One town at a time
The letter
This is a short letter about one New Hampshire town. Taxes, who lives there, who represents you, what’s nearby, crime if we have an official number, and one thing that changed.
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This week’s town: Weare
Hillsborough County, west of Manchester. About 9,200 people on 59 square miles. That is 156 people per square mile. You drive.
A $500,000 house is about $7,145 a year in property tax on the state’s 2024 comparison rate. The town’s posted rate is higher. Your bill can be different.
Median house value is about $396,000. Median rent about $1,540. Typical household income about $118,000. Most houses have broadband (92%). The town has zoning.
In 2024 the town voted 3,451 to 2,200 for the Republican for president.
Who represents you
In Washington: Maggie Goodlander (D) in the U.S. House, 2nd District. Both U.S. senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, are Democrats.
In Concord: State Senate District 8 is Ruth Ward (R). She is retiring this year. Liberty Alliance graded her A- for 2026.
Weare’s own House seats are Hillsborough 28: Keith Erf (R, A+) and Travis Corcoran (R, A). There is also a two-town seat with Goffstown, Hillsborough 44. Lisa Mazur (R, A+) is the sitting member on the current rating roster.
What’s nearby
You are not in the woods with nothing. Grocery is about 23 minutes (Lanctots). Weare Middle School is about 29 minutes. The ER and the hospital that delivers babies are the same place, Catholic Medical Center, about 49 minutes.
If you need a city job, Manchester is about 54 minutes from the middle of town. Plenty of people work closer than that.
Those are map estimates. No traffic. Drive it yourself.
A rule that changed: car inspections
New Hampshire is not inspecting passenger cars right now (state guidance, February 13, 2026). When you get here you still register at the town clerk. You do not need a sticker first. Keep the car safe anyway. This can change.
If you are buying a house
Ask the seller for the paper New Hampshire makes them give you. It covers radon, arsenic, lead, PFAS, and flood. Then look the lot up on FEMA’s flood map. Regular home insurance usually will not pay if the river comes up.
Crime in Weare
Weare has its own police department. In 2024 the FBI counted 10 violent crimes and 15 property crimes. That is 25 reports in a town of about 9,200, or about 2.7 per 1,000 people. Arson is not in that property number.
The state’s violent-crime rate is 110 per 100,000. Weare’s ten violent reports sit in that same low range. It is not zero.
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