The 10 Worst Places To Live In New Hampshire For 2023

The 10 Worst Places To Live In New Hampshire For 2023

Want a ski vacation? Head to Newport, situated a short drive from several ski resorts. Need something to do in the summer? Well, Newport still has you covered. You can spend a pleasant day along Lake Sunapee at the Mt Sunapee State Park.

Great vacation spot. Not an ideal place to live, however. The tourist trade helps boost the economy, but isolation leads to weak diversity. The distance from a major urban center, combined with its small size, also means a lack of normal amenities. The town can also get expensive, which leaves 21.1% of its residents below the poverty line.

When you’re looking at the worst places you could live in New Hampshire, Berlin came in 2nd. Let’s see why.

When you’re comparing the unemployment rate to the rest of the nation, New Hampshire residents are very hard workers. But when comparing the unemployment rate among cities in New Hampshire, you can see some really big differences. In Berlin, the number of people out of work is 5.8%

In New Hampshire, that’s the 2nd highest in the state.

The residents in Berlin have the lowest incomes in the state. Folks in Berlin average $39,479 a year. Which isn’t too shabby in comparison to the other ‘lowest’ income cities in most other states.

Additionally, the homes are valued at $79,100 on average. That’s the lowest in the state. The population has dropped about 15% in the last 15 years. Perhaps these numbers are part of the reason for the Berlin flight.

As one commenter said in City-Data: “Berlin is as run down looking as it gets after a WW-2 vintage bombing attack.”

Maybe there’s a reason they opened a prison there.

Berlin is on Route 16 on the northern side of Mount Washington.

The largest city in New Hampshire is also one of its most dangerous. No surprises there. But that still isn’t an excuse. In looking at the latest FBI data, Manchester is the third-most dangerous place in the state.

Manchester saw four murders two years ago, and you have a 1 in 25 chance of having something stolen from you here.

Additionally, the schools spend the least amount of money per student than anywhere else in the state. But the ratio per student ($12,761) is still on par with the national average. That says a lot about how great the public schools are in New Hampshire.

The unemployment rates and income levels are also far below average in comparison to the rest of the state.

Now we can get to some actual cities that might have some normal numbers. In this case, Franklin ranks high mainly due to the low economic numbers. Homes are the 5th cheapest in the state here at $205,300. Say what you want about low cost of living. What the data says is that cheaper homes means less demand. And there isn’t a lot of demand to live in Franklin.

The median income levels here are the 3rd lowest in the state of New Hampshire, at $61,664. Crime is above average, but not horrible like some of the cities we’ll talk about in a minute. And the unemployment rate, while far lower than the national average, is high for New Hampshire. Almost 3.3% of people in Franklin were without jobs according to the latest numbers.

Franklin is right off of I-93 north of Concord.

Most of the rest of the cities on this list deserve to be on here due to their high crime numbers. Rochester is the 5th most dangerous city in New Hampshire, according to the FBI. Residents had a 1 in 37.0 chance of being the victim of a property crime. That’s really high for New Hampshire, but not even the highest in the state.

Home values are the 6th cheapest in the state, and income levels are almost as low as you can get. Households in Rochester bring in just under $70,582 a year annually.

Rochester is also on Route 16 just north of Portsmouth.

Little Laconia, New Hampshire could use a big hug right now. Sure, it’s a beautiful place, sandwiched between Lakes Winnisquam and Winnipesaukee. But the crime here is horrible. In fact, Laconia is the most dangerous place you can live in New Hampshire.

Chatter on forums indicate Laconia hasn’t recovered from a mini economic collapse to the area, and that Laconia is a ‘little run down’. And while crime might be centered around some of the many cultural events that happen in this vacation spot, the fact remains it’s just not safe, overall.

There were two murders here in 2023, and residents had a 1 in 41.1 chance of being the victim of a property crime.

Additionally, employment numbers (3.3% unemployment rate) and income levels are far below the state average ($63,711).

Built along the Connecticut River, on the border with Vermont, Claremont has a lot going for it. It has a decent economy, good housing, strong schools, and easy access to the Green Mountain Trail. It even has its own opera house.

So how does it end up as one of the worst places to live in the state? Diversity in town is almost nonexistent. Meanwhile, the cost of living is relatively high. The median home price of $136,600 compared to a median income of $46,414. This contributes to a poverty rate of 16.7% and an overall ranking of the 8th worst place to live in New Hampshire for 2023.