Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Effingham’s best subject grades are an A for history and the outdoors; its weakest is a D for walkability. Only 5 of New Hampshire’s 187 towns score lower on walkability. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 78% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Of the 126 New Hampshire towns we compare, none has a lower property crime rate than Effingham. 30% of the land in Effingham is conserved, above both New Hampshire’s towns (18%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest place to walk is High Watch Preserve, 2,327 acres with 8 miles of trail. Effingham has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Effingham beats most towns.
Census counts: 154 in 1790, a low of 154 in 1790, 1,691 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and 3 maps from 1949 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Hampshire), ordered by how far Effingham is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Effingham, 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 Effingham.
38 miles of trail in 11 parks and preserves. At 1.0 miles per square mile, Effingham’s trail density is near the New Hampshire town median (1.2) and above the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. High Watch Preserve | 8 mi | 2,327 |
| 2. Pine River State Forest | 4.5 mi | 2,220 |
| 3. Heath Pond Bog Natural Area | 2.4 mi | 889 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Governor Wentworth Regional School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effingham Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 120 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests and graduation
The typical Effingham home is worth about $336,000, up 3.4% in a year, 34% below the New Hampshire typical home. 90% of households own their home in Effingham.
| Effingham | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 90% | 82% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,090 a month | $1,388 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Effingham for work: only 6% work in town. The average trip to work in Effingham is 32 minutes. Since 2013, Effingham has lost 268 jobs, to 112 in 2023.
| Effingham | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $77,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 16% | 16% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.4% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Effingham beats the New Hampshire average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 76% of Effingham adults had a checkup this year. Only 3 of the 127 New Hampshire towns we compare have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Effingham.
| Effingham | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 78% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 12% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 30% | 33% |
| What stands out | Effingham | NH |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.8% | 8.9% |
| More smokers | 14.4% | 10.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.9% | 6.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Effingham has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Effingham’s July high is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Effingham's reported crime rate is well below New Hampshire's. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Effingham. Close and well known come first.
Big draw39 mi MountainMount Washington
17 mi LakeLake Winnipesaukee
22 mi Scenic railwayConway Scenic Railroad
30 mi National forestWhite Mountain National Forest
27 mi Theme parkStory Land25 mi Ski areaAttitash Mountain Resort85 runs · 1,662 ft verticalMount Washington: wwoods, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Winnipesaukee: No machine-readable author provided. JohnJHenderson~commonswiki assumed (based o, Public domain · Conway Scenic Railroad: Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 3.0 · White Mountain National Forest: Ken Gallager at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Story Land: AnotherMaker, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Effingham; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Effingham residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Hampshire.
1,465 counted in 2010 and 1,691 in 2020; an estimated 1,819 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
2 places in Effingham on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New Hampshire, United States
Effingham is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,691 at the 2020 census, and an estimated 1,819 in 2025, up from 1,465 at the 2010 census. Effingham includes the villages of Effingham Falls, Effingham (Lord's Hill), Center Effingham (Drake's Corner), and South Effingham. Pine River State Forest is in the south.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Effingham.
| Town | NH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Effingham | — | — | C | — | B | B+ |
| Freedom | — | — | C | — | — | B |
| Ossipee | #100 | C+ | D | B | B | B+ |
| Wakefield | #97 | C+ | C+ | A | D | B+ |
Effingham and Freedom have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Effingham and Freedom report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Effingham with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
That is 3.9 years of the area's median household income ($86,463 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
2 notable people were born here, including Andrew Jackson Bryant and David Burbank.
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