Most Americans have never been to small town New Hampshire. However, as the New Hampshirite who live there know, small town New Hampshire is an awesome place to call home.
But is it all roses? Definitely not. Just like any other state, New Hampshire has its trouble spots. This article aims to determine, using Saturday Night Science, the absolute worst small towns to live in the Granite State. Don’t freak out, we will use data to show which places have high crime, poverty, and unemployment.
After analyzing more than 40 of New Hampshire’s smallest cities, we came up with this list as the 10 worst small towns in New Hampshire where you’d never want to live:
3.9% unemployment · $46,833 median income
5.0% unemployment · $53,082 median income
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
2.7% unemployment · $78,174 median income
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
4.7% unemployment · $55,029 median income
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
2.8% unemployment · $44,188 median income
5.1% unemployment · $47,090 median income
4.6% unemployment · $61,429 median income
1.9% unemployment · $66,765 median income
2.2% unemployment · $73,993 median income
3.9% unemployment · $64,625 median income
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New Hampshire’s statewide median.
New Hampshire statewide median: $507,347
New Hampshire statewide median: $99,031
New Hampshire statewide median: 3.3%
On the map
Where New Hampshire’s worst small towns are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you decide if a small place in New Hampshire is lousy or not?
To rank the worst small towns to live in New Hampshire, we had to determine what criteria people like or dislike about a place. Assuming that people like low crime, solid education, things to do, and a stable economy isn’t a stretch.
We then analyzed the criteria using Saturday Night Science, the thinking you’d use at a bar. It seems like even your crazy Uncle would agree that a town with high crime is worse than a town with low crime; all else the same.
Using FBI crime data and the Census’s 2020-2024 American Community Survey, this is the criteria we used:
- Population Density (The lower, the worse)
- Highest Unemployment Rates
- Low housing costs (meaning there’s no demand)
- Adjusted Median Income (Median income adjusted for the cost of living)
- Education (Number of high school dropouts)
- High Crime
We looked at cities with populations between 1,000 and 5,000 people, of which there were many – 40 to be exact.
We get the crime numbers from the FBI, which gets them from the cities. Dropout numbers are based on the adult population, not just the current graduation rates of teenagers.
We base all our research on facts, which is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2026, which is our eleventh time ranking the worst small places to live in New Hampshire.
The full plate
Worst Small Towns In New Hampshire
Click any column to sort. Search by town name.
| Rank | Town | Population | Unemployment Rate | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colebrook | 1,268 | 3.9% | $225,138 | $46,833 |
| 2 | Littleton | 4,114 | 5.0% | $355,437 | $53,082 |
| 3 | Newport | 4,758 | 2.7% | $320,217 | $78,174 |
| 4 | Farmington | 3,924 | 4.7% | $416,913 | $55,029 |
| 5 | Ashland | 1,404 | 2.8% | $358,689 | $44,188 |
| 6 | West Swanzey | 1,188 | 5.1% | $243,779 | $47,090 |
| 7 | Whitefield | 1,512 | 4.6% | $322,540 | $61,429 |
| 8 | Lancaster | 2,230 | 1.9% | $298,858 | $66,765 |
| 9 | Bristol | 2,098 | 2.2% | $394,730 | $73,993 |
| 10 | Bethlehem | 1,058 | 3.9% | $352,292 | $64,625 |
| 11 | Antrim | 1,265 | 2.5% | $419,259 | $72,738 |
| 12 | Tilton Northfield | 3,101 | 3.0% | $315,123 | $66,705 |
| 13 | Winchester | 1,306 | 1.7% | $289,529 | $81,250 |
| 14 | Woodsville | 1,422 | 2.5% | $287,392 | $57,946 |
| 15 | Hinsdale | 1,580 | 7.1% | $283,556 | $72,292 |
| 16 | Conway | 3,879 | 17.2% | $446,669 | $59,167 |
| 17 | Belmont | 1,378 | 0.0% | $458,351 | $52,594 |
| 18 | Wolfeboro | 2,531 | 1.4% | $613,026 | $51,839 |
| 19 | Enfield | 1,994 | 0.0% | $453,752 | $99,330 |
| 20 | Meredith | 2,617 | 5.6% | $667,790 | $59,375 |
| 21 | Hillsborough | 1,616 | 0.0% | $371,927 | $49,205 |
| 22 | Raymond | 3,645 | 5.3% | $484,908 | $73,066 |
| 23 | Marlborough | 1,048 | 0.9% | $366,202 | $67,356 |
| 24 | North Conway | 2,041 | 0.0% | $548,313 | $71,198 |
| 25 | Pittsfield | 1,744 | 0.5% | $412,537 | $60,144 |
| 26 | Wilton | 1,038 | 2.5% | $500,338 | $84,342 |
| 27 | Plymouth | 4,969 | 7.2% | $364,177 | $89,500 |
| 28 | Sanbornville | 1,317 | 0.0% | $316,509 | $126,359 |
| 29 | Gorham | 2,092 | 0.0% | $249,338 | $62,679 |
| 30 | Hampton Beach | 2,605 | 9.5% | $641,463 | $82,557 |
| 31 | Pinardville | 4,418 | 1.2% | $360,878 | $79,340 |
| 32 | Henniker | 2,993 | 2.6% | $489,036 | $76,326 |
| 33 | Seabrook Beach | 1,001 | 9.8% | $1,160,785 | $93,571 |
| 34 | Jaffrey | 3,277 | 5.7% | $397,897 | $99,667 |
| 35 | Troy | 1,081 | 1.2% | $332,969 | $96,250 |
| 36 | Epping | 2,796 | 0.6% | $555,365 | $95,273 |
| 37 | Goffstown | 3,490 | 0.4% | $493,971 | $132,997 |
| 38 | Contoocook | 1,376 | 2.1% | $531,045 | $97,928 |
| 39 | Peterborough | 2,539 | 0.0% | $472,042 | $85,833 |
| 40 | New London | 1,278 | 6.9% | $705,069 | $1,000 |
Source: FBI crime data + U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 via Saturday Night Science. 40 New Hampshire towns between 1,000 and 5,000 residents.
Summary
There You Have It – The Worst Small Towns In New Hampshire
If you’re analyzing teeny places in the Granite State with the worst economic situations, where there’s high crime and there’s not a lot to do, this is an accurate list.
The worst small towns in New Hampshire are Colebrook, Littleton, Newport, Farmington, Ashland, West Swanzey, Whitefield, Lancaster, Bristol, and Bethlehem. Not sold on New Hampshire? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
