We used science and data to determine which places in the Granite State are the real pits.

Editor’s Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out we updated this article for 2019. This is our fifth time ranking the worst places to live in New Hampshire.

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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 25 of the state’s most populous cities (over 5,100 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 Laconia.

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and see how your city fared in 2019.

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:

How we determined the worst places to live in New Hampshire for 2019

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 25 cities.

We then ranked each city from 1 to 25 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 — Laconia. Read on for a detailed look at the 10 worst cities in New Hampshire.

This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased.

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility 6

/10 Population: 16,237

Rank Last Year: 2 (Up 1)

Median Home Value: $180,600 (6th worst)

Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (4th worst)

More on Laconia: Data | Photos

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 2019, and residents had a 1 in 28.6 chance of being the victim of a property crime.

Additionally, employment numbers (5.8% unemployment rate) and income levels are far below the state average ($52,702).

Overall SnackAbility 5

/10 Population: 30,212

Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 1)

Median Home Value: $166,700 (4th worst)

Unemployment Rate: 4.3% (16th worst)

More on Rochester: Data | Photos

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 30.1 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 4th cheapest in the state, and income levels are almost as low as you can get. Households in Rochester bring in just under $55,767 a year annually.

Rochester is also on Route 16 just north of Portsmouth.

Overall SnackAbility 5

/10 Population: 8,491

Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 2)

Median Home Value: $160,100 (3rd worst)

Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (11th worst)

More on Franklin: Data | Photos

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 3rd cheapest in the state here at $160,100. 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 $48,398. 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 4.7% of people in Franklin were without jobs according to the latest numbers.

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

Review Of Franklin by by HomeSnacks User 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! Review Where You Live

Overall SnackAbility 5

/10 Population: 5,272

Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 2)

Median Home Value: $201,700 (8th worst)

Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (5th worst)

More on Suncook: Data | Photos

Most of the rest of the cities on this list deserve to be on here due to their high crime numbers. Suncook is the 2nd most dangerous city in New Hampshire, according to the FBI. Residents had a 1 in 17.5 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 8th cheapest in the state, and income levels are almost as low as you can get. Households in Suncook bring in just under $62,855 a year annually.

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility 5

/10 Population: 10,273

Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)

Median Home Value: $90,400 (1st worst)

Unemployment Rate: 8.9% (1st worst)

More on Berlin: Data | Photos

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 8.9%

In New Hampshire, that’s the 1st highest in the state.

The residents in Berlin have the 1st lowest incomes in the state. Folks in Berlin average $37,969 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 $90,400 on average. That’s the 1st 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.

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility 8

/10 Population: 110,601

Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 1)

Median Home Value: $210,900 (11th worst)

Unemployment Rate: 5.5% (7th worst)

More on Manchester: Data | Photos

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.

Review Of Manchester by by HomeSnacks User 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. Review Where You Live

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility 5

/10 Population: 13,028

Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)

Median Home Value: $132,500 (2nd worst)

Unemployment Rate: 5.0% (10th worst)

More on Claremont: Data | Photos

The main reason Claremont makes it high on this list has to do with the low household incomes and home prices. Residents earn about $46,639 a year, and homes average $132,500.

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.

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility 8

/10 Population: 11,797

Rank Last Year: 8 (No Change)

Median Home Value: $171,700 (5th worst)

Unemployment Rate: 6.9% (3rd worst)

More on Somersworth: Data | Photos

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 2019, 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.

Overall SnackAbility 6

/10 Population: 7,665

Rank Last Year: 9 (No Change)

Median Home Value: $218,700 (13th worst)

Unemployment Rate: 5.0% (10th worst)

More on Hudson: Data

Hudson places 9th in our ranking of the worst places to live in New Hampshire.

You can imagine it’s a pretty simple life down there. Which is fine, unless you look closely at the data.

Homes are the 13th cheapest in the state, and at $218,700, just about anyone with a pulse can buy a home here. However, the unemployment rate (5.0%) is the 10th highest in New Hampshire, and income levels are far below the state average. And 11.8% of the population lives below the poverty line.

Would you have guessed that the area around Hudson has one of the highest crime rates, per capita in New Hampshire?

Overall SnackAbility 7

/10 Population: 42,717

Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)

Median Home Value: $212,600 (12th worst)

Unemployment Rate: 4.5% (14th worst)

More on Concord: Data | Photos

If you’re looking to live in New Hampshire, Concord might not be the best choice as it places 10th in our ranking of the worst places to live for 2019.

The unemployment rate here is 4.5%, and households bring in a combined $61,310 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 13th highest in the state in Concord as well. Just not a very desirable place at all to make home.

Review Of Concord by by HomeSnacks User Low crime, great schools, plenty of things to do year-round, great sense of community, good restaurants, theater and close to many recreational activities. There were many lakes and public swimming pools nearby for summer activities, beautiful fall foliage and apple picking in the fall, lots of sledding, ice skating, and skiing in the winter Review Where You Live

Next 10 Cities

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, Laconia ranks as the worst city to live in New Hampshire for 2019.

If you’re curious enough, here are the best cities to live in New Hampshire:

Durham (Pop. 10,753) Portsmouth (Pop. 21,644) Hanover (Pop. 8,495)

For more New Hampshire reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Places To Live In New Hampshire