Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Milford grades B+ overall, 50th among New Hampshire's 125 graded towns. It has 47 miles of trail. It reports less crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns and it is healthier than 85% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $512K, 4.9 years of the Manchester metro’s $104K median household income. Milford’s trail density is 1.9 miles per square mile, against 1.2 in New Hampshire’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Milford has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Milford Town House and Library Annex and Milford Suspension Bridge. Only 5 of the 126 New Hampshire towns we compare have a lower median age than Milford.
Where Milford beats most towns.
Census counts: 939 in 1800, 16,131 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1846 and 4 maps from 1906 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Hampshire), ordered by how far Milford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Milford, 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 Milford.
Milford is safe by national standards but not by New Hampshire’s, gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of New Hampshire and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in New Hampshire.
Mile Slip Town Forest, at 463 acres with 5.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mile Slip Town Forest | 5.5 mi | 463 |
| 2. Tucker Brook Town Forest | 4.3 mi | 244 |
| 3. Burns Farm | 3.9 mi | 208 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Milford School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heron Pond Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 2–5 | Grades 2–5 | 552 | C+ |
| Milford High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 655 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests and graduation
At 5.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 72% of New Hampshire’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 5 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
Milford’s property crime rate is 2.9 per 1,000 residents, where New Hampshire’s towns sit at 4.5 and U.S. towns at 9.9. The violent crime rate in Milford is 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Milford | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.9 per 1,000 residents | 4.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Within New Hampshire it is less healthy than 56% of the 126 graded towns: New Hampshire sets a high bar.
8.6% of Milford adults have diabetes. Milford beats the New Hampshire average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 31% of Milford adults have high blood pressure.
| Milford | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.6% | 9.5% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 30% | 33% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Milford | NH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.3% | 6% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 9% | 9.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Milford weather station records that 57 inches of snow fall in a normal winter: more than most of the country, but less than 84% of New Hampshire places with climate records. The Milford weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 156 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 77% of New Hampshire places with climate records.
Milford has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83° and January nights drop to 14°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Milford for work: only 17% work in town. 3.9% of residents live below the poverty line in Milford. Jobs based in Milford grew to 7,118 in 2023, 681 more than in 2013.
| Milford | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 3.9% | 6.8% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $98,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 16% | 16% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Children under 18 are 24% of residents (18% statewide); people 65 and older are 15% of residents (20% statewide). Among 126 New Hampshire towns, just 9 have a higher share of children under 18 than Milford. Milford has grown 3.4% since 2020, to 16,686 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Milford | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 24% | 18% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 39% | 29% |
50% women, 50% 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 40.2, men 34.1.
| Milford | NH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.2% | 9.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.5% | 8.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.2% | 8.7% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 17.7% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.4% | 12.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11% | 15.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.3% | 12.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.8% | 7.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4% | 5.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.7% | 26.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.6% | 17.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.5% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.1% | 24.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.2% | 16.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 1986, 7 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Milford.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Milford’s median rent is $1,661 a month. The typical Milford home is worth about $512,000, up 2.4% in a year, close to the New Hampshire typical home.
| Milford | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 65% | 82% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,661 a month | $1,382 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 Milford. Close and well known come first.
31 mi LakeWalden Pond
22 mi MountainMount Monadnock
24 mi Ancient siteAmerica's Stonehenge
22 mi Theme parkCanobie Lake Park
16 mi Stadium & arenaSNHU Arena
30 mi MuseumAmerican Heritage MuseumWalden Pond: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mount Monadnock: Jonwmcinenrey, CC BY-SA 4.0 · America's Stonehenge: User:Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Canobie Lake Park: Alex1961, CC BY-SA 2.0 · SNHU Arena: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · American Heritage Museum: Daderot, CC0
5 within 15 miles of the center of Milford
About 4 of every 100 Milford residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Hampshire.
17.5% of the town is conserved land, across 28 parks and preserves.
5 places in Milford on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Milford.
Town in New Hampshire, United States
Milford is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States, on the Souhegan River. The population was 16,131 at the 2020 census, up from 15,115 at the 2010 census. It is the retail and manufacturing center of a multi-town area known informally as the Souhegan Valley. The town center, where 9,212 people lived at the 2020 census, is defined as the Milford census-designated place (CDP), and is located at the junction of New Hampshire routes 13 and 101A. It also contains part of the census-designated place of Wilton.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Milford.
| Town | NH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milford | #50 | B+ | D | A | B− | A |
| Amherst | #21 | A | C | A− | B+ | A+ |
| Hollis | #1 | A+ | C | A+ | A | A |
| Lyndeborough | — | — | C | A+ | C+ | A− |
| Brookline | #4 | A+ | C | A+ | A | A+ |
| Wilton | #63 | B+ | C | A− | C+ | A |
Lyndeborough has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Compare Milford with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Milford grades B+ overall, better than 71% of U.S. towns and #50 of 125 in New Hampshire. It grades A for health, A for safety and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
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.
10 notable people were born here, including Harriet E. Wilson and Morgan Andrews.
