Best PlacesPelham, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pelham, 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.
Pelham ranks 1,196th 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 Pelham
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.
Pelham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pelham ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Household income$138,199 median, better than 96% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
Where Pelham ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,341 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pelham
A household needs to earn about $159,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pelham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $138,199, 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 Pelham's effective rate of 1.53%, 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 Pelham
Pelham's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pelham.
Who works in Pelham, and how
Work in Pelham centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Pelham
Pelham has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of towns and more parkland per resident than 83% of towns. The coast is about 35 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Pelham and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Pelham, month by month
Pelham sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 66° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Pelham
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 30 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pelham
Schools across Pelham average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Golden Brook Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Pelham Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Nottingham West Elementary SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Windham Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Pelham Memorial SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Hudson Memorial SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Windham High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- Alvirne High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Pelham High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pelham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pelham 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 Pelham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pelham
Is Pelham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pelham ranks 1,196th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, low crime, and high incomes, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pelham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $553,028. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $138,199 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is Pelham safe?
Yes, Pelham is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $138 per resident a year.
Compare Pelham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pelham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pelham 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.
Pelham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pelham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pelham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pelham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pelham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pelham 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.