Best PlacesMascoma, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mascoma, 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.
Mascoma ranks 5,405th 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 Mascoma
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.
Mascoma's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mascoma ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
Where Mascoma ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,272 a month, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mascoma
A household needs to earn about $111,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mascoma home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $111,830, 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 Mascoma'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mascoma
Mascoma 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 Mascoma.
Who works in Mascoma, and how
Work in Mascoma centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Mascoma
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mascoma.
What the weather is like in Mascoma, month by month
Mascoma sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 24° | 14° |
| April | 60° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 87° | 72° | 59° |
| October | 65° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Mascoma
The nearest airport, Lebanon Municipal, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mascoma
Schools across Mascoma average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Enfield Village SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Grantham Village SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Plainfield Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian River SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Lebanon High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Mascoma Valley Regional High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mascoma school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mascoma 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 Mascoma against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mascoma
Is Mascoma a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mascoma ranks 5,405th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, an educated workforce, and clean air, 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 Mascoma expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $379,703. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $111,830 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is Mascoma safe?
Yes, Mascoma is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $229 per resident a year.
Compare Mascoma with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mascoma. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mascoma 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.
Mascoma detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mascoma: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mascoma: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mascoma: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mascoma: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mascoma 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.