Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Amherst's standout: it is healthier than 96% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades A, ranked 21st of 125 in New Hampshire. The median household earns $153K and crime is low: it reports less per resident than 83% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 90% of U.S. towns, with 1 place on the National Register. 66% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Amherst, above both the New Hampshire town median (39%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). On civic life, just 14 of New Hampshire’s 187 towns do better. Amherst Village Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Amherst beats most towns.
Amherst Village Historic District
Census counts: 2,369 in 1790, a low of 868 in 1920, 11,753 in 2020. The archive holds 14 old photos and papers going back to 1807 and 2 maps from 1906 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Hampshire), ordered by how far Amherst is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Amherst, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 19, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Amherst.
Amherst has less food insecurity than most of New Hampshire and gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of New Hampshire; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New Hampshire.
53 miles of trail in 37 parks and preserves. The trail density in Amherst is 1.6 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Joe English Reservation, 582 acres with 11.6 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Joe English Reservation | 11.6 mi | 582 |
| 2. Pond Parish Reservation | 5.2 mi | 210 |
| 3. Betty Arnold Forest | 4.6 mi | 244 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Amherst School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Souhegan Coop High School, with 696 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clark-Wilkins SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 676 | A |
| Souhegan Coop High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 696 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with New Hampshire is food insecurity: 6% of its 9,134 adults worry about having enough food, against 9.5% statewide. Against the 2,544 U.S. towns with household incomes like Amherst’s, it is healthier than 80%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
13% of adults report frequent mental distress in Amherst. Amherst beats the New Hampshire average on 16 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 7.9% of adults smoke cigarettes in Amherst.
| Amherst | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.9% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 19% |
| What stands out | Amherst | NH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6% | 9.5% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.3% | 6.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
Amherst’s violent crime rate is 0.3 per 1,000 residents. New Hampshire has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Amherst sits closer to the middle.
| Amherst | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.9 per 1,000 residents | 4.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
32.4% of workers work from home, against 16.8% across New Hampshire.
32% of Amherst workers work from home. Since 2013, Amherst has added 453 jobs, to 4,001 in 2023. 4.4% of Amherst residents live below the poverty line.
| Amherst | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 32% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $153,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.4% | 6.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 6.3 years of the Manchester metro’s $104K median household income, the typical home (about $656K) costs more against local pay than in 83% of New Hampshire towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living.
The typical Amherst home is worth about $656,000, up 2.5% in a year, 28% above the New Hampshire typical home.
| Amherst | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 92% | 82% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,462 a month | $1,382 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Milford weather station records that 57 inches of snow fall in a normal winter: more than most of the country, but less than 84% of New Hampshire places with climate records. The Milford weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 156 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 77% of New Hampshire places with climate records.
Amherst has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Among 126 New Hampshire towns, just 4 have a higher July high than Amherst.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1987, 43 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Amherst.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Amherst. Close and well known come first.
33 mi LakeWalden Pond
26 mi MountainMount Monadnock
20 mi Ancient siteAmerica's Stonehenge
19 mi Theme parkCanobie Lake Park
10 mi Stadium & arenaSNHU Arena
33 mi MuseumAmerican Heritage MuseumWalden Pond: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mount Monadnock: Jonwmcinenrey, CC BY-SA 4.0 · America's Stonehenge: User:Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Canobie Lake Park: Alex1961, CC BY-SA 2.0 · SNHU Arena: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · American Heritage Museum: Daderot, CC0
8 within 15 miles of the center of Amherst
About 4 of every 100 Amherst residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Hampshire.
Where Amherst’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
14 notable people were born in Amherst.
Town in New Hampshire, United States
Amherst is a town in Hillsborough County in the state of New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,753 at the 2020 census. Amherst is home to Ponemah Bog Wildlife Sanctuary, Hodgman State Forest, the Joe English Reservation and Baboosic Lake. The village of Amherst, where 697 people lived at the 2020 census, is defined as the Amherst census-designated place and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Amherst Village Historic District.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Amherst.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Amherst grades A overall, better than 90% of U.S. towns and #21 of 125 in New Hampshire. It grades A+ for health, A− for safety and B+ for schools.
Yes, by national standards. New Hampshire has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Amherst sits nearer the middle.
That is 6.3 years of the area's median household income ($103,545 across the Manchester-Nashua, NH metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
14 notable people were born here, including Horace Greeley and Charles G. Atherton.
