New Hampshire cities

The best places to live in New Hampshire

New Hampshire's largest cities ranked on cost, safety, schools, jobs and quality of life. Dover leads the list.

We scored New Hampshire's cities on the same factors as our state rankings, then ranked them. Below are the 9 largest by population. Two scores per city: value (what you get for the cost) and overall livability (everything combined). Tap any city for its full profile.

#CityMedian homeRentValueOverall
1 Dover $310,500 $1,275 62 76
2 Concord $245,800 $1,160 56 57
3 Portsmouth $487,900 $1,499 45 57
4 Rochester $208,500 $1,102 78 55
5 Derry $272,200 $1,267 45 53
6 Keene $193,400 $1,085 61 48
7 Nashua $298,100 $1,416 38 43
8 Laconia $214,800 $1,097 48 39
9 Manchester $258,100 $1,220 18 22

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Sources: Home prices and rent from Zillow; income and jobs from the U.S. Census; schools from state education data; crime from the FBI; air quality from the EPA. Rankings are within New Hampshire. Updated 2026.