Best PlacesExeter, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Exeter, 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.
Exeter ranks 1,405th 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 Exeter
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.
Exeter's strengths and weaknesses
Where Exeter ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
Where Exeter ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,375 a month, better than only 7% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Exeter
A household needs to earn about $142,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Exeter home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $122,750, 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 Exeter's effective rate of 1.63%, 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 Exeter
Exeter runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Exeter.
Who works in Exeter, and how
Work in Exeter centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Exeter
Exeter has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns and more parkland per resident than 88% of towns. The coast is about 13 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Exeter and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Exeter, month by month
Exeter sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Exeter
The nearest airport, Portsmouth International at Pease, is about 10 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 Exeter
Schools across Exeter average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln Akerman SchoolA · 67% proficient
- South Hampton Barnard SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Swasey Central SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newmarket Jr.-sr. High (elem)B+ · 47% proficient
- Cooperative Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Epping Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Exeter High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Winnacunnet High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Virtual Learning Academy (h)B · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Exeter school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Exeter 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 Exeter against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Exeter suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 65% of towns and health care access beats 97%.
Common questions about living in Exeter
Is Exeter a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Exeter ranks 1,405th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, health care access, and an educated workforce, 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 Exeter expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $489,817. The overall cost of living runs about 21% above the national average. Set against a $122,750 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Exeter safe?
Yes, Exeter is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $167 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Exeter?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 19. That works out to about 95 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of towns.
Is Exeter good for families?
Schools beat 74% of towns, crime safety beats 95%, and childcare runs $1,375 a month.
Compare Exeter with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Exeter. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Exeter 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.
Exeter detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Exeter: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Exeter: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Exeter: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Exeter: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Exeter 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.