Best PlacesSeverance, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Severance, 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.
Severance ranks 2,266th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Severance
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.
Severance's strengths and weaknesses
Where Severance ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$151,398 median, better than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of towns
Where Severance ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,375 a month, better than only 7% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Severance
A household needs to earn about $148,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Severance home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $151,398, 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 Severance's effective rate of 1.28%, 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 Severance
Severance runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Severance.
Who works in Severance, and how
Work in Severance centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Severance
The coast is about 34 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Severance, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Severance, month by month
Severance sees roughly 65 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 Severance
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 50 miles away.
The best schools in and around Severance
Schools across Severance average a B−, better than 59% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hooksett Memorial SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Henry W. Moore SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Auburn Village SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- David R. Cawley Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Manchester Central High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Manchester Memorial High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Severance school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Severance 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 Severance against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Severance
Is Severance a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Severance ranks 2,266th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, few empty homes, and high incomes, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Severance expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $529,669. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $151,398 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Severance safe?
Yes, Severance is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $186 per resident a year.
Compare Severance with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Severance. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Severance 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.
Severance detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Severance: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Severance: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Severance: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Severance: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Severance 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.