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Towns / New Hampshire

Dover, New Hampshire

Dover is a small city of about 35,000 people in Strafford County, New Hampshire. It's the county seat. It has grown about 6% since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.6 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Boston, is about 59 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
34,623
up 5.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$436,700
Strafford County prices up 27% since 2022
Household income
$94,829
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Boston area
108.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Wentworth-Douglass Hospital
To Boston
59 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.3% above the U.S. average in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood20 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.6 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 5.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town9 public schools: 5 elementary, 1 middle, 2 high schools and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byWentworth-Douglass Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBoston is about 59 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Dover meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$436,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 27%Strafford County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,607 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$94,829U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
53%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$8,249 a yearNew Hampshire: $6,667
Homes built before 1940
26%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
11%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
108.3U.S. average = 100 (the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 27% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area, not Dover alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
34,6232020: 32,790
Median age
36.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
17%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
17%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
52%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
9%U.S.: 6%
College students
6%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (25%); manufacturing (14%); professional and business services (14%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
23 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
19%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
8%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, Dover, NH, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

9 public schools in Dover, run by Dover School District and Oyster River Coop School District.

Colleges in or next to town: University of New Hampshire-Main Campus (10,000 to 19,999 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on New Hampshire's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
84%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
95%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
15°F
July average high
80°F
Days 90°F or hotter
6 a year
Nights at or below freezing
150 a year
Rain and melted snow
45.4 inches a year
Snow
39 inches a year
Elevation
110 feet

Weather stations: Durham 2 N (2 miles away) and Durham (4 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Haverhill, Boston.

Strafford County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

16 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Cocheco Mills and Sawyer Woolen Mills.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Lowell National Historical Park43 miles
  • Salem Maritime National Historical Park46 miles
  • Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site50 miles
  • Minute Man National Historical Park54 miles
  • Boston National Historical Park56 miles

Campus life. Check University of New Hampshire-Main Campus's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Dover's history on Wikipedia.

Know Dover?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Newington, NH847 people, 8 miles
  • New Castle, NH997 people, 12 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.