Best PlacesManchester, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Manchester metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via commons
Manchester ranks 4th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $115,345, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, the weather, and cell coverage.
The best neighborhoods in the Manchester metro
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.
The best areas in Manchester
The towns and districts of the Manchester metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Brookline, New Ipswich & Greenville
Tree cover is thicker, it is quieter, and more households have young kids.
Bedford & Merrimack
Local pay stretches further and incomes run higher.
Milford, Amherst & Peterborough
More adults hold degrees, though streets are more car-dependent.
Hudson & Pelham
Scores close to Milford, Amherst & Peterborough, except that biking is better here.
Nashua
Prices have run up less.
Weare, Hillsboro & New Boston
More homes sit empty and commutes are longer.
Litchfield
Schools score lower.
Goffstown
Fewer residents vote.
Downtown Manchester
Health care is harder to reach and crime runs higher.
Scores across Manchester run from about the 21st to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Manchester's strengths and weaknesses
Manchester ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low taxes is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. Low crime and high incomes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Property taxes, the weather, and cell coverage hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Manchester ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Household income$115,345 median, better than 96% of metro areas
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of metro areas
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of metro areas
Where Manchester ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of metro areas
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of metro areas
- Short commute27.3 minutes each way, better than only 12% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Manchester
A household needs to earn about $123,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Manchester home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $115,345; 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 Manchester's effective rate of 1.64%, 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 Manchester
Manchester's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Manchester.
Who works in Manchester, and how
Work in Manchester centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Manchester
Manchester has more parkland per resident than 83% of metro areas and more late-night spots per resident than 78% of metro areas. The coast is about 47 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Manchester and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Manchester growing, and who is moving in?
Manchester has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Boston, MA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Manchester go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Manchester, month by month
Manchester sees roughly 63 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 Manchester
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Manchester
Schools across Manchester average a C+, better than 38% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Peter Woodbury SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Hooksett Memorial SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Auburn Village SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mckelvie Intermediate SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Ross A. Lurgio Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- David R. Cawley Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- The Founders Academy Charter School (h)A · 68% proficient
- Bedford High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- Goffstown High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Manchester school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Manchester 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 Manchester against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Manchester suits
Families
Schools land around the 38th percentile and crime safety beats 99%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of metro areas and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Manchester
Is Manchester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Manchester ranks 4th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on low taxes, low crime, and high incomes, 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 Manchester expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $423,704. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $115,345 median income, cost of living beats 94% of metro areas.
Is Manchester safe?
Yes, Manchester is safer than 99% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $174 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Manchester?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 20. That works out to about 63 pleasant days a year, more than 9% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Manchester?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Brookline, New Ipswich & Greenville, Bedford & Merrimack, and Milford, Amherst & Peterborough. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Manchester good for families?
Schools beat 38% of metro areas, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $1,341 a month.
Is Manchester good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 21% of metro areas. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Manchester with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Manchester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Manchester 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.
Manchester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Manchester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Manchester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Manchester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Manchester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Manchester 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.