The 10 Most Miserable Cities In New Hampshire For 2023


The most miserable cities in New Hampshire are Derry and Londonderry for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

Do you live in one of the most miserable places in New Hampshire?

Only a third of New Hampshirites say they are truly happy. That’s too bad, considering that folks in New Hampshire don’t really have it too bad in the grand scheme of things.

But, we were curious – which New Hampshire cities might be the most miserable? We’re about to find out, using Saturday Night Science and data.

After analyzing the 26 largest cities, we sadly present the most miserable cities in the Granite State.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Most Miserable Places In New Hampshire

  1. Derry
  2. Londonderry
  3. Franklin
  4. Nashua
  5. Rochester
  6. South Hooksett
  7. Newport
  8. Hudson
  9. Berlin
  10. Hooksett

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked. If you have a smile on your face, you probably don’t live in one of these cities.

Oh, and by the way, Lebanon is the happiest place in New Hampshire.

For more New Hampshire reading, check out:

The 10 Most Miserable Places In New Hampshire For 2023

Derry, NH

Source: Wikipedia User John Phelan | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 23,571
Poverty Level: 8.3%
Median Home Price $272,200
Married Households 5.0%
Households With Kids 33.01%
More on Derry: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Londonderry, NH

Source: Wikipedia User John Phelan | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 11,955
Poverty Level: 3.4%
Median Home Price $349,100
Married Households 8.0%
Households With Kids 31.26%
More on Londonderry: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Franklin, NH

Source: Wikipedia User User:Magicpiano | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 8,766
Poverty Level: 4.8%
Median Home Price $205,300
Married Households 23.0%
Households With Kids 24.29%
More on Franklin: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Nashua, NH

Source: Wikipedia User Jon Platek | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 90,659
Poverty Level: 8.0%
Median Home Price $298,100
Married Households 8.0%
Households With Kids 26.41%
More on Nashua: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Rochester, NH

Source: Wikipedia User Jon Platek | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 32,317
Poverty Level: 9.3%
Median Home Price $208,500
Married Households 20.0%
Households With Kids 26.64%
More on Rochester: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

South Hooksett, NH

Source: Wikipedia User John Phelan | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,906
Poverty Level: 2.9%
Median Home Price $289,500
Married Households 25.0%
Households With Kids 33.0%
More on South Hooksett: Data | Cost Of Living

Newport, NH

Source: Wikipedia User User:Magicpiano | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,333
Poverty Level: 21.1%
Median Home Price $146,800
Married Households 25.0%
Households With Kids 27.8%
More on Newport: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Hudson, NH

Source: Wikipedia User User:Svenbot | CC-BY-SA-2.5
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,756
Poverty Level: 3.4%
Median Home Price $266,400
Married Households 12.0%
Households With Kids 15.72%
More on Hudson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Berlin, NH

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 9,710
Poverty Level: 13.9%
Median Home Price $79,100
Married Households 25.0%
Households With Kids 27.24%
More on Berlin: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,669
Poverty Level: 6.3%
Median Home Price $227,200
Married Households 22.0%
Households With Kids 25.35%
More on Hooksett: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Methodology: How We Measured The Most Miserable Cities In The Granite State

To rank the unhappiest places in New Hampshire, we had to determine what criteria make people happy. It isn’t a stretch to assume that happy people earn great salaries, are relatively stress-free, and have a stable home life.

So we went to the Census’s American Community Survey 2017-2021 report for the happy criteria, flipped the list with Saturday Night Science, and it spit out the answer.

Like magic.

Here are the criteria we used to measure misery:

  • Percentage of residents with a college degree
  • Average commute times
  • Unemployment rates
  • Cost of living
  • % of married couples
  • % of families with kids
  • Poverty rate

After we decided on the criteria, we gathered the data for the 26 places in New Hampshire with over 5,000 people.

We then ranked each place from one to 26 for each of the seven criteria, with a score of one being the most miserable (Any ties were given to the larger place).

Next, we averaged the seven rankings into a Miserable Index for each place with the lowest overall Miserable Index “earning” the title “Most Miserable City In New Hampshire.”

If you’d like to see the complete list of states, most miserable to happiest, scroll to the bottom of this post to see the unabridged chart.

We updated this article for 2023, and it’s our tenth time ranking the most miserable cities in New Hampshire.

There You Have It – The Least Happy Cities In New Hampshire

As we said earlier, trying to determine the most miserable cities in New Hampshire is usually a subjective matter.

