Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Dunbarton grades A− overall, 35th of 125 graded towns in New Hampshire, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 93% of U.S. towns and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 92% of the country. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $124K. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $601K, 6.2 years of the Concord area’s $97K median household income. 30% of the land in Dunbarton is conserved, where New Hampshire’s towns sit at 18% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. On hazard risk, just 10 of New Hampshire’s 187 towns do better. The biggest place to walk is Hopkinton-Everett Reservoir, 1,362 acres with 7.7 miles of trail.
Where Dunbarton beats most towns.
Census counts: 917 in 1790, a low of 405 in 1920, 3,005 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 5 maps from 1927 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Hampshire), ordered by how far Dunbarton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Dunbarton, 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 Dunbarton.
Dunbarton keeps more of its land conserved than most of New Hampshire and is safe by national standards but not by New Hampshire’s; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New Hampshire.
At 4.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 80% of New Hampshire’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
Dunbarton’s property crime rate is 2.5 per 1,000 residents, against 4.5 in New Hampshire’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. Dunbarton’s violent crime rate is 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Dunbarton | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.5 per 1,000 residents | 4.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Dunbarton School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dunbarton Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 234 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests
28% of adults feel lonely in Dunbarton. Dunbarton beats the New Hampshire average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 17% of adults get no exercise outside work in Dunbarton.
| Dunbarton | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 33% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 20% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 12% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.5% | 9.5% | 12% |
| What stands out | Dunbarton | NH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7% | 8.9% |
| More women getting mammograms | 83.4% | 78.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its 6,053 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 87% of New Hampshire towns.
40 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The trail density in Dunbarton is 1.3 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hopkinton-Everett Reservoir | 7.7 mi | 1,362 |
| 2. Kuncanowet Town Forest and Conservation Area | 5.8 mi | 1,077 |
| 3. Kimball Pond Conservation Area | 5.4 mi | 1,112 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Dunbarton has 352 jobs for its 1,655 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Dunbarton for work: only 5% work in town. Since 2013, Dunbarton has added 183 jobs, to 352 in 2023. 3% of Dunbarton residents live below the poverty line.
| Dunbarton | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $124,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3% | 6.8% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.2% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 75% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Dunbarton has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 13° and about 68 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 6.2 years of the Concord area’s $97K median household income, the typical home (about $601K) costs more against local pay than in 82% of New Hampshire towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living.
The typical Dunbarton home is worth about $601,000, up 1.1% in a year, 18% above the New Hampshire typical home. Among 126 New Hampshire towns, just 9 have a higher share of households owning their home than Dunbarton.
| Dunbarton | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 95% | 82% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,166 a month | $1,393 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (21% statewide). Dunbarton has grown 7.7% since 2020, to 3,233 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 40% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 41% across New Hampshire.
| Dunbarton | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 48 years | 44.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 40% | 39% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 18% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 20% | 18% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.6 points. Across New Hampshire, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Dunbarton | NH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.6% | 9.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.2% | 8.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.6% | 8.7% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.6% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.4% | 12.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 17.5% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.6% | 15.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.7% | 12.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.7% | 7.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.8% | 5.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.3% | 26.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.3% | 17.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 16% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.4% | 24.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.2% | 16.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,200, single groups can be off by several points
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Dunbarton. Close and well known come first.
37 mi LakeLake Winnipesaukee
31 mi MountainMount Monadnock
28 mi Ancient siteAmerica's Stonehenge
29 mi Theme parkCanobie Lake Park
11 mi Stadium & arenaSNHU Arena
11 mi MuseumCurrier Museum of ArtLake Winnipesaukee: No machine-readable author provided. JohnJHenderson~commonswiki assumed (based o, Public domain · 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 · Currier Museum of Art: Struthious Bandersnatch, CC BY-SA 3.0
7 within 15 miles of the center of Dunbarton
About 4 of every 100 Dunbarton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Hampshire.
Where Dunbarton’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in New Hampshire, United States
Dunbarton is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,005 at the 2020 census, up from 2,758 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Dunbarton.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Dunbarton grades A− overall, better than 82% of U.S. towns and #35 of 125 in New Hampshire. It grades A for health, A for safety and B for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
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