Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
New Durham grades B+ overall, 58th among New Hampshire's 125 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 92% of U.S. towns and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 78% of the country. It also does better than most on schools: its schools outperform 60% of the state's. Its lowest everyday mark is in incomes: the median household income is $100K, and 6% of residents live below the poverty line. A typical home there costs about $524K, 4.5 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. On walkability, just 7 of New Hampshire’s 187 towns do worse. 19% of the land in New Durham is conserved, near the New Hampshire town median (18%) and above the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Birch Ridge Community Forest, at 2,634 acres with 7.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where New Durham beats most towns.
Census counts: 554 in 1790, a low of 433 in 1940, 2,693 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1865 and 3 maps from 1919 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 New Durham is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in New Durham, 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 New Durham.
New Durham has a longer frost-free season than almost anywhere else in New Hampshire, is safe by national standards but not by New Hampshire’s and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in New Hampshire.
At 5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 76% of New Hampshire’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
New Durham’s property crime rate is 2.5 per 1,000 residents, against 4.5 in New Hampshire’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. New Durham’s violent crime rate is 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
| New Durham | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.5 per 1,000 residents | 4.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Governor Wentworth Regional School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Durham Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 144 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests and graduation
Within New Hampshire it is less healthy than 70% of the 126 graded towns: New Hampshire sets a high bar.
30% of New Durham adults sleep under 7 hours. New Durham beats the New Hampshire average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 26% of New Durham adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| New Durham | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 23% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 30% | 33% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 19% |
| What stands out | New Durham | NH |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.8% | 8.9% |
| More adults with arthritis | 31.1% | 27.6% |
| More adults with high cholesterol | 39.1% | 35.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
New Durham has 261 jobs for its 1,329 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 34.7 minutes, against 26.7 across New Hampshire.
Most working residents leave New Durham for work: only 4% work in town. The average trip to work in New Durham is 35 minutes. The top destinations are Rochester (12%), Portsmouth (10%) and Dover (8%).
| New Durham | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 10% | 16% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.7% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.8% | 6.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Birch Ridge Community Forest | 7.8 mi | 2,634 |
| 2. Collins Family Forest | 4.3 mi | 491 |
| 3. Beaver Brook Wildlife Management Area | 0.7 mi | 225 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Lakeport 2 weather station, 17 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 170 days, the #2 highest of 321 New Hampshire places with climate records.
New Durham has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 12° and about 62 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 61% of U.S. communities. Since 2006, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in New Durham.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the New Hampshire average. 15% of residents are under 18 in New Durham. New Durham has grown 7.2% since 2020, to 2,890 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| New Durham | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 15% | 18% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 46.5 years | 44.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 39% | 29% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.6 points. Across New Hampshire, 50.1% of residents are women.
| New Durham | NH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.8% | 9.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5% | 8.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.2% | 8.7% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.3% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.5% | 12.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.3% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 18.1% | 15.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 18.3% | 12.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.5% | 7.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.1% | 5.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.8% | 26.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.5% | 17.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.9% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.4% | 24.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.2% | 16.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,900, single groups can be off by several points
The typical New Durham home is worth about $524,000, up 2.3% in a year, close to the New Hampshire typical home.
| New Durham | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 94% | 82% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,417 a month | $1,382 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around New Durham. Close and well known come first.
13 mi LakeLake Winnipesaukee
35 mi LighthouseCape Neddick Light
39 mi Ski areaWaterville Valley Resort84 runs · 1,990 ft vertical12 mi Ski areaGunstock Recreation Area73 runs · 1,305 ft vertical
34 mi MuseumStrawbery Banke
37 mi Stadium & arenaSNHU ArenaLake Winnipesaukee: No machine-readable author provided. JohnJHenderson~commonswiki assumed (based o, Public domain · Cape Neddick Light: Stefan Hillebrand, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Waterville Valley Resort: MConradWard, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Strawbery Banke: Ken Gallager (Ken Gallager from en.wikipedia), Public domain · SNHU Arena: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
None within 15 miles of New Durham; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 New Durham residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Hampshire.
Where New Durham’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in New Durham on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New Hampshire, United States
New Durham is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,693 at the 2020 census. It is drained by the Merrymeeting, Cocheco and Ela rivers, and is known for Merrymeeting Lake. New Durham is home to the Powder Mill Fish Hatchery, located on Merrymeeting Road. Also located here is the Lions Club's Camp Pride, a camp for children and adults with disabilities.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with New Durham.
| Town | NH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Durham | #58 | B+ | B− | A | B | A− |
| Alton | #85 | B− | C | A− | C− | A |
| Farmington | #111 | C | B | B | C− | B− |
| Brookfield | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Brookfield isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare New Durham with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. New Durham grades B+ overall, better than 68% of U.S. towns and #58 of 125 in New Hampshire. It grades A− for health, A for safety and B for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
2 notable people were born here, including Alfred M. Jones and Marilla Ricker.
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