Plymouth NH land for sale in 2026 mostly lists between about $85,000 and $400,000, with rural building lots of one to two and a half acres off Texas Hill Road starting near $85,000. Outside the village water and sewer district, Plymouth zoning requires at least one acre per house, plus a well, a state-approved septic design, a driveway and a power run before building.
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Below: what is actually on the market, what Plymouth's zoning ordinance requires, what makes a lot buildable, and what drives each line of the budget. Current listings are on the land for sale in Plymouth page, updated from the MLS.
What land is for sale in Plymouth right now
This is a snapshot of the 20 Plymouth land listings in our PrimeMLS feed in early September 2026. Individual parcels will have sold or changed price since, so use it to calibrate expectations, then check the live list.
| Area | Typical parcels | Asking prices | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Hill Road | 1–2.5 acres | about $85,000–$155,000 | Zoned Agricultural; well and septic; rural hill road |
| Frontenac (Ski Lift Lane, Point of View Drive) | about 0.9–2.5 acres | about $165,000–$250,000 | Former Frontenac ski area near Tenney; paved public roads, underground utilities, mountain views |
| Yeaton Road, Binks Hill Road, Mayhew Turnpike | 2–31 acres | about $100,000–$380,000 | Larger rural acreage; the 31-acre Yeaton Road tract listed under $10,000 an acre |
| Boulder Point Drive (commercial) | 0.6–4.9 acres | about $190,000–$395,000 | Commercial lots near the Tenney Mountain Highway with water, sewer and electric at the site |
| Tenney Mountain Highway and Smith Bridge Road (commercial and large tracts) | 2–40 acres | $1.25 million–$2.1 million | Highway frontage and development land |
Across all 20 listings the median asking price was about $220,000. Price per acre ranges widely: small, serviced or view lots list above $150,000 an acre, while large tracts list from roughly $9,000 to $50,000 an acre. The difference is almost entirely frontage, utilities and whether a house site has already been proven.
The two Plymouth land markets
Plymouth is the working hub of the Pemigewasset valley, a Grafton County town of about 6,700 people with Plymouth State University, Speare Memorial Hospital and two I-93 exits, where land buyers build primary homes and rentals as often as ski or lake getaways. The Plymouth NH town profile covers the town; the land market splits along one line.
Lots on village water and sewer
Inside and around the village, water and sewer come from the Plymouth Village Water & Sewer District. Here the scarce commodity is a legal lot with utilities at the street. These parcels tend to be small, often infill near campus and Main Street, and they draw the same first-time buyers, PSU parents and investors who shop homes for sale in Plymouth NH. What decides the deal is whether the lot meets its zone's dimensional rules and whether the intended use is permitted there.
Rural acreage: Texas Hill, the Tenney side and the river valleys
Beyond the village, Plymouth NH building lots are rural. Texas Hill Road climbs into farmhouse and view-lot country; the Tenney Mountain Highway carries commercial frontage with wooded acreage behind it; the Frontenac subdivision sits on the old ski area near Tenney Mountain; the Baker River valley runs west toward Rumney and the Pemigewasset north toward Campton. These parcels sell on view, privacy and acreage, almost always with a private well and septic.
The Plymouth NH neighborhoods guide describes each area. For the statewide fundamentals, read the buying land in New Hampshire guide first; everything here is the Plymouth-specific layer on top of it.
Plymouth zoning: minimum lot size and frontage
Plymouth writes its own zoning, and a parcel is a building lot only if the ordinance says so. The town has seven base zones — Single-Family Residential (SFR), Multi-Family Residential (MFR), Agricultural (A), Civic/Institutional (CI), Village Commercial (VC), Highway Commercial (HC) and Industrial and Commercial Development (ICD) — plus Floodplain, Environmentally Sensitive and Airport overlays. In March 2026 voters added a Tenney Mountain Overlay District for land around the ski area west of Routes 3A and 25.
The key dimensional rules from the zoning ordinance as revised March 11, 2025:
| Zone | Minimum lot, sewer and public water | Minimum lot, on-site septic and private well | Minimum frontage (sewer / septic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-Family Residential (SFR) | 10,000 sq ft | 43,560 sq ft (1 acre) | 75 ft / 100 ft |
| Multi-Family Residential (MFR) | 7,500 sq ft | 1 acre | 75 ft / 100 ft |
| Agricultural (A) | 40,000 sq ft | 1 acre | 100 ft / 100 ft |
| Highway Commercial (HC) | 20,000 sq ft | 1 acre | 100 ft / 150 ft |
| Industrial and Commercial Development (ICD) | 20,000 sq ft | 1 acre | 100 ft / 150 ft |
A few details matter for buyers:
- More units need more land. Each additional dwelling unit on septic needs another 7,500 square feet in the SFR, MFR and Agricultural zones.
- Setbacks in the Agricultural zone are 30 feet front and 15 feet side and rear; in the SFR zone, 15 feet front (or the neighborhood average) and 10 feet side and rear.
