Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Bath’s best subject grade is an A+ for history; its weakest is a C− for hazard risk. Its National Register listings include Bath Covered Bridge and Swiftwater Covered Bridge. Bath has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Bath beats most towns.
Census counts: 498 in 1790, a peak of 1,627 in 1830, 1,077 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1898 and 5 maps from 1929 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Hampshire), ordered by how far Bath is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bath, 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 Bath.
The share of households in Bath who own their home: 91%. Values rose 3.4% in the 12 months to September 2026. Also worth knowing: its typical rent is $1,438 a month, against $1,388 a month in New Hampshire’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns.
| Bath | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 91% | 82% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,438 a month | $1,388 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The public schools here belong to the Bath School District. Its one school is below. 50 students attend the town’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bath Village SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 50 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests
Bath’s median household income comes in at $68,000. For most workers, Bath is a place to come home to: only 4% work in town. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs locally rose by 34, to 108. The top destinations are Littleton (14%), Lisbon (14%) and Haverhill (9%).
| Bath | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $68,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.1% | 10% | 8% |
| Work from home | 11% | 16% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Households in Bath have drawn federal disaster aid in 8 declared disasters, most recently in 2024. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 78% of U.S. communities. The national flood insurance program has paid 3 claims locally since 1981. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 84% come from inland flooding.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Bath: nearly a third of adults sleep under 7 hours. In Bath, 14% of adults smoke cigarettes, where New Hampshire’s towns sit at 11% and U.S. towns at 14%. Among 127 New Hampshire towns, just 3 have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Bath.
| Bath | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Bath | NH |
|---|---|---|
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 74.2% | 69.5% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.8% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Bath's reported crime rate is well below New Hampshire's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Only 5 of the 126 New Hampshire towns we compare have a lower rate of reported violence than Bath.
| Bath | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.5 per 1,000 residents | 4.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Only 6 of the 127 New Hampshire towns we compare have a lower share of conserved land than Bath. Count the trails in 5 parks and preserves and they come to 35 miles. The biggest park or preserve is Walling-Wharey Conservation Area, at 212 acres. In Bath, the trail density is 0.9 miles per square mile.
| Bath | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6% | 18% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 1.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lackie Farm Conservation Easement | 0.8 mi | 148 |
| 2. Bath Town Forest | 0.6 mi | 158 |
| 3. Walling-Wharey Conservation Area | — | 212 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bath. Close and well known come first.
Big draw34 mi MountainMount Washington
14 mi Ski areaCannon Mountain104 runs · 2,201 ft vertical
40 mi LakeLake Willoughby
30 mi National forestWhite Mountain National Forest
15 mi State parkFranconia Notch State Park
17 mi WaterfallFlume GorgeMount Washington: wwoods, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cannon Mountain: Mikespenard at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Willoughby: King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0 · White Mountain National Forest: Ken Gallager at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Franconia Notch State Park: Stephen Sokolowski, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Flume Gorge: MyCatIsAChonk, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Bath; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Bath residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Hampshire.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
5 places in Bath on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Bath.
Town in New Hampshire, United States
Bath is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,077 at the 2020 census, unchanged from the 2010 census. Now a tourist destination and commuter town for Littleton, the town is noted for its historic architecture, including the Brick Store and three covered bridges. Bath includes the village of Swiftwater and part of the district known as Mountain Lakes. The town was granted in 1761, by Governor Benning Wentworth, who named it for the politician William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath. It was first settled in 1765 by John Herriman from Haverhill, Massachusetts. But the terms of the original grant were unfulfilled, so Bath was regranted on March 29, 1769, by Gov…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 3.8 years of the area's median household income ($83,269 across the Lebanon-Claremont, NH-VT 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.
6 notable people were born here, including Adeline Morrison Swain and James Hutchins Johnson.
