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Towns / New Hampshire

Lyme, New Hampshire

Lyme is a small town of about 1,700 people in Grafton County, New Hampshire. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.8 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Boston, is about 116 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,715
down 1.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$645,000
Grafton County prices up 31% since 2022
Household income
$133,906
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural New Hampshire
100.5
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
15 miles
Lebanon, NH
To Boston
116 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 0.5% above the U.S. average in the parts of New Hampshire outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood0 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 0.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Rivendell Academy, about 6 miles away.
  • A hospital close byMary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Lebanon, about 15 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBoston is about 116 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Lyme meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$645,000U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 31%Grafton County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,418 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$133,906U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
80%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$10,000 or more a yearNew Hampshire: $6,667
Homes built before 1940
32%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
6%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
11%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
100.5U.S. average = 100 (the parts of New Hampshire outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 31% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of New Hampshire outside metro areas, not Lyme alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,7152020: 1,742
Median age
48.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
27%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
19%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
70%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
10%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (49%); professional and business services (14%); construction (8%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
27%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
4%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, Lebanon, NH, about 15 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Lyme, run by Lyme School District. The nearest public high school is Rivendell Academy, about 6 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on New Hampshire's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
85%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
98%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
7°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
10 a year
Nights at or below freezing
178 a year
Rain and melted snow
42.9 inches a year
Snow
76 inches a year
Elevation
1,604 feet

Weather station: Wentworth (10 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, Manchester, Boston.

Grafton County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, not next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 5, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Lyme Center Historic District and the Lyme Common Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail1 mile
  • Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park24 miles
  • Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park26 miles

Read about Lyme's history on Wikipedia.

Know Lyme?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Dorchester, NH342 people, 7 miles
  • Wentworth, NH840 people, 9 miles
  • West Fairlee, VT624 people, 10 miles
  • Piermont, NH763 people, 11 miles
  • Orange, NH288 people, 13 miles
  • Groton, NH589 people, 13 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.