Best PlacesSullivan County, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sullivan County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sullivan County ranks 859th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Sullivan County
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 Sullivan County
The parts of Sullivan County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Grantham
More adults hold degrees, tree cover is thicker, and incomes run higher.
Newport
Fewer households have young kids and more homes sit empty.
Charlestown
It is quieter, though local pay stretches less far.
Claremont
Streets are more walkable and biking is better.
Scores across Sullivan County run from about the 20th to the 97th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Sullivan County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sullivan County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 96% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of counties
Where Sullivan County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,277 a month, better than only 7% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sullivan County
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sullivan County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $83,326; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Sullivan County's effective rate of 2.04%, 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 Sullivan County
Sullivan County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sullivan County.
Who works in Sullivan County, and how
Work in Sullivan County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sullivan County
Sullivan County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of counties and more parkland per resident than 87% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sullivan County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sullivan County growing, and who is moving in?
Sullivan County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Grafton County, NH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sullivan County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sullivan County, month by month
Sullivan County sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 58° |
| October | 64° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Sullivan County
The nearest airport, Lebanon Municipal, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sullivan County
Schools across Sullivan County average a C+, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sarah Porter SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Grantham Village SchoolA · 68% proficient
- North Walpole SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sunapee Middle High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Kearsarge Regional Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Indian River SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Sunapee Sr. High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Lebanon High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Kearsarge Regional High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sullivan County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sullivan County 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 Sullivan County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sullivan County suits
Families
Schools land around the 45th percentile and crime safety beats 92%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Sullivan County
Is Sullivan County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sullivan County ranks 859th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, tree cover, and low crime, and lowest on property taxes 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 Sullivan County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $284,803. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $83,326 median income, cost of living beats 61% of counties.
Is Sullivan County safe?
Yes, Sullivan County is safer than 92% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $227 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sullivan County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 15. That works out to about 63 pleasant days a year, more than 9% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sullivan County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Grantham, Newport, and Charlestown. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Sullivan County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sullivan County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sullivan County 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.
Sullivan County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sullivan County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sullivan County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sullivan County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sullivan County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sullivan County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.