The 10 Best Small Towns In New Hampshire For 2026


The best small towns in New Hampshire are Peterborough and Contoocook for 2026 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Chris Kolmar | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: April 18, 2026

You’ve seen these lists before. Best places to live in New Hampshire. Best sururbs in New Hampshire. Best counties in New Hampshire.

Etc., etc., etc.

But they all focus on major cities and towns in the Granite State, and no one pays attention to the little guy.

Well, that’s all about to change as we put together a list of the superb small towns in New Hampshire based on numbers–not opinions or hearsay.

We’ll dive right into our methodology in the next section, but first, we thought you might want to know which places in New Hampshire ranked the best based on Saturday Night Science.

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

The 15 Best Small Towns To Live In New Hampshire For 2026

  1. Peterborough
  2. Contoocook
  3. Epping
  4. Goffstown
  5. Troy
  6. Seabrook Beach
  7. Plymouth
  8. Pinardville
  9. Henniker
  10. Hampton Beach
  11. Marlborough
  12. Jaffrey
  13. Enfield
  14. Gorham
  15. Conway

Best Small Towns To Live In New Hampshire Map

What’s the best small town in New Hampshire? Peterborough is the best small town in New Hampshire based on the most recent Census data. If you live in one of these small towns like Peterborough, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.

But for the rest of you–keep reading, and we’ll get to just why these small towns made our list.

For more reading on the Granite State check out:

The 15 Best Small Towns In New Hampshire For 2026

1. Peterborough

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,539
Median Income: $85,833 (10th Best)
Median Home Value: $472,042 (12th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%

2. Contoocook

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,376
Median Income: $97,928 (5th Best)
Median Home Value: $531,044 (7th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.1%

3. Epping

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,796
Median Income: $95,273 (7th Best)
Median Home Value: $555,364 (5th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.6%

4. Goffstown

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,490
Median Income: $132,997 (1st Best)
Median Home Value: $493,970 (9th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.4%

5. Troy

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 1,081
Median Income: $96,250 (6th Best)
Median Home Value: $332,969 (28th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.2%

6. Seabrook Beach

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 1,001
Median Income: $93,571 (8th Best)
Median Home Value: $1,160,785 (1st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 9.8%

7. Plymouth

Plymouth, NH

Source: Wikipedia User P199 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 4,969
Median Income: $89,500 (9th Best)
Median Home Value: $364,177 (23rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 7.2%

8. Pinardville

Pinardville, NH

Source: Wikipedia User Ken Gallager at en.wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 4,418
Median Income: $79,340 (14th Best)
Median Home Value: $360,878 (24th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.2%

9. Henniker

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,993
Median Income: $76,326 (16th Best)
Median Home Value: $489,035 (10th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.6%

10. Hampton Beach

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,605
Median Income: $82,557 (12th Best)
Median Home Value: $641,463 (3rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 9.5%

11. Marlborough

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,048
Median Income: $67,356 (22nd Best)
Median Home Value: $366,202 (22nd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.9%

12. Jaffrey

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,277
Median Income: $99,667 (3rd Best)
Median Home Value: $397,897 (19th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.7%

13. Enfield

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,994
Median Income: $99,330 (4th Best)
Median Home Value: $453,751 (14th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%

14. Gorham

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,092
Median Income: $62,679 (26th Best)
Median Home Value: $249,338 (37th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%

15. Conway

Conway, NH

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,879
Median Income: $59,167 (30th Best)
Median Home Value: $446,669 (15th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 17.2%

Best States In America

Methodology: How We Determined The Coolest Towns In New Hampshire

We threw a lot of criteria at this report to get the best, most complete results of the best small towns in New Hampshire possible.

Using the most recent data from the Census’s 2020-2024 American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Saturday Night Science, this is the criteria we used:

  • Population Density (Higher is better)
  • Lowest Unemployment Rates
  • Housing costs (Higher is better. More demand.)
  • Adjusted Median Income (Higher is better)
  • Highly Educated Adults (Higher is better)
  • Insurance Rates (Higher is better)
  • Commute Times (Lower is better)

We looked at places with populations lower than 5,000 people and greater than 1,000, of which there were many – 39 to be exact.

We then ranked each place in each category with scores from 1 to 39, averaged them out, and the lowest scores went to our Best Small Towns in New Hampshire. Top of that list — Peterborough.

This is our eleventh time ranking the best small places to live in New Hampshire.

Summary: Science Can Tackle Any Issue, Even Small Ones

We said it once, and we’ll say it again — this list: it’s just science. We did the research, crunched the numbers, and it turns out these 15 small towns in New Hampshire are the best in which to live.

And who can argue with that?

The best small towns in New Hampshire are Peterborough, Contoocook, Epping, Goffstown, Troy, Seabrook Beach, Plymouth, Pