Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, NH Image 1
    Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, NH Image 2

    Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, NH Local Information

    Kittery is the closest major city to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Kittery has about 10,000 people, and is in York County, which has a population of about 199,000 people. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is on Seavey's Island, in the Piscataqua River and across from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, population 22,000, in Rockingham County, population 296,000. Other nearby small communities on the Maine side of the river include Kittery Point (1,000), Eliot (7,000), and York (13,000), and on the New Hampshire side Dover (30,000), Rye (6,000) and Somersworth (12,000).

    It is about 1 mile from downtown Kittery to PNS; this takes about 4 minutes to commute; Portsmouth NH is 2 miles and 7 minutes. Dover, Somersworth, Rye, and York are all within a 30 minute driving commute. The average commute in York County is about 27 minutes, and in Rockingham County about 26 minutes.

    Local Housing Rental Prices:
    The average apartment rent in the Kittery area ranges from $800 to $1,300 per month, with a median of $1,000 per month.

    Local Housing Purchase Prices: The average price for a house in Kittery in the last few years was about $246,000, compared to about $231,000 for Maine. The average price for a house in Portsmouth is about $450,000, compared to about $300,000 for New Hampshire.

    Short Description of the Area: Kittery is a town on the southernmost border of Maine and New Hampshire, across the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth, a small city. Kittery, Portsmouth, and the nearby towns are part of the Seacoast area, a scenic touristy region with a very long history - a few of the first English colonies in the New World were settled here, including one, Rye, settled four years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth.

    Climate and Weather: The area has a humid, cool climate, winter temperatures in the 30s and summer temperatures in the 60s and 70s. The area is moderated by being close to the ocean and on a river; summers are typically warm, winters are cold, but falls and springs are fairly moderate, with falls showing great fall foliage. The seacoast region generally does not get the snowfall that central New Hampshire and inland Maine are known for, but does sometimes take a serious nor'easter storm.