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Towns / New Hampshire

Peterborough, New Hampshire

Peterborough is a small town of about 6,500 people in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. It has grown about 2% since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.1 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 60 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
6,499
up 2.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$404,500
Hillsborough County prices up 23% since 2022
Household income
$98,401
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Manchester area
105.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Monadnock Community Hospital
To Boston
60 mi
straight line

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 4.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood6 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 4 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byMonadnock Community Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBoston is about 60 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 Peterborough 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
$404,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 23%Hillsborough County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,395 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$98,401U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
56%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$8,655 a yearNew Hampshire: $6,667
Homes built before 1940
30%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
7%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
4%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 Peterborough 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
6,4992020: 6,350
Median age
52.1 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
31%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
16%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
62%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%

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
Manufacturing (15%); professional and business services (14%)
Unemployment rate
0%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
23 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
16%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
6%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, in town. 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: Cheshire Medical Center, Keene, NH, about 18 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

4 public schools in Peterborough, run by Contoocook Valley School District and Lionheart Classical Academy Chartered Public School.

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
82%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
91%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
13°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
8 a year
Nights at or below freezing
150 a year
Rain and melted snow
49.5 inches a year
Snow
75 inches a year
Elevation
752 feet

Weather stations: Jaffrey Silver Rch Airpark (6 miles away) and Greenville 1 NNE (10 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: Nashua, 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

5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including MacDowell Colony. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Lowell National Historical Park35 miles
  • Minute Man National Historical Park40 miles
  • Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park47 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail52 miles
  • Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site54 miles

Read about Peterborough's history on Wikipedia.

Know Peterborough?

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

  • Sharon, NH355 people, 5 miles
  • Nelson, NH661 people, 12 miles
  • Roxbury, NH220 people, 14 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.