Best PlacesSwiftwater, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Swiftwater, 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.
Swiftwater ranks 17,830th 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 Swiftwater
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.
Swiftwater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Swiftwater ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of towns
- QuietBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of towns
Where Swiftwater ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,270 a month, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Swiftwater
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Swiftwater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $69,184; 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 Swiftwater's effective rate of 1.49%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Swiftwater
Swiftwater runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Swiftwater.
Who works in Swiftwater, and how
Work in Swiftwater centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Swiftwater
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Swiftwater.
What the weather is like in Swiftwater, month by month
Swiftwater sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Swiftwater
The nearest airport, Lebanon Municipal, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Swiftwater
Schools across Swiftwater average a C+, better than 51% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bath Village SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Woodsville Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lisbon Regional School (middle)B− · 40% proficient
- Haverhill Cooperative Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Lisbon Regional School (high)C · 34% proficient
- Woodsville High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Swiftwater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Swiftwater 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 Swiftwater against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Swiftwater
Is Swiftwater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Swiftwater ranks 17,830th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, tree cover, and clean air, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Swiftwater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $263,735. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $69,184 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Swiftwater safe?
Yes, Swiftwater is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $191 per resident a year.
Compare Swiftwater with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Swiftwater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Swiftwater 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.
Swiftwater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Swiftwater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Swiftwater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Swiftwater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Swiftwater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Swiftwater 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.