Best PlacesMason, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mason, 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.
Mason ranks 4,681st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mason
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.
Mason's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mason ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Household income$108,147 median, better than 89% of towns
Where Mason ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,341 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
- Short commute33.4 minutes each way, better than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mason
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mason home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $108,147, 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 Mason's effective rate of 1.71%, 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 Mason
Mason runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mason.
Who works in Mason, and how
Work in Mason centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Mason
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mason.
What the weather is like in Mason, month by month
Mason sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Mason
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mason
Schools across Mason average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mason Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Richard Maghakian Memorial SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Highbridge Hill Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Captain Samuel Douglass AcademyA · 66% proficient
- Hawthorne BrookB · 43% proficient
- Boynton Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- North Middlesex RegionalA · 68% proficient
- Hollis-brookline High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Mascenic Regional High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mason school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mason 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 Mason against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mason
Is Mason a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mason ranks 4,681st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, low crime, and tree cover, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mason expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $273,364. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $108,147 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Mason safe?
Yes, Mason is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $150 per resident a year.
Compare Mason with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mason. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mason 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.
Mason detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mason: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mason: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mason: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mason: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mason 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.