Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Loudon grades B+ overall, ranked 52nd of 125 in New Hampshire, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It reports less crime per resident than 93% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $107K. On the other side, FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 71% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. On the outdoors, just 6 of New Hampshire’s 187 towns do worse. Loudon’s median age is 49.5 years, against 44.6 years in New Hampshire’s towns and 40.5 years across U.S. towns. Loudon Town Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Loudon beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,084 in 1790, a low of 690 in 1920, 5,576 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 4 maps from 1919 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Hampshire), ordered by how far Loudon is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Loudon, 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 Loudon.
Loudon reports less crime than Gilmanton or any other graded neighbor and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in New Hampshire.
Its A tops all 3 graded towns on its borders; Gilmanton (A) comes closest. At 4.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 80% of New Hampshire’s graded towns.
Loudon’s violent crime rate is 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Loudon | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 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
Its public schools are run by the Merrimack Valley School District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loudon Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 243 | C− |
| Benjamin Franklin Academy Chartered Public School (H)Largest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 24 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Loudon for work: only 6% work in town. Since 2013, Loudon has added 197 jobs, to 993 in 2023. The average trip to work in Loudon is 30 minutes.
| Loudon | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.4% | 6.8% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $107,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.6% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
48 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Bachelder Town Forest, 186 acres with 2.8 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bachelder Town Forest | 2.8 mi | 186 |
| 2. Lovejoy Trails | 1.2 mi | 132 |
| 3. Soucook River State Forest | 0.5 mi | 48 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Within New Hampshire it is less healthy than 75% of the 126 graded towns: New Hampshire sets a high bar. All 4 graded neighbors score healthier than its B+, from Concord (A−) to Canterbury (A).
Loudon beats the New Hampshire average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 14% of Loudon adults binge drink. Only 10 of the 126 New Hampshire towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have obesity than Loudon.
| Loudon | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 30% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 80% | 78% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 19% |
| What stands out | Loudon | NH |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.9% | 8.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.7% | 6.2% |
| More adults with arthritis | 31.1% | 27.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Loudon 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
The typical Loudon home is worth about $506,000, up 1.7% in a year, close to the New Hampshire typical home. 90% of households own their home in Loudon.
| Loudon | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 90% | 82% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,321 a month | $1,393 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Loudon. Close and well known come first.
21 mi LakeLake Winnipesaukee
34 mi Ancient siteAmerica's Stonehenge
4 mi MuseumCanterbury Shaker Village
37 mi Theme parkCanobie Lake Park
22 mi Stadium & arenaSNHU Arena
7 mi MuseumMcAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center50K visitors a yearLake Winnipesaukee: No machine-readable author provided. JohnJHenderson~commonswiki assumed (based o, Public domain · America's Stonehenge: User:Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Canterbury Shaker Village: SayCheeeeeese, Public domain · Canobie Lake Park: Alex1961, CC BY-SA 2.0 · SNHU Arena: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center: Starhop, CC BY-SA 3.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Loudon
About 1 of every 100 Loudon residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Hampshire.
Where Loudon’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in New Hampshire, United States
Loudon is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,576 at the 2020 census. Loudon is the home of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The main village in town, where 711 people lived at the 2020 census, is defined as the Loudon census-designated place and is located along the Soucook River at the southern terminus of New Hampshire Route 129.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Loudon.
| Town | NH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loudon | #52 | B+ | C | A | B− | B+ |
| Canterbury | — | — | C− | — | C | A |
| Chichester | #65 | B+ | D | B | B | A |
| Gilmanton | #22 | A | B− | A | A− | A |
| Concord | #98 | C+ | C− | B− | C− | A− |
Canterbury has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Canterbury reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Loudon with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Loudon grades B+ overall, better than 71% of U.S. towns and #52 of 125 in New Hampshire. It grades B+ for health, A for safety and B− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 5.2 years of the area's median household income ($97,004 across the Concord, NH 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.
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