The 20 Safest Cities in New Hampshire—2017

New Hampshire embraces technological innovation to help improve public safety statewide. The state is working to provide a “dedicated wireless broadband network” to its public safety community. The dedicated network will make sure that emergency responders and other public safety personnel can communicate and receive the most reliable information in real-time without worrying about a poor or congested wireless connection. The need for such a network became apparent in the wake of September 11th and again during the Boston Marathon bombings.

This innovative attitude towards public safety may be one contributor to the state’s outstanding crime rates. Among the states that SafeWise ranks for safest cities, New Hampshire places fourth in the nation for low violent crime and sixth for property crime.

The safest cities in New Hampshire embody the community spirit that produces such stellar results. Three of the cities on this year’s list reported no violent crimes and fourteen had no more than four, as detailed in the most current FBI crime data. In addition, nine cities reported zero counts of either murder or rape, seventeen had no robberies, and four reported zero aggravated assaults.

There were no more than ninety property crimes reported among all the cities on our list, and only five reported ten or more burglaries. All cities experience fewer than five motor vehicle thefts, and five cities didn’t have any. Arson was absent in sixteen cities, and those that did have an incident didn’t report more than one.
If New Hampshire is your home, you already live in one of the safest states in America, but it’s still fun to find out if your city falls in the top twenty. Read below and be sure to brag to your friends and family about the awesome place you call home. Even low crime areas can still benefit from well-informed and prepared citizens. To brush up on your safety acumen, refer to our New Hampshire Safety Directory.

How We Chose the Safest Cities in New Hampshire

To identify the twenty safest cities in New Hampshire, we reviewed the 2015 FBI crime report statistics and population data. We eliminated all cities with fewer than 1,500 residents as well as any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI.

From there, we evaluated the remaining cities. We narrowed it down based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) in each city. To level the playing field, we calculated the likelihood of these crimes occurring out of 1,000 people in each city.

Learn more about how we rank our Safest Cities reports.

1. Atkinson 

Previous rank: 1

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.29 
Property Crimes per 1,000: 3.36

2. Weare ↑

Previous rank: 5

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.45 
Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.69

3. Hampstead ↑

Previous rank: 7

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.23
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.00

4. Sandown ↑

Previous rank: 10

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.63 
Property Crimes per 1,000: 4,60

5. Stratham ↑

Previous rank: 24

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.27

6. Durham ↑

Previous rank: 12

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.75 
Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.55

7. Sunapee ↑

Previous rank: 13

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.59
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.04

8. Strafford 

Previous rank: 8

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.25
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.39

9. Brookline

Previous rank: N/A

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.77
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.01

10. Gilmanton ↑

Previous rank: 23

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.84

11. Brentwood ↑

Previous rank: 20

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.83
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.22

12. Hopkinton ↑

Previous rank: 14

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 1.43
Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.82

13. Hollis

Previous rank: N/A

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.39
Property Crimes per 1,000: 6.03

14. Windham ↓

Previous rank: 11

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.42
Property Crimes per 1,000: 6.03

15. New London ↓

Previous rank: 6

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.64
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.94

16. Greenland

Previous rank: N/A

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.26 
Property Crimes per 1,000: 6.44

17. Exeter ↑

Previous rank: 25

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.96
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.82

18. New Ipswich ↓

Previous rank: 17

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 1.55
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.43

19. North Hampton ↑

Previous rank: 39

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00
Property Crimes per 1,000: 6.98

20. Enfield ↑

Previous rank: 30

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 2.18
Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.81

How safe is your home?

Wherever you live, feeling safe in your home can bring greater peace of mind and happiness. Whether your city made our list or not, we recommend adding extra security to your home with monitored security services provided by the nation’s leading home security providers.

To learn more about the home security options available to you, check out SafeWise’s picks for Best Home Security Systems of 2018 or select the city nearest you in the drop down menu below.