- Manufactured housing is permitted by right only in the Agricultural zone.
- Accessory dwelling units are permitted in most zones but need a special exception in the SFR zone.
Before you offer, confirm with the town's Planning and Development office that:
- the parcel is a legal lot of record, not an unrecorded remnant of a larger tract;
- it meets, or is grandfathered from, its zone's current dimensional rules;
- the intended use is permitted there, including any accessory dwelling or rental plan. Near campus, Plymouth's three-unrelated-persons rule is part of this conversation.
Septic: test pits, perc and NHDES approval
Outside the sewer district, a Plymouth house runs on a septic system, and whether the soil will take one is the biggest go/no-go question on any rural lot. The process is the same statewide: a licensed designer digs test pits and evaluates the soil and seasonal high water table (the "perc test"), then the design goes to NHDES for subsurface approval before construction can start.
Plymouth's ground is the variable. Valley-floor parcels near the Baker and Pemigewasset can carry high seasonal water tables and fine river soils; hillside lots toward Tenney and Texas Hill can hit ledge near the surface. Either shrinks the buildable area or pushes the design toward an engineered system that costs several times a conventional one. On any lot without a state approval on file, make the offer contingent on test pits and NHDES approval, and expect a spring contingency date on a winter contract, because test pits need unfrozen ground. A listing with an approved design already on file is worth paying for.
Wells and water
Lots in the sewer and water district connect to village water; everywhere else, drinking water comes from a drilled bedrock well. Siting first: wells need setbacks from septic systems, yours and the neighbors', which on a smaller rural lot can constrain where the house and leach field go. Quality second: New Hampshire bedrock often delivers naturally occurring arsenic and radon, so testing is routine, and NHDES recommends a standard analysis panel for new wells; PFAS testing is increasingly common too. Treatment solves most problems, but depth and yield are unknown until the rig arrives, so ask drillers who work Plymouth and Rumney before you budget.
Driveway permits: town road or state highway
Every new curb cut needs a permit, and the issuing office depends on the road. A driveway onto a town road goes through the Town of Plymouth; a driveway onto a state highway goes through the NHDOT district office. Plymouth has several state roads: Route 3 toward Holderness and Ashland, Route 25 (the Tenney Mountain Highway) west toward Rumney, and Route 3A (Mayhew Turnpike) toward Tenney Mountain and Newfound Lake. Sight distance decides either application; a lot with no safe curb-cut location on a fast state road has a problem no survey will fix.
On hillside lots the driveway is often the largest single site-work cost, driven by length, grade, drainage, ledge and culverts, and meeting the town's emergency-access standard is a condition of the building permit. Walk the proposed route with an excavator before the contingency period ends.
Rivers, floodplain and wetlands
Plymouth is built around the confluence of the Baker and the Pemigewasset, and parts of both valleys sit in FEMA special flood hazard areas. Plymouth's Floodplain overlay applies on top of the base zone, and where the two conflict the stricter rule wins. A lot in a mapped floodplain may still be buildable, but floodplain rules govern elevation and construction and a lender will require flood insurance, so pull the map and an insurance quote before committing. Pemigewasset frontage can also fall under the state's Shoreland Water Quality Protection Act, which regulates clearing and impervious cover within 250 feet of qualifying rivers; NHDES can confirm whether a stretch is covered.
Wetlands are the quieter issue. Filling or crossing a wetland for a driveway or leach field needs a permit from the NHDES Wetlands Bureau, and Plymouth's Environmentally Sensitive overlay may add its own limits. Walk the parcel in spring, when the water is moving; if the low corner is the only flat spot, the lot is smaller than it looks.
Power and broadband to the lot line
Utilities stop at the road, and the distance from the nearest pole to the house site is a real cost on rural acreage: a long run means extra poles or an underground trench, quoted by the electric utility serving that road. Some subdivision lots, such as those in Frontenac, already have underground utilities at the street, which is part of why they cost more. Broadband varies road by road in the Pemi corridor, so confirm with the providers serving the specific street whether cable or fiber reaches the lot line.
Current use and the land-use-change tax
Many larger Plymouth parcels are enrolled in current use under RSA 79-A, which assesses qualifying open land — generally ten acres or more of forest, farm or unproductive land — on its productive value rather than market value. The enrollment transfers with the land, and buying it triggers nothing. The 10% land-use-change tax comes due only when acreage is taken out, typically by building, and only on the acreage removed.
The purchase-and-sale agreement should say who bears the change tax if the buyer's plans trigger it, and a parcel near the ten-acre threshold can lose eligibility if a lot is split off. Once a house is built, it is taxed at Plymouth's full rate — $23.77 per $1,000 for 2025; the Plymouth NH property taxes guide and the NH property taxes guide cover the wider picture.
