center 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.
Eaton Center detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Eaton Center: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Eaton Center: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Eaton Center: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Eaton Center: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Eaton Center 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.