New Hampshire may have some of the most friendly people and be one of the most laid back states in the country, but living in the Granite State does come with a set of risks.
That’s right, New Hampshire has some pretty dangerous places and RoadSnacks is here to tell you just where those places are located: we’ve created a list of the most dangerous places in New Hampshire for 2020.
How’d we do it? We consulted the numbers. In total, we analyzed 69 cities. We looked at the FBI’s latest crime report for violent crime and property crime statistics for every place with over 5,000 residents. We discovered that New Hampshire’s overall violent and property crime numbers, while above the national average, the numbers in the state’s most dangerous places could be better.
If you asked most New Hampsherites, they would say that their little corner of this New England state is the best, but that’s not the case for the people who live in New Hampshire’s most dangerous places. The residents in these places are not only witnessing high crime, they are dealing with unemployment, low wages, and lack of rehabilitation programs. This is shocking because New Hampshire is the wealthiest state in the country. Do we think that the state needs to reevaluate their income and sales tax break so that they can start to take care of their problems? We’re not entirely sure, but one thing we know is that the trickle down effect must be stopping after New Hampshire’s best cities are compensated.
Have we piqued your interest? Want to know where the places with high crime are located in New Hampshire? Keep reading.
People always ask why we produce lists of the most dangerous places in each state. Well, we do it to show the public how to navigate the places that most people don’t want to visit, but still want to know the gossip. And, unfortunately, there always has to be a number one.
So, what city is the number one most dangerous place to live in New Hampshire for 2020? Well according to the FBI data we crunched, Rochester is the most dangerous place to live in the Granite State.
So, if you want to know where the most dangerous places in New Hampshire are located, take a look at the list below. And if you don’t find what you’re looking for there, head to the bottom.
Learn more about the safest places in New Hampshire.
If you’re looking for something more national, check out the most dangerous cities in America or the most dangerous states in America.
For more New Hampshire reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In New Hampshire
- Best Counties To Live In New Hampshire
- Cheapest Places To Live In New Hampshire
Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In New Hampshire
The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In New Hampshire For 2020
Another city on the eastern edge of the state, Rochester is the most dangerous city in New Hampshire overall.
While violent crime dropped, the improvement was completely nullified when 2018’s property crime statistics were even higher than recent years.
Located in south-central New Hampshire, Manchester is the largest city in the state, as well as the largest city in northern New England.
While the city has been named one of the most affordable in the region by several sources, its status as the 2nd most violent city in the state might mar that fact.
Between 2017-2018, violent crime went up, leaving residents with a 1 in 168 chance of being the victim of violence in 2018; that’s considerably higher than most places on the list.
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.
Laconia takes 3rd because of its 8th place finish for violence.
Located in central New Hampshire, 30 miles north of Concord, Laconia experienced rise in violent crime between 2017-2018.
This left residents with a 1 in 416 chance of being the victim of violence and a 1 in 30.1 chance of being the victim of theft or arson in 2018.
Located on the eastern edge of New Hampshire, bordering Maine, Somersworth has the smallest area of any city in the state.
The 10 sq. mile Somersworth saw a total of 319 property crimes in 2018, which calculates out to a 1 in 37.4 chance of being a victim of theft.
Somersworth ranked 7th for violent crime.
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.”
Located on the western edge of New Hampshire in Sullivan County, Claremont hasn’t experienced much of a change in its crime statistics recently.
Its relatively poor violent crime statistics went up between 2017-2018, while property crime fell by a very small amount to 247 occurrences.
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.
Concord ranks 9th in violent crime, but 10th overall in property crime to place as the 6th most dangerous city in New Hampshire.
To put that in perspective, you have a 1 in 50.7 chance of being a victim of a property crime in Concord. That makes property crimes much more common in Concord than the safest city, Sandown.
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
Located in the southwestern corner of the state in Cheshire County, Keene has the 5th worst rate of property crime in New Hampshire.
Instances of property crime went up between 2017-2018, with 2018’s rate being 1 in 40.8.
Violent crime also went up during this time period to 15th worst overall, which didn’t quite get Keene into the top ten most violent cities in the state.
Plenty of schools for education, parks, bike paths. Events live music in summer
Panhandlers, no public restroom. Broken sidewalks and curbs. Potholes galore.
The 8th most dangerous city in New Hampshire goes to Hillsborough.
