Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
The best of Lyme’s subject grades are an A+ for safety and an A for schools and health; the weakest is a D for cost of living. 70% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Lyme, where New Hampshire’s towns sit at 39% and U.S. towns at 29%. Only 2 of New Hampshire’s 149 towns score higher on safety. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 81% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. 38% of the land in Lyme is conserved, above both the New Hampshire town median (18%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Lyme has 3 places on the National Register. The biggest place to walk is Bear Hill Conservancy Land, 2,648 acres with 8.4 miles of trail. Lyme has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Lyme beats most towns.
Lyme Center Historic District| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Lyme Elementary School | K–8 | 187 |
| Crossroads Academy | K–8 | 114 |
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1869.
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 Lyme is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lyme, 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 Lyme.
Lyme’s property crime rate is 0.6 per 1,000 residents. Among 126 New Hampshire towns, just 5 have a lower violent crime rate than Lyme. Lyme reports less crime per resident than 99% of the U.S. towns and cities we grade.
| Lyme | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 4.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Lyme School District. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyme Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 187 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests
26% of Lyme adults have obesity. Lyme beats the New Hampshire average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 10% of Lyme adults have diabetes.
| Lyme | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 32% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 36% |
| What stands out | Lyme | NH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with obesity | 26.1% | 31.8% |
| More adults getting cholesterol checked | 90.4% | 88.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.1% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
101 miles of trail in 14 parks and preserves. The trail density in Lyme is 1.9 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Appalachian National Scenic Trail | 14.7 mi | 2,102 |
| 2. Bear Hill Conservancy Land | 8.4 mi | 2,648 |
| 3. Lyme Town Forest | 5 mi | 424 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Only 6 of the 127 New Hampshire towns we compare have a higher FEMA risk score than Lyme. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Lyme since 2000.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Lyme for work: only 5% work in town. 27% of workers work from home in Lyme. Jobs based in Lyme fell to 287 in 2023, 77 fewer than in 2013.
| Lyme | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 27% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $134,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.4% | 6.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Typical home values rose 2.9% in the year to September 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Lyme has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Among 127 New Hampshire towns, just 9 have a lower July high than Lyme.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lyme. Close and well known come first.
38 mi Ski areaKillington Resort184 runs · 3,031 ft vertical
31 mi Ski areaCannon Mountain104 runs · 2,201 ft vertical
40 mi National forestWhite Mountain National Forest
30 mi State parkFranconia Notch State Park
29 mi WaterfallFlume GorgeKillington Resort: NHRHS2010, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cannon Mountain: Mikespenard at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · White Mountain National Forest: Ken Gallager at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Franconia Notch State Park: Stephen Sokolowski, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Flume Gorge: MyCatIsAChonk, CC BY-SA 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lyme
About 3 of every 100 Lyme residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Hampshire.
Where Lyme’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Lyme on the National Register of Historic Places.
9 notable people were born in Lyme.
Town in New Hampshire, United States
Lyme is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,745 as of the 2020 census. Lyme is home to the Chaffee Natural Conservation Area. The Dartmouth Skiway is in the eastern part of town, near the village of Lyme Center. The Appalachian Trail passes through the town's heavily wooded eastern end.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Lyme.
| Town | NH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyme | — | — | D | A+ | A | A |
| Hanover | #15 | A | D− | A | A+ | A+ |
| Orford | — | — | C | A | — | A |
| Dorchester | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Lyme and Orford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Dorchester isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lyme with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Yes. That is 7.8 years of the area's median household income ($83,269 across the Lebanon-Claremont, NH-VT area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
9 notable people were born here, including Albert Cushing Read and Patrick Caldwell.
