The book's checklist
- Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 5.7% above the U.S. average in the Manchester-Nashua metro area.
- More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
- A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 3.7 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
- Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Wilton-Lyndeboro Senior High School, about 5 miles away.
- A hospital close byMonadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough, about 12 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
- Within reach of a big cityBoston is about 52 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 Mont Vernon 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
- $526,300U.S.: $332,700
- Home prices since then
- Up 23%Hillsborough County, 2022 to 2025
- Typical rent, with utilities
- $1,104 a monthU.S.: $1,413
- Typical household income
- $158,036U.S.: $80,734
- Homes owned by the people living in them
- 96%U.S.: 65%
- Typical property tax bill
- $9,432 a yearNew Hampshire: $6,667
- Homes built before 1940
- 24%U.S.: 12%
- Homes built since 2010
- 11%U.S.: 11%
- Vacation and seasonal homes
- 2%U.S.: 3%
- Everyday prices
- 105.7U.S. average = 100 (the Manchester-Nashua 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 23% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Manchester-Nashua metro area, not Mont Vernon 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
- 2,6982020: 2,596
- Median age
- 42.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
- Age 65 and older
- 16%U.S.: 17%
- Under 18
- 22%U.S.: 22%
- Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
- 51%U.S.: 36%
- Moved here from another county or state in the past year
- 2%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 (21%); professional and business services (15%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (12%)
- Unemployment rate
- 2%U.S.: 5%
- Average commute
- 30 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
- Work from home
- 27%U.S.: 15%
- Below the poverty line
- 4%U.S.: 12%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Health care
Nearest emergency room: Monadnock Community Hospital, Peterborough, NH, about 12 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.
Nearest general hospital: Catholic Medical Center, Manchester, NH, about 14 miles away. 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
1 public school in Mont Vernon, run by Mont Vernon School District. The nearest public high school is Wilton-Lyndeboro Senior High School, about 5 miles away.
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
- 91%U.S.: 76%
- Homes with any internet subscription
- 100%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
- 14°F
- July average high
- 83°F
- Days 90°F or hotter
- 11 a year
- Nights at or below freezing
- 159 a year
- Rain and melted snow
- 46 inches a year
- Snow
- 57 inches a year
- Elevation
- 721 feet
Weather station: Milford (5 miles away). 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: Monadnock Community Hospital, Manchester, Boston.
Hillsborough County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).
For a day
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
National Park Service sites within about an hour:
- Lowell National Historical Park26 miles
- Minute Man National Historical Park34 miles
- Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site46 miles
- Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site47 miles
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site48 miles
Read about Mont Vernon's history on Wikipedia.
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
- Lyndeborough, NH1,700 people, 4 miles
- New Boston, NH6,300 people, 5 miles
- Amherst, NH12,000 people, 5 miles
- Milford, NH16,700 people, 6 miles
- Wilton, NH4,000 people, 6 miles
- Francestown, NH1,700 people, 9 miles
Smaller places
- Sharon, NH355 people, 14 miles
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
- 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
- FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
- 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
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
- U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
- National Park Service, park unit boundaries
- USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
- 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.