Best PlacesStratham, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stratham, 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.
Stratham ranks 755th 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 Stratham
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.
Stratham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stratham ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
Where Stratham ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter 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
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stratham
A household needs to earn about $193,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stratham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $156,009, 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 Stratham's effective rate of 1.39%, 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 Stratham
Stratham runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Stratham.
Who works in Stratham, and how
Work in Stratham centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Stratham
Stratham has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of towns. The coast is about 13 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Stratham and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Stratham, month by month
Stratham sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 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 | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Stratham
The nearest airport, Portsmouth International at Pease, is about 6 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 Stratham
Schools across Stratham average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Greenland Central SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Stratham Memorial SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Newmarket Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newmarket Jr.-sr. High (elem)B+ · 47% proficient
- Cooperative Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Newmarket Jr.-sr. High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Exeter High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Portsmouth High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stratham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stratham 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 Stratham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stratham
Is Stratham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stratham ranks 755th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, an educated workforce, and health care access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stratham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $682,196. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $156,009 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Stratham safe?
Yes, Stratham is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $168 per resident a year.
Compare Stratham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stratham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stratham 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.
Stratham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stratham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stratham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stratham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stratham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stratham 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.