And much like a walk in a major city park, you need to watch for muggers and property theft as it ranks as having the highest rate of property theft in the Granite State. You had a 1 in 77.1 chance of being a victim of a property crime in 2018 in Hillsborough.
It’s not totally clear why the property crime rate is so high. People live spread out, unemployment is relatively high — but not super high — and poverty isn’t as bad as in some other parts of the state.
60 miles north of Somersworth, also on the eastern border of New Hampshire, Conway is the most populous city in the state north of Laconia.
Conway experienced a massive rise in violent crime between 2017-2018.
Property crime statistics, meanwhile, remained stagnant, with residents facing a 1 in 49.8 chance of being the victim of theft or arson each year — the 9th highest rate in the state.
Population: 8,941
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 178 (17th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,733 (13th most dangerous)
More on Seabrook:
Located in the southeastern corner of the state, on the Atlantic coast, Seabrook ranks 10th for its danger.
In 2011, Seabrook wouldn’t have made this list, but a whopping increase in violent crime between 2017-2018 changed that.
In 2018, residents faced a 1 in 558 chance of being the victim of violence, which would put Seabrook at 17th for the year in New Hampshire.
How we determined the most dangerous cities in New Hampshire for 2020?
Every year the FBI release two crime datasets, a preliminary dataset limited to the biggest cities in the country, followed by a more detailed release at the end of the year.
For our analysis, we focused on the JUST released 2018 data, specifically the 2018 Crime In The United States Report. We will update the results when data becomes available in September 2020.
So what criteria did we use? Have a look:
- Violent Crimes Per Capita
- Property Crimes Per Capita
In order to make the analysis as apples to apples as possible, we only considered New Hampshire cities over 5,000 in population. That left us with 69 cities in New Hampshire.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 69 for the two criteria with a #1 ranking being the most dangerous for the particular criteria.
Next, we averaged the two rankings into one “Dangerous Index”.
Finally, we ranked every city on the “Dangerous Index” with the lowest index being the most dangerous in New Hampshire — Rochester. Any ties went to the smaller city. You can download the data here.
Read on for a detailed look at the 10 most dangerous cities in New Hampshire.
Locking It All Up In New Hampshire
The latest FBI crime data shows that Rochester ranks as the most dangerous city in New Hampshire for 2020.
We want to point out again that there’s still safes places in Rochester and that this isn’t a comment on the people that live there. So please don’t beat us up.
If you’re curious enough, here are the safest cities in New Hampshire:
- Hollis (Pop. 7,851)
- Atkinson (Pop. 6,970)
- Sandown (Pop. 6,501)
For more New Hampshire reading, check out:
- Best Places To Raise A Family In New Hampshire
- Best Places To Retire In New Hampshire
- Richest Cities In New Hampshire
- Safest Places In New Hampshire
- Worst Places To Live In New Hampshire
Where Are The Most Dangerous Cities In New Hampshire?
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rochester | 30,947 |
| 2 | Manchester | 111,422 |
| 3 | Laconia | 16,658 |
| 4 | Somersworth | 11,920 |
| 5 | Claremont | 12,930 |
| 6 | Concord | 43,071 |
| 7 | Keene | 22,870 |
| 8 | Hillsborough | 5,936 |
| 9 | Conway | 10,153 |
| 10 | Seabrook | 8,941 |
No Mention of any relations to drugs, which is the reason for the rankings being so high
The only reason my hometown of laconia even registers on this list is the fact that bike week is held here every year. Our population doubles from tourists and everyone gets drunk and stupid.
The biggest reason laconia is on here is because of the drug problem, along with unemployment and lazy people on disability that dont need it. Dont blame bike when most of the crime happens the rest of the year not during bike week.
Yah okay , Born and raised in Laconia. Crime that happens on “THAT” week is done mostly by the people who live in the area. Dad’s a police officer.
Keene? Where the State College is? Surely you jest
You obviously missed Pittsfield. Property & Violent crime are high due to the fact that when people are released from the NH State Prison and the NH State Hospital, they generally go to Concord, Pembroke (Suncook), Franklin and “Pittsfield”.
How on earth did Lebanon rank and Nashua didn’t??
“Science”. You mean you plugged values into a spreadsheet and created a scatter chart? Also, why dont you provide the complete table? People might be interested in seeing where their town ranks…