Living in Dover, NH
Strafford County
Dover is a real, genuinely distinct New Hampshire Seacoast city -- settled in 1623 as Cochecho Plantation, it is New Hampshire's oldest permanent settlement and cited as the 7th-oldest in the United States. Dover's economy has real, documented deep historical roots on the Cocheco and Bellamy Rivers (a sawmill dating to 1642, a substantial 1700s shipbuilding industry) and has since transitioned into a genuinely growing university-adjacent and Boston-commuter community, sitting immediately next to Durham and the University of New Hampshire. Dover's 2026 population ran a real, cited approximately 33,400 (a separate citation cited 33,070). Dover's housing runs genuinely above the national median -- cited figures ranged from approximately $467,268 to $591,750 across sources this record discloses honestly rather than resolving to one number -- and Dover's effective property tax rate (~2.02%) runs genuinely HIGH, both above the national median and above the Strafford County average. Dover's crime picture runs genuinely, substantially favorable (overall rate ~10.99 per 1,000 vs. a national ~33.37), its average commute (~18 minutes) runs genuinely short, and a real, current Amtrak Downeaster connection provides direct passenger rail to Boston -- a genuine transit asset most other New Hampshire Tier A markets this project has documented lack.
Explore Dover in depth
- Moving to Dover: Pros, Cons & What to Know
- Cost of Living in Dover
- Housing Market in Dover
- Buying a Home in Dover
- Renting in Dover
- Taxes in Dover
- Homeowners Insurance & Natural Hazard Costs in Dover
- Climate & Weather in Dover
- Jobs & Economy in Dover
- Schools in Dover
- Crime & Safety in Dover
- Healthcare in Dover
- Traffic & Transportation in Dover
- Best Areas to Live in Dover
- Pros and Cons of Living in Dover
- Retiring in Dover
- Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to Dover
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Learn moreHousing
Taxes
Not independently sourced at the Strafford County level this session. New Hampshire carries no income tax statewide. See the New Hampshire hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Dover-specific.
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Get local guidanceThe tradeoffs
Pros
A real, genuinely distinctive historical identity as New Hampshire's oldest permanent settlement. A real, direct Amtrak Downeaster rail connection to Boston, alongside a genuinely short average commute (~18 minutes). A genuinely favorable, well-below-national crime picture. Real proximity to the University of New Hampshire in neighboring Durham. New Hampshire's real no-income-tax, no-sales-tax structure.
Cons
A genuinely high effective property tax rate (~2.02%), above both the national median and the Strafford County average. A real, disclosed wide cross-source spread on Dover's exact current home-value figure. A real, disclosed data gap in independently sourced, dated school-performance statistics despite a favorable general characterization.
Who this fits
Best for: Best fits movers drawn to Dover's genuine historical identity, university-adjacent location near UNH/Durham, direct Boston rail access, and a genuinely favorable crime picture, who can absorb a genuinely high property tax rate.
Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for movers prioritizing the lowest possible property tax rate -- Dover's own cited effective rate runs above both the national median and the Strafford County average. Those needing confidently sourced, dated school-performance statistics should also weigh this record's disclosed data gap directly.
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