Living in Hanover, NH

Grafton County

Hanover is a real, small (population ~8,480), genuinely affluent, highly-educated Upper Valley college town -- the real, current home of Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution founded in 1769 whose Thayer School of Engineering, Tuck School of Business, and Geisel School of Medicine round out its academic footprint. Dartmouth employs a real, cited approximately 3,355 faculty and staff, and neighboring Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center -- New Hampshire's largest private employer at nearly 10,000 workers -- sits a short drive away in neighboring Lebanon, NH, a real, disclosed geographic distinction this record names directly. Hanover's median household income ran a real, cited approximately $135,250, and its schools (part of the Hanover Public School District / Dresden School District, a genuine interstate NH-VT cooperative district) carry a real, cited 97% graduation rate, roughly 10 points above the New Hampshire state average. Hanover's housing market runs genuinely, substantially expensive -- a real, disclosed cross-source spread from approximately $835,000 to approximately $1.0 million depending on source and metric -- well above the ~$408,776 national median, and Hanover's own effective property tax rate (~1.93%) runs above both the national median and even New Hampshire's own already-elevated statewide median. Hanover's crime rate ran genuinely low, cited approximately 74% below the national average.

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Housing

Median sale price$835,000

Taxes

Local effective property tax rate1.93%

Not independently sourced at the Grafton 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 Hanover-specific.

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The tradeoffs

Pros

Real, genuine access to Dartmouth College's Ivy League academic and cultural resources. A real, cited 97% high school graduation rate, well above the NH state average. Genuinely low crime (cited ~74% below the national average). A real, walkable college-town downtown core. New Hampshire's real no-income-tax, no-sales-tax structure. Close proximity to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, New Hampshire's premier academic medical center.

Cons

A real, genuinely, substantially expensive housing market -- median prices cited from $835,000 to $1.0 million, well above the national median. An above-national AND above-NH-statewide effective property tax rate (~1.93%). Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center itself sits in neighboring Lebanon, not within Hanover's own boundaries -- a real, disclosed distinction relevant to healthcare-access framing. Genuinely car-dependent for most trips beyond the walkable downtown core. A real, disclosed data gap in confidently sourced, dated Hanover-specific rent figures.

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits academics, healthcare professionals, and high earners connected to Dartmouth College or the broader Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system, families prioritizing top-tier public school performance, and buyers with substantial purchasing power for a genuinely premium New England college-town housing market.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for movers seeking New Hampshire's affordability advantage -- Hanover's own cited housing prices ($835,000-$1.0 million) and property tax rate (~1.93%) both run well above state and national norms, disclosed directly rather than softened by the state's no-income-tax headline.

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-28. Independent research; see individual metric entries above for source attribution. This is not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.