Best PlacesNew Hampshire Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in New Hampshire, 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.
New Hampshire ranks 1st of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index, the highest of any. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $107,488, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are an overheated housing market, transit, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in New Hampshire
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 New Hampshire
The counties of New Hampshire, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Rockingham County
Incomes run higher, fewer homes sit empty, and big-city amenities are closer.
Hillsborough County
It is noisier and tree cover is thinner.
Strafford County
Local pay stretches less far.
Merrimack County
Scores close to Strafford County, except that schools score lower here.
Cheshire County
Homes cost less.
Grafton County
Fewer households have young kids and crime runs higher.
Sullivan County
Prices have run up more and fewer adults hold degrees.
Belknap County & Coos County
Commutes are shorter, though health outcomes score lower.
Carroll County
Biking is worse.
New Hampshire shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 14% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
New Hampshire's strengths and weaknesses
New Hampshire ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low crime is the standout, in the top 1% of states. Health care access and low taxes follow.
The one real hole is an overheated housing market, near the bottom of the country. Transit and property taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where New Hampshire ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of states
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of states
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of states
- Tree shadeBetter than 97% of states
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of states
Where New Hampshire ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of states
- TransitBetter than only 5% of states
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of states
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of states
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of states
What it costs to buy a home in New Hampshire
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Hampshire home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $107,488, 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 New Hampshire's effective rate of 1.62%, 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 New Hampshire
New Hampshire runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New Hampshire.
Who works in New Hampshire, and how
Work in New Hampshire centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in New Hampshire
New Hampshire has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of states and more parkland per resident than 83% of states. New Hampshire has 13 miles of ocean coastline. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of New Hampshire and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New Hampshire, month by month
New Hampshire sees roughly 68 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° |
The best schools in and around New Hampshire
Schools across New Hampshire average a C+, better than 58% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Maude H. Trefethen SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- New Suncook SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Rye Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marshwood Middle SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Shapleigh SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Sacopee Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
Top high schools
- Robert W Traip AcademyA+ · 98% proficient
- Academy For Science And Design Charter (h)A+ · 93% proficient
- Marshwood High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Hampshire school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire against the other 49 states.
Who New Hampshire suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 73% of states and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in New Hampshire
Is New Hampshire a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Hampshire ranks 1st of 50 states. It scores highest on low crime, health care access, and low taxes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New Hampshire expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $417,970. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $107,488 median income, cost of living beats 73% of states.
Is New Hampshire safe?
Yes, New Hampshire is safer than 99% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $184 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in New Hampshire?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 20. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 9% of states.
What are the best areas in New Hampshire?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Rockingham County, Hillsborough County, and Strafford County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is New Hampshire good for families?
Schools beat 58% of states, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $1,318 a month.
Is New Hampshire good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 73% of states, though advertised internet speeds beat only 13% of states. About 17% of workers already work from home.
Compare New Hampshire with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Hampshire. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Hampshire 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.
New Hampshire detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Hampshire: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Hampshire: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Hampshire: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Hampshire: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Hampshire 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.
- 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.