Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Hampton grades B+ overall, ranked 48th of 125 in New Hampshire. It is healthier than 87% of U.S. towns and its schools outperform 77% of the state's. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $625K, 5.4 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. 31% of residents are 65 or older in Hampton, above both New Hampshire’s towns (20%) and U.S. towns (18%). No town in New Hampshire scores lower than Hampton on hazard risk. Its National Register listings include Reuben Lamprey Homestead and Benjamin James House.
Where Hampton beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Its founding year, 1638, comes before those of 94% of the New Hampshire towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 853 in 1790, 16,214 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 6 maps from 1932 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 Hampton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hampton. Close and well known come first.
20 mi Ancient siteAmerica's Stonehenge
23 mi Theme parkCanobie Lake Park
29 mi MuseumPeabody Essex Museum
10 mi MuseumStrawbery Banke
20 mi LighthouseCape Neddick Light
11 mi LandmarkFort William and MaryAmerica's Stonehenge: User:Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Canobie Lake Park: Alex1961, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Peabody Essex Museum: Fletcher6, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Strawbery Banke: Ken Gallager (Ken Gallager from en.wikipedia), Public domain · Cape Neddick Light: Stefan Hillebrand, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort William and Mary: AlexiusHoratius, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hampton, 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 Hampton.
Hampton sends many workers across the state line to Boston and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in New Hampshire; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New Hampshire (mostly coastal flooding).
Within New Hampshire it is healthier than 54% of the 126 graded towns: New Hampshire sets a high bar.
27% of Hampton adults feel lonely. Hampton beats the New Hampshire average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 14% of Hampton adults report frequent mental distress.
| Hampton | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 30% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 34% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 16% |
| What stands out | Hampton | NH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.4% | 6.8% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6.7% | 8.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.7% | 9.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Winnacunnet Cooperative School District. Three of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Winnacunnet High School, with 993 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hampton AcademyLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 313 | B+ |
| Winnacunnet High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 993 | B+ |
| Adeline C. Marston SchoolTop results in townGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 303 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of New Hampshire towns, with expected losses of about $845 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 760 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 79 properties have flooded more than once.
The FEMA risk score in Hampton is 91 of 100. Since 1978, 760 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hampton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
20% of working residents cross a state line to work, Boston among the top destinations.
Most working residents leave Hampton for work: only 15% work in town. 22% of workers work from home in Hampton. Jobs based in Hampton grew to 5,871 in 2023, 952 more than in 2013.
| Hampton | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 22% | 16% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.6% | 6.8% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $95,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
New Hampshire has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Hampton sits closer to the middle.
| Hampton | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.9 per 1,000 residents | 4.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.8 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Hampton’s median age is 55.8 years. Only 5 of the 126 New Hampshire towns we compare have a lower share of children under 18 than Hampton. 43% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 41% across New Hampshire.
| Hampton | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 55.8 years | 44.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 12% | 18% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 43% | 39% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.4 points. Across New Hampshire, 50.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 56.6, men 55.2.
| Hampton | NH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.5% | 9.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.1% | 8.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.1% | 8.7% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.5% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.1% | 12.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.3% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 20.4% | 15.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 19.3% | 12.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11.6% | 7.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.8% | 5.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24% | 26.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.9% | 17.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.4% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.4% | 24.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.4% | 16.1% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Typical home values rose 5.1% in the year to September 2026.
| Hampton | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,628 a month | $1,382 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 74% | 82% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Hampton has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 17° and about 63 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
6.0 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. Only 3 of the 126 New Hampshire towns we compare have a lower trail density than Hampton. The biggest park or preserve is Hampton Town Forest, at 96 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hampton Town Forest | 0.8 mi | 96 |
| 2. Hampton Beach State Park | — | 89 |
| 3. Saltmarsh Wildlife Management Area | — | 77 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Hampton
About 3 of every 100 Hampton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Hampshire.
Coastal flooding makes up 67% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
20.9% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, so the town is fuller in summer than its census count suggests.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
2 places in Hampton on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Hampton.
Place in New Hampshire, United States
Hampton is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,214 at the 2020 census. On the Atlantic coast, Hampton is home to Hampton Beach, a summer tourist destination, and part of the census-designated place of Seabrook Beach. The densely populated central part of the town, where 9,597 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Hampton census-designated place (CDP) and centers on the intersection of U.S. 1 and NH 27.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Hampton.
| Town | NH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampton | #48 | B+ | C− | B+ | A− | A |
| Hampton Falls | — | — | C | A− | A− | A+ |
| North Hampton | #31 | A− | D | A− | A− | A |
| Hampton Beach | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Seabrook | #119 | C− | C | C | C− | B+ |
Hampton Falls has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Hampton Beach isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Hampton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Hampton grades B+ overall, better than 73% of U.S. towns and #48 of 125 in New Hampshire. It grades A for health, B+ for safety and A− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes, by national standards. New Hampshire has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Hampton sits nearer the middle.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
7 notable people were born here, including Jane Pierce and Trish Regan.
