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New Hampshire is one of those states that you don't hear a lot about. Tucked away somewhere in New England, it's the wealthy, quiet kid in the corner with the plaid shirt and who has all the good grades.
At least that's the stereotype. That's not such a bad way to be viewed is it?
It's not an easy life for most of the year up there. But if you ask people who live there, they are fiercely protective of their state. They stick together up there, and would probably rather you stay out. Unless you're on vacation.
But is it all great in the Granite State? Of course not. Just like every other state, New Hampshire has its trouble spots. The purpose of this post is to use science and data to determine which cities in New Hampshire are the least desirable to live in.
Of course, many of the cities on this list would rank highly if they were in other states. But nonetheless, according to science, these cities are the worst places you could possibly live if you make New Hampshire your home.
After analyzing 27 of the state's most populous cities (over 5,000 people), we came up with this list as the 10 worst places to live in New Hampshire:
What? Where are these places you wonder? And before you get all riled up and say we're picking on small town America, that's not the case.
We understand there's a lot of good in every place.
However, according to data (which doesn't measure things like beauty and 'friendly people'), there are far better options in the state for making a place home. And the worst place to live in New Hampshire? That would be Rochester.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and see how your city fared in 2020.
If you're looking for something more national, check out the worst cities in America or the worst states in America.
For more New Hampshire reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In New Hampshire
- Cheapest Places To Live In New Hampshire
- Most Dangerous Cities In New Hampshire
The 10 Worst Places To Live In New Hampshire For 2020
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Most of the rest of the cities on this list deserve to be on here due to their high crime numbers. Rochester is the 7th most dangerous city in New Hampshire, according to the FBI. Residents had a 1 in 34.0 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 5th cheapest in the state, and income levels are almost as low as you can get. Households in Rochester bring in just under $58,427 a year annually.
Rochester is also on Route 16 just north of Portsmouth.
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If you're looking to live in New Hampshire, Newport might not be the best choice as it places 2nd in our ranking of the worst places to live for 2020.
The unemployment rate here is 4.4%, and households bring in a combined $53,876 a year in income. That's not too far from the poverty line, even though money goes a lot further in the boonies of New Hampshire.
Crime is the 12th highest in the state in Newport as well. Just not a very desirable place at all to make home.
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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 2020, and residents had a 1 in 29.5 chance of being the victim of a property crime.
Additionally, employment numbers (5.2% unemployment rate) and income levels are far below the state average ($57,046).
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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.
The city of Manchester is a beautiful city. It has great places to eat and shop.
My favorite place is the Mall of NH. There are a lot of nice shops there. I also enjoy the downtown area.
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When you're looking at the worst places you could live in New Hampshire, Berlin came in 5th. 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 8.2%
In New Hampshire, that's the highest in the state.
The residents in Berlin have the lowest incomes in the state. Folks in Berlin average $38,315 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 $88,300 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.
ok I agree I live in berlin and I've lived here since the day I was born there is murder, drugs, weed, overdose, teen pregnant, and I'm 13.
I know someone's gonna say your to young to understand, but because I live here and have self raised myself with a druggie mom and no dad on the planet I can say I know enough and probably more than you.
I personally cant find a full neighbor hood where there's not either a pedo, pregnant teen, druggie, stoner r****t yeah so just saying berlin deserves the worst.
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The main reason Claremont makes it high on this list has to do with the low household incomes and home prices. Residents earn about $48,099 a year, and homes average $131,000.
Crime is also far above the state average. And while the locals say Claremont is a 'little gritty', apparently Claremont is working to rebuild its image.
If a person is looking to move to a state for a growing family, NH is probably not for them. Only those of us with professional occupations can even get a decent job here, and then nowhere near the pay youd get elsewhere. Hubby and I moved to Colebrook when we each got out of the Air Force we only stayed there a year, as that place didnt even have a national store chain of any kind. We then moved to Claremont, where we raised our kids for the next 10 years. I am a nurse, hubby was a lab tech at the time, so finding jobs was very easy. We love that our children grew up with great schools, clean neighborhoods, and nice people. I feel I should mention that were a multiracial family, but never got nasty looks, etc. for it.
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According to the chatter we've read on forums, this ranking is valid. People complain about drug dealing, sex clubs and other nefarious behavior. Fact is, Somersworth is the second most dangerous city you can live in New Hampshire.
There's a lot of Section 8 housing here, and apparently, you have to stay away from certain areas of downtown. There was a murder in town in 2020, and you have a 1 in 25 chance of being the victim of a robbery, most likely a car or home break in. Yikes.
The fact remains there are far better options if you want to commute into Portsmouth.
I have been a resident of Somersworth, NH for nearly three years now. I *chose* to live here, for 1,000 reasons that do not fit these narrow-minded metrics. However, I will not take issue with that. What I will dissect is the text written here about my chosen home.
According to the chatter weve read on forums, this ranking is valid. People complain about drug dealing, s*x clubs and other nefarious behavior. Fact is, Somersworth is the second most dangerous city you can live in New Hampshire."||||-"Chatter we've read on forums." Is this the scientific research that you speak of- Nice.