But if you’re analyzing cities where people are not stable, where you’re stuck in traffic, and no one spent the time to go to college, then this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious enough, here are the happiest cities in New Hampshire, according to science:

  1. Lebanon
  2. Portsmouth
  3. Hanover

For more New Hampshire reading, check out:

Miserable Cities In New Hampshire For 2023

Rank City Population Poverty Level Median Home Value % Married % Kids
1 Derry, NH 23,571 8.3% $272,200 5.0% 33.01%
2 Londonderry, NH 11,955 3.4% $349,100 8.0% 31.26%
3 Franklin, NH 8,766 4.8% $205,300 23.0% 24.29%
4 Nashua, NH 90,659 8.0% $298,100 8.0% 26.41%
5 Rochester, NH 32,317 9.3% $208,500 20.0% 26.64%
6 South Hooksett, NH 5,906 2.9% $289,500 25.0% 33.0%
7 Newport, NH 5,333 21.1% $146,800 25.0% 27.8%
8 Hudson, NH 6,756 3.4% $266,400 12.0% 15.72%
9 Berlin, NH 9,710 13.9% $79,100 25.0% 27.24%
10 Hooksett, NH 5,669 6.3% $227,200 22.0% 25.35%
11 Somersworth, NH 11,964 10.9% $226,600 20.0% 31.4%
12 Milford, NH 8,437 8.1% $256,000 15.0% 24.24%
13 Concord, NH 43,552 9.3% $245,800 18.0% 25.22%
14 Manchester, NH 114,730 12.5% $258,100 14.0% 24.83%
15 Suncook, NH 5,008 9.6% $219,600 24.0% 25.98%
16 Exeter, NH 9,908 6.7% $241,000 8.0% 20.42%
17 Durham, NH 11,616 24.4% $396,200 3.0% 28.77%
18 Claremont, NH 12,955 16.7% $136,600 17.0% 21.29%
19 Hampton, NH 9,900 3.2% $400,200 14.0% 25.67%
20 Newmarket, NH 5,621 6.6% $300,900 9.0% 19.2%
21 Laconia, NH 16,786 10.3% $214,800 18.0% 24.36%
22 Keene, NH 22,969 11.6% $193,400 10.0% 18.92%
23 Dover, NH 32,599 8.0% $310,500 14.0% 23.24%
24 Hanover, NH 8,813 10.3% $610,900 4.0% 25.96%
25 Portsmouth, NH 21,897 6.0% $487,900 11.0% 18.05%
26 Lebanon, NH 14,316 7.8% $274,400 13.0% 18.89%
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

12 thoughts on “The 10 Most Miserable Cities In New Hampshire For 2023

  1. This list really seems to have been created by someone who has never before been to New Hampshire. Newmarket is a college town, thus it is absurd to conclude it is a “miserable” town based on the fact that it has a low marage rate and a low rate of home ownership. On top of that, it takes a lot of audacity to say that Hampton is the “happiest” place. This whole list is upside down, and nobody from New Hampshire would ever take this seriously. The author needs to go back to the drawing board on this one.

  2. You’ve obviously never even been to New Hampshire. You shouldn’t judge a place based on charts and numbers.

    1. We think the numbers give an insight you miss from living there too long. The numbers never lie, people’s perceptions do.

      It’s like the Moneyball of Real Estate if you will.

        1. That’s why Hampton is not only the happiest, but the third most happy as well.

          You can’t judge these town on a limited data set, especially without even visiting them. Newmarket is a college town so it’s very transient in it’s population. Not a lot students are married and quite a few remain here after college or come back here to live and start a family. When I put a link to this on my facebook page, everyone defended Newmarket, no matter where they live now, they all have very fond memories of this town.

          You need to check out Berlin, NH. That poor town lost it’s paper mill and has been struggling for a long time.

  3. This is the dumbest piece of clickbait I’ve ever wasted my time on. I’m not even from New Hampshire, but I have spent a lot of time there. If these are the most miserable places, New Hampshire must not be a very miserable place.

  4. I wonder where the data came for Hillsboro. The population data is way off, it hasn’t been 2000 people in my lifetime, and I’m getting old.

    I wonder if this is just some sort of spam site? The picture doesn’t look right either, so I wonder if they are using data from a different Hillsboro, maybe in a different state?

    I’d be interested in the formula that was used and the raw data.

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