Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Plainfield grades A overall, 27th of 125 graded towns in New Hampshire. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 93% of U.S. towns. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 91% of the country and its public schools beat 83% of New Hampshire towns on state tests and graduation. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $529K for a typical one and 6.4 times the Lebanon area’s $83K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 92% of U.S. towns, with 5 places on the National Register. Plainfield’s trail density is 1.5 miles per square mile, above both New Hampshire’s towns (1.2) and U.S. towns (0.4). Only 4 of the 125 New Hampshire towns we compare have a lower violent crime rate than Plainfield. The biggest park or preserve is Michael M. & Claudia Yatsevitch Forest, at 582 acres.
Where Plainfield beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,024 in 1790, a low of 853 in 1920, 2,459 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1846 and 3 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 Plainfield is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Plainfield. Close and well known come first.
26 mi Ski areaKillington Resort184 runs · 3,031 ft vertical
5 mi National Historical ParkSaint-Gaudens National Historical Park28K visitors a year
24 mi Ski areaOkemo Mountain119 runs · 2,165 ft vertical
18 mi Ski areaMount Sunapee77 runs · 1,469 ft vertical
7 mi MuseumAmerican Precision Museum7 mi Ski areaWhaleback Mountain37 runs · 648 ft verticalKillington Resort: NHRHS2010, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park: Ser Amantio di Nicolao, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Okemo Mountain: Jrclark (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mount Sunapee: User:Josephbrophy, Public domain · American Precision Museum: Stilfehler, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Plainfield, 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 Plainfield.
Plainfield pairs an A− for schools with high home prices and is safe by national standards but not by New Hampshire’s; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New Hampshire.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. French's Ledges | 2.9 mi | 138 |
| 2. Farnum Lot Trails | 2.3 mi | 87 |
| 3. Townsend Lot | 1.6 mi | 67 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $529K.
Its public schools are run by the Plainfield School District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plainfield Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 183 | A |
| Kimball Union Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 338 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests
At 4.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 80% of New Hampshire’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
Plainfield’s property crime rate is 4.3 per 1,000 residents, near the New Hampshire town median (4.5) and below the median of U.S. towns (9.9).
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
27% of Plainfield adults feel lonely. Plainfield beats the New Hampshire average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 14% of Plainfield adults report frequent mental distress.
| Plainfield | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 30% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Plainfield | NH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.4% | 9.5% |
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 74.7% | 69.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here grew from 401 in 2013 to 554.
Most working residents leave Plainfield for work: only 10% work in town. Plainfield’s median household income is $123,000. Jobs based in Plainfield grew to 554 in 2023, 153 more than in 2013.
| Plainfield | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $123,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.2% | 6.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Plainfield has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Plainfield is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 65% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Plainfield since 2013.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Children under 18 are 23% of residents (18% statewide). 47% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Plainfield. Plainfield has grown 4.1% since 2020, to 2,560 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Plainfield | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 47% | 39% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 23% | 18% | 22% |
| Median age | 38.9 years | 45 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 20% | 18% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5 points. Across New Hampshire, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Plainfield | NH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 16.4% | 9.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7% | 8.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.9% | 8.7% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.9% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.7% | 12.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.5% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.9% | 15.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.5% | 12.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.3% | 7.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.1% | 5.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21.1% | 26.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.7% | 17.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.4% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.4% | 24.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 25.3% | 16.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,600, single groups can be off by several points
At 6.4 years of the Lebanon area’s $83K median household income, the typical home (about $529K) costs more against local pay than in 85% of New Hampshire towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living.
The typical Plainfield home is worth about $529,000, up 1.9% in a year, close to the New Hampshire typical home.
| Plainfield | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,674 a month | $1,382 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 87% | 82% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Plainfield
About 5 of every 100 Plainfield residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Hampshire.
Where Plainfield’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in Plainfield on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Plainfield.
Place in New Hampshire, United States
Plainfield is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 2,459. The town is home to the Helen Woodruff Smith Bird Sanctuary and Annie Duncan State Forest. The village of Plainfield, where 178 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Plainfield census-designated place (CDP) and is located in the western part of the town along New Hampshire Route 12A. Plainfield also includes the village of Meriden, home to Kimball Union Academy, a private preparatory school.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Plainfield.
| Town | NH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainfield | #27 | A | D | A | A− | A |
| Cornish | — | — | C | — | C+ | A |
| Grantham | #25 | A | C− | A+ | A+ | A |
| Lebanon | #62 | B+ | D | B− | B+ | A+ |
Cornish has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Cornish reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Plainfield with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Plainfield grades A overall, better than 85% of U.S. towns and #27 of 125 in New Hampshire. It grades A for health, A for safety and A− 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.
3 notable people were born here, including Lemuel Wellman Wright and Kathryn W. Leighton.
