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Auburn
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Auburn is in Rockingham County, on the east side of Manchester, along Lake Massabesic. About 6,300 people live on 25 square miles. You will need a car to get around.
Auburn’s 2025 certified total tax rate is $13.88 per $1,000 of assessed value. That is the full rate on your tax bill, with town, county, school, and state education added together. On a $500,000 assessment, figure about $6,940 a year. Most of that rate is the local school piece, $9.93.
A typical house is worth about $600,000. If you rent, figure about $1,890. Household income is around $153,000. Almost every household has broadband. The town has zoning rules for what you can build. A single-family house may have one accessory apartment, up to 950 square feet. Call the town office before you assume you can put a shop on the lot.
In 2024, voters chose the Republican for president, 2,340 to 1,667.
This week in New Hampshire
Politics
Governor Kelly Ayotte and Cinde Warmington debated in Manchester on October 20. Warmington said private-equity buyers are pushing rents up, and she pointed to Ayotte’s time on the Blackstone board. Ayotte said Blackstone has an apartment property in Nashua and some student housing in Durham, and that prices are high because there are too few houses. They meet again on Thursday, October 29, at 9 p.m. on WMUR. Whoever wins will shape housing rules, and that affects what a house in Auburn costs, WMUR reports.
On October 22, at a forum in Manchester, Ayotte said she wants voters to be able to cap local property taxes, and she said she will not back an income tax or a sales tax. Warmington said decisions in Concord on schools and health care have pushed costs onto town tax bills, and she wants to end the Education Freedom Accounts that help a family pay for school outside the assigned district. She said towns are already paying, and she did not name a new tax to cover a larger state share. A St. Anselm College Survey Center poll out the same day put support for the property-tax cap question on the November 3 ballot at 57 percent to 32 percent. Most of Auburn’s tax rate goes to the local schools, so this debate is about your tax bill, NHPR reports and NH Journal reports.
On October 22 the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a lower-court order, so New Hampshire can keep school IDs off the list for the November 3 election. Governor Ayotte had signed the law that took high school and college IDs off the approved list. Attorney General John Formella said the order keeps the rules steady for voters and for the people working the polls. If you have just moved and you are voting here, bring a government photo ID. A school ID is not on the approved list, NHPR reports.
Things to do
These are still ahead of you, and they are close to Auburn.
The Massabesic Audubon Center in town has drawings up Wednesday, October 28, through Friday, October 30, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The pictures are of peepers, salamanders, turtles, and small animals, so kids have something to look for. A private rental can close the room, so call ahead. It is at 26 Audubon Way.
Downtown Manchester trick-or-treating is Friday, October 30, from 3 to 6 p.m. Kids in costume go shop to shop on Elm Street, and they can stop at City Hall and at Manchester Parks and Recreation in Stanton Plaza. It is free. Manchester is the next city west.
Charmingfare Farm in Candia, the next town over, holds its Children’s Trick-or-Treat on Saturday, October 31, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Kids collect candy, ride a wagon or a tractor train, stuff a scarecrow, and visit the animals. Anyone 2 and older needs a ticket. Babies 23 months and under are free.
Auburn’s calendar lists trunk or treat on Saturday, October 31, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Auburn Safety Complex. Kids go from car to car.
Elected Officials
In Washington, the House seat is Chris Pappas (D), 1st District. Both U.S. senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, are Democrats.
In Concord, the state senator is Sharon Carson (R), District 14. Her grade is B+.
Auburn’s House seats are Rockingham 2, shared with Candia and Deerfield. Three seats, all Republican: Jason Osborne (A+), James Spillane (A-), and Kevin Verville (B+). Auburn also shares a floterial district, Rockingham 31, with Candia, Chester, and Deerfield. Two seats, both Republican: Jess Edwards (A) and Terry Roy (INC). The grades are NH Liberty Alliance’s 2026 ratings. ‘INC’ means the member served too short a term to score.
What’s nearby
The grocery store is about 23 minutes away, at Hannaford on Hanover Street in Manchester. The high school is Pinkerton Academy, about 26 minutes away in Derry. The emergency room is Elliot Hospital, about 24 minutes away in Manchester, and that hospital also delivers babies.
If you need a city job, Manchester is about 25 minutes from the middle of town.
Those are no-traffic map estimates, so try the drive before you buy.
Worth knowing: the lake Manchester drinks
Lake Massabesic covers about 2,900 acres. Manchester and some nearby towns drink from it. Auburn’s zoning rules keep new building 125 feet back from a lake, a pond, or a brook. A shed of 200 square feet or less can sit closer, down to 75 feet, if it does not need clearing or grading. Anything else inside those 125 feet needs a variance from the zoning board. If the lot you want touches the water, read that buffer before you sketch a house.
Town master plan · Zoning ordinance
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 Lake Massabesic, Little Lake Massabesic, or a brook such as Sucker Brook comes up.
Crime in Auburn
Auburn has its own police. In 2025 the FBI counted 1 violent crime and 16 property crimes. That’s 17 reports in a town of about 6,300.
New Hampshire’s violent-crime rate is about 118 per 100,000 people. Auburn came in under that.
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