DURHAM, N.H. -- New Hampshire residents say that the Granite State is an excellent place to live, partly because of public safety and the environment, according to a new WMUR Granite State Poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

Out of 516 people surveyed, 64 percent rated the state as an excellent place to live, 31 percent said it was good and 5 percent said it was fair or poor.

Half of those surveyed said the environment in their area is excellent. People in the North Country were most likely to give high environment ratings, while Manchester-area residents gave the lowest ratings.

On public safety, 84 percent said they feel very safe in their neighborhood at night, 15 percent feel somewhat safe and 1 percent don't feel safe.

One area that residents weren't too happy with was education. Only 19 percent of those surveyed think schools are doing an excellent job, 39 percent said they are doing a good job and 19 percent said they are doing a fair or poor job.

People living in the North Country and in the central part of the state were most likely to say their local schools are doing a fair or poor job.

The margin of sampling error for the survey was /- 4.3 percent.

We all love living in New Hampshire!