"Theres a lot of Section 8 housing here, and apparently, you have to stay away from certain areas of downtown.There was a murder in town in 2013, and you have a 1 in 25 chance of being the victim of a robbery, most likely a car or home break in. Yikes."
I love the scientific correlation between Section 8 and rampant crime. Gosh, those Section 8 tenants should just be dropped off into the ocean and the world would be a better place. Oh shoot - that's in Portsmouth. G*d forbid someone who was down on their luck wander a toe over into the precious mecca of everything awesome and beautiful. ||||"The fact remains there are far better options if you want to commute into Portsmouth."
Speak of the devil! Well, you know life would have many far better options if the entire populous of Somersworth received a 500% pay grade increase. Perhaps instead of fleeing the treacherous wastelands described here, those shiny new tax dollars could go into making Somersworth shiny and beautiful."
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Pinardville is the most dangerous place in the state of New Hampshire. That's part of the reason it's the 8th worst place in New Hampshire.
The fact remains, that when you're within Pinardville city limits, you have a 1 in 5.6 chance of being robbed or having something you own vandalized.Does that sound like a fun place to live?
Did you know Pinardville also has the 18th highest unemployment rate in the state at 3.7%? Or that homes are only valued at $203,300?
Say what you want about cheap living. The fact is, homes are priced by demand, and there's little demand to live in Pinardville.
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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 4th cheapest in the state here at $164,600. 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 4th lowest in the state of New Hampshire, at $50,750. 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 4.2% of people in Franklin were without jobs according to the latest numbers.
Franklin is right off of I-93 north of Concord.
Taught at a camp here. Kids seemed sweet and generally interested in learning. Town, however, was shockingly run down and there is a high population of low-lifes. I didn't even realize places like this exist in NH.
The beach in seems to be frequented by some serious scum bags. Also door to rest room opens inwards and HAS NO HANDLE ON THE INSIDE!
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When you're looking at science and data, Concord is the 10th worst place you can live in the state of New Hampshire. Let's see why.
First off, the crime here is really high, in comparison to the rest of New Hampshire. Concord is the 13th most dangerous place you can live in the state, where you have a 1 in 50.7 chance of being the victim of some type of property crime. Meaning lots of people are getting robbed here.
Homes here average $218,600, which is the 14th lowest in the state. You can defend 'cheap living' all you want, but the fact is, homes are priced by demand, and there's not a lot of demand to live in Concord.
Income levels are just about $62,967, the 10th lowest in New Hampshire.
When you add it all up, Concord really is quite an undesirable place to live. The people who have to live in here could use a big hug right about now.
I grew up here and loved it. Unfortunately, I don't love the poverty, the ridiculous cost of heating, some of the most expensive universities in the U.S., the opioid epidemic, and lack of mental health care. I, like many of my generation got priced out of NH. If the U.S. starts taking care of its citizens again with the help of our neighbouring politician I reckon NH will return to its former glory.
Good: Fall, hiking, Market basket, coops, CSA
How we determined the worst places to live in New Hampshire for 2020
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities have the least amount of those things.
We don't think it's a stretch to assume that people like the following things:
- Good education
- Lots of jobs
- Low crime
- Low poverty
- Nice homes
- High incomes
- High population density (Lots of things to do)
- Short work commutes
- Health insurance
The data comes from the Census's most recent American Community Survey and from the FBI Uniform Crime Report.
We broke crime down into violent crime and property crime to give violent crime a larger weight -- if you did a simple calculation of all crimes per capita, property crimes are normally 7x more common and really bias that ranking.
Furthermore, only cities with at least 5,000 people were considered -- leaving 27 cities.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 27 for all the criteria with a #1 ranking being the worst for the particular criteria.
Next, we averaged the rankings into one "Worst Place To Live Score".
Finally, we ranked every city on the "Worst Place To Live Score" with the lowest score being the worst city in New Hampshire -- Rochester. Read on for a detailed look at the 10 worst cities in New Hampshire. You can download the data here.
This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased.
Wrapping Up The Worst In New Hampshire
If you're looking at areas in New Hampshire with the worst economic situations, where there's higher than average crime, and not a lot to do, this is an accurate list.
And in the end, Rochester ranks as the worst city to live in New Hampshire for 2020.
If you're curious enough, here are the best cities to live in New Hampshire:
- Durham (Pop. 11,101)
- Portsmouth (Pop. 21,778)
- Hanover (Pop. 8,591)
For more New Hampshire reading, check out:
- Best Places To Retire In New Hampshire
- Richest Cities In New Hampshire
- Safest Places In New Hampshire
- Best Cities For Singles In New Hampshire
Where Are The Worst Places To Live In New Hampshire?
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rochester | 30,661 |
| 2 | Newport | 5,019 |
| 3 | Laconia | 16,342 |
| 4 | Manchester | 111,657 |
| 5 | Berlin | 10,382 |
| 6 | Claremont | 13,016 |
| 7 | Somersworth | 11,883 |
| 8 | Pinardville | 5,390 |
| 9 | Franklin | 8,586 |
| 10 | Concord | 43,040 |
How Is The Area In ?
The post THE 10 WORST Places To Live In New Hampshire, 2020 appeared first on RoadSnacks.