Best PlacesWindham, NH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Windham, 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.
Windham ranks 185th 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 Windham
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.
Windham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Windham ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$180,246 median, better than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
Where Windham ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,375 a month, better than only 7% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 11% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 11% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Windham
A household needs to earn about $206,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Windham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $180,246, 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 Windham's effective rate of 1.27%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Windham
Windham'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 Windham.
Who works in Windham, and how
Work in Windham centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Windham
Windham has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of towns. The coast is about 34 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Windham and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Windham, month by month
Windham sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Windham
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 34 miles away.
The best schools in and around Windham
Schools across Windham average an A, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Golden Brook Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Hampstead Central SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- North Salem Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Windham Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Windham Center SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Woodbury SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Windham High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- Pinkerton AcademyB · 49% proficient
- Salem High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Windham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Windham 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 Windham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Windham
Is Windham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Windham ranks 185th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, low crime, and high incomes, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Windham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $739,154. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $180,246 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Windham safe?
Yes, Windham is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $110 per resident a year.
Compare Windham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Windham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Windham 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.
Windham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Windham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Windham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Windham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Windham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Windham 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.