Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Lebanon grades B+ overall, ranked 62nd of 125 in New Hampshire. It has 106 miles of trail. It is healthier than 96% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $98K. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $460K, 5.5 years of the Lebanon area’s $83K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 90% of U.S. towns, with 3 places on the National Register. 46% of working residents work locally in Lebanon, above both New Hampshire’s towns (9.8%) and U.S. towns (8%). On walkability, just 3 of New Hampshire’s 187 towns do better. The biggest place to walk is Farnum Hill Reserve, 756 acres with 6.2 miles of trail.
Where Lebanon beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,180 in 1790, 14,282 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 2 maps from 1985 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Hampshire), ordered by how far Lebanon is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for health (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 5%), so the B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lebanon. Close and well known come first.
27 mi Ski areaKillington Resort184 runs · 3,031 ft vertical
28 mi Ski areaOkemo Mountain119 runs · 2,165 ft vertical
11 mi National Historical ParkSaint-Gaudens National Historical Park28K visitors a year
5 mi MuseumHood Museum of Art4 mi Ski areaWhaleback Mountain37 runs · 648 ft vertical
23 mi Ski areaMount Sunapee77 runs · 1,469 ft verticalKillington Resort: NHRHS2010, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Okemo Mountain: Jrclark (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park: Ser Amantio di Nicolao, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hood Museum of Art: Daderot, CC0 · Mount Sunapee: User:Josephbrophy, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lebanon, 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 Lebanon.
Lebanon draws workers from Hartford and beyond, is safe by national standards but not by New Hampshire’s and gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of New Hampshire.
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #2 of 126 in New Hampshire.
Only 6 of the 126 New Hampshire towns we compare have a higher trail network density than Lebanon. The town has 31 parks and preserves, 2,730 acres in all.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Boston Lot Conservation Area | 7.5 mi | 434 |
| 2. Farnum Hill Reserve | 6.2 mi | 756 |
| 3. Indian Ridge Conservation Area | 2.2 mi | 129 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The largest public high school is Lebanon High School, with 606 students. Three of its 8 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Its public schools are run by the Lebanon School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lebanon Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 464 | B+ |
| Lebanon High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 606 | A |
| Hanover Street SchoolTop results in townGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 316 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests and graduation
Among adults in Lebanon, 74% had a checkup this year and 29% have high blood pressure. Of 32 CDC measures, Lebanon beats the New Hampshire average on 7 and trails it on 1. The share of adults in Lebanon who have diabetes: 7.9%.
| Lebanon | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 32% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 78% | 79% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Lebanon | NH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with obesity | 24.5% | 31.8% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 5.2% | 6.2% |
| Fewer adults getting a yearly checkup | 73.8% | 77.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
19,106 jobs are based in Lebanon, 2.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 14 minutes, against 26.7 across New Hampshire.
Employers in Lebanon added 2,043 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 19,106. In Lebanon, 23% of workers do their job from home. For half of commuters, work is under 4 miles away. The top destinations are Hanover (17%), Hartford (6%) and Concord (2%).
| Lebanon | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 23% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $98,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7% | 6.7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
For Lebanon, the FEMA risk score is 71 of 100. 87% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding. This New Hampshire town has had 22 paid flood insurance claims since 1984.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Hanover weather station, 5 miles away, records that 61 inches of snow fall in a normal winter: more than most of the country, but less than 76% of New Hampshire places with climate records.
July afternoons reach 82° and January nights drop to 10°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Lebanon home is worth about $460,000, up 3.4% in a year, 10% below the New Hampshire typical home. For households locally, the share who own their home is 51%. The town’s typical rent is $1,744 a month.
| Lebanon | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 82% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,744 a month | $1,382 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 19.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 89% of New Hampshire’s graded towns. Each of the 3 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Enfield (A−) to Plainfield (A). Reported crimes rose from 222 to 293 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The level of violent crime for Lebanon comes to 1.3 per 1,000 residents. For Lebanon, the property crime rate is 17.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Lebanon | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17.4 per 1,000 residents | 4.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lebanon
About 7 of every 100 Lebanon residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Hampshire.
21.6% of the town is conserved land, across 31 parks and preserves.
3 places in Lebanon on the National Register of Historic Places.
26 notable people were born in Lebanon.
City in New Hampshire, United States
Lebanon ( LEB-ən-ən) is the only city in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 14,282 at the 2020 census, up from 13,151 at the 2010 census. Lebanon is in western New Hampshire, south of Hanover, near the Connecticut River. It is the home to Dartmouth–Hitchcock Medical Center and Dartmouth College's Geisel School of Medicine, together comprising the largest medical facility between Boston, Massachusetts, and Burlington, Vermont. Lebanon is a core city of the Lebanon–Claremont micropolitan area, comprising four counties in the upper Connecticut River valley, two in New Hampshire and two in Vermont.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Lebanon.
| Town | NH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lebanon | #62 | B+ | D | B− | B+ | A+ |
| Enfield | #77 | B | C− | A− | B− | A |
| Hanover | #15 | A | D− | A | A+ | A+ |
| Plainfield | #27 | A | D | A | A− | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Lebanon grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #62 of 125 in New Hampshire. It grades A+ for health, B− for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
New Hampshire has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Lebanon 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 D.
26 notable people were born here, including Mia Tyler and George Storrs.
