Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
39% more nonprofits per person than the typical New Hampshire town.
Northfield is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B− overall, 86th among New Hampshire's 125 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: it reports less crime per resident than 69% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on health: it is healthier than 68% of U.S. towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in schools: its schools rank behind 70% of the state's. A typical home there costs about $435K, 4.5 years of the Concord area’s $97K median household income. On cost of living, just 6 of New Hampshire’s 187 towns do better. Northfield’s trail density is 1.7 miles per square mile, above both New Hampshire’s towns (1.2) and U.S. towns (0.4). Only 16 of New Hampshire’s 187 towns score lower on walkability.
Where Northfield beats most towns.
Hall Memorial LibraryCensus counts: 606 in 1790, a low of 606 in 1790, 4,872 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2006 and 3 maps from 1927 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 Northfield is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Northfield, 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 Northfield.
Northfield has a longer frost-free season than almost anywhere else in New Hampshire and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in New Hampshire; it also has seen reported crime rise by about half.
That puts Northfield below the New Hampshire town median (18%) and near the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). 48 miles of trail in 12 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Stillhouse Forest, at 195 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Knowles Pond Conservation Area | 1.6 mi | 81 |
| 2. Glines Park | 0.9 mi | 56 |
| 3. Richard Smart Conservation Area | 0.6 mi | 24 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Winnisquam Regional School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwick SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 251 | C+ |
| Compass Classical Academy Charter School (H)Largest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 43 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 79% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here grew from 876 in 2013 to 1,307.
Most working residents leave Northfield for work: only 6% work in town. Since 2013, Northfield has added 431 jobs, to 1,307 in 2023. The top destinations are Concord (17%), Tilton (11%) and Laconia (7%).
| Northfield | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 5.8% | 10% | 8% |
| Median household income | $93,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8.1% | 6.7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes rose from 26 to 42 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Northfield’s violent crime rate is 2 per 1,000 residents. New Hampshire has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Northfield sits closer to the middle.
| Northfield | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.3 per 1,000 residents | 4.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Within New Hampshire it is less healthy than 85% of the 126 graded towns: New Hampshire sets a high bar.
Northfield beats the New Hampshire average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 25% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Northfield.
| Northfield | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 23% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 30% | 33% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 20% | 25% |
| What stands out | Northfield | NH |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 12.3% | 8.9% |
| More smokers | 13.8% | 10.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.9% | 6.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Lakeport 2 weather station, 11 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 170 days, the #2 highest of 321 New Hampshire places with climate records.
Northfield has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Northfield is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Northfield home is worth about $435,000, up 1.6% in a year, 15% below the New Hampshire typical home. Only 10 of the 120 New Hampshire towns we compare have a lower median rent than Northfield.
| Northfield | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,076 a month | $1,393 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 82% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Northfield. Close and well known come first.
18 mi LakeLake Winnipesaukee
4 mi MuseumCanterbury Shaker Village
29 mi Stadium & arenaSNHU Arena
39 mi Ski areaWaterville Valley Resort84 runs · 1,990 ft vertical
27 mi Ski areaMount Sunapee77 runs · 1,469 ft vertical13 mi Ski areaGunstock Recreation Area73 runs · 1,305 ft verticalLake Winnipesaukee: No machine-readable author provided. JohnJHenderson~commonswiki assumed (based o, Public domain · Canterbury Shaker Village: SayCheeeeeese, Public domain · SNHU Arena: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · Waterville Valley Resort: MConradWard, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mount Sunapee: User:Josephbrophy, Public domain
3 within 15 miles of the center of Northfield
About 5 of every 100 Northfield residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Hampshire.
Where Northfield’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Northfield on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New Hampshire, United States
Northfield is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,872 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Northfield.
| Town | NH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northfield | #86 | B− | B | B+ | C | B+ |
| Tilton | #104 | C | B | D | C | B+ |
| Franklin | #102 | C | B− | B | D− | B+ |
| Tilton Northfield | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Boscawen | #83 | B− | C | A | B− | A− |
| Canterbury | — | — | C− | — | C | A |
| Belmont | #107 | C | C+ | B | C | B− |
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. Tilton Northfield isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Northfield with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Northfield grades B− overall, better than 49% of U.S. towns and #86 of 125 in New Hampshire. It grades B+ for health, B+ for safety and C for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes, by national standards. New Hampshire has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Northfield sits nearer the middle.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
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