Budget for a Plymouth lot
No static dollar figure for Plymouth site work is reliable; every number depends on the parcel. What can be laid out is each component and what drives it.
| Cost line | What drives it |
|---|---|
| Purchase price | Village or rural location, acreage, view, road frontage and, above all, whether a state septic approval is already on file |
| Septic design and installation | Soil and water table, distance from house to leach field, and how much fill must be trucked in; an engineered system for ledge or wet ground costs several times a conventional one |
| Well | Depth, yield and any treatment the water test calls for; budget a contingency, not a hoped-for number |
| Driveway and site work | Length, grade, drainage, ledge, clearing and any culvert or wetlands crossing; the largest variable on hillside lots |
| Power and broadband | Distance to the nearest pole and whether the run is overhead or underground |
| Permits | Town building and driveway permits, NHDOT curb-cut approval on a state road, NHDES septic approval and any wetlands or shoreland permits |
| Land-use-change tax | 10% of the market value of the acreage removed from current use, if the parcel is enrolled and the build takes it out |
| Closing costs | New Hampshire's transfer tax is $0.75 per $100 of price on each side of the deal, plus attorney or title fees |
Raw-land loans typically want a larger down payment and a shorter term than a mortgage, and construction loans have their own draw process. The building a new home in New Hampshire guide walks through the build itself. The cheapest way to control this list is a local builder walking the lot before the contingency period ends; ten minutes on a slope tells them whether the site work is routine or a second mortgage.
How to buy land in Plymouth, step by step
- Pull the zoning and the tax card. Confirm the zone, lot area, frontage and whether the parcel is in current use.
- Check for an existing septic approval with the seller and NHDES. If there is none, plan for test pits.
- Look up the flood map and wetlands before you pay for anything else.
- Identify the road type — town road or state highway — and where a driveway can go.
- Write the offer with contingencies for test pits and NHDES approval, a survey, a driveway permit and financing.
- Get site-work quotes from an excavator, a well driller and the electric utility during the contingency period.
- Close, then apply for the driveway and building permits with the town.
Where to look: Plymouth, Campton and Rumney
Live Plymouth land listings, straight from the MLS, are on the land for sale in Plymouth page, filtered to land and lots only; the Plymouth NH real estate page carries every active listing in town, and the Plymouth NH homes for sale guide covers the finished-home side. Buyers shopping Plymouth usually look at both neighbors. Campton land, immediately north on I-93, trades on the Route 49 corridor and Waterville Valley access. Rumney, west on Route 25, is Baker River valley country, and Rumney land often carries more acreage per dollar than anything inside Plymouth. If you are building near the ski area, the Tenney Mountain real estate guide covers what the 2026 overlay district does and does not change.
Frequently asked questions
How much does land cost in Plymouth NH?
In early September 2026, the 20 Plymouth land listings in our MLS feed had a median asking price of about $220,000. Rural lots of one to two and a half acres on Texas Hill Road listed from about $85,000 to $155,000, Frontenac subdivision lots near Tenney from about $165,000 to $250,000, and large tracts for well under $50,000 an acre. Add site-work costs before comparing lots.
What is the minimum lot size to build in Plymouth NH?
It depends on the zone and the utilities. Under Plymouth's zoning ordinance, a lot with an on-site septic system and a private well needs at least one acre (43,560 square feet) in every zone except Village Commercial. With village sewer and public water, the minimum drops to 10,000 square feet in the Single-Family Residential zone and 7,500 in the Multi-Family zone. Frontage requirements run from 75 to 150 feet.
Do you need a perc test on a Plymouth lot?
If the lot is outside the village sewer district and has no state septic approval on file, yes. A licensed designer digs test pits, the design goes to NHDES for subsurface approval, and nothing gets built until it is approved. Make your offer contingent on test pits and NHDES approval, and remember that test pits need unfrozen ground, so a winter contract usually needs a spring deadline.
Does buying current-use land trigger the land-use-change tax?
Not by itself. The current-use enrollment transfers with the parcel, and the 10% land-use-change tax is due only when acreage comes out of the program — usually because you build on it — and only on the acreage removed. Write into the purchase agreement who pays the tax if your plans trigger it, and check whether splitting off a lot would drop the rest below ten acres.
Who issues the driveway permit for a Plymouth lot?
The Town of Plymouth for a lot on a town road; the NHDOT district office for a lot on a state highway such as Route 3, Route 25 (the Tenney Mountain Highway) or Route 3A (Mayhew Turnpike). Sight distance decides either application. On hillside lots, also make sure the driveway can meet the town's emergency-access standard, because that is a condition of the building permit.
Can you put a manufactured home on land in Plymouth NH?
Plymouth's zoning ordinance permits manufactured housing by right only in the Agricultural zone, which covers much of the rural land, including parcels off Texas Hill Road. It may be allowed by special exception in the Village Commercial, Highway Commercial and Industrial zones and is not allowed in the residential zones near the village. Confirm the zone on the town's official zoning map before you buy.
General information, not legal, tax or engineering advice; confirm current rules with the Town of Plymouth, NHDES, NHDOT and your own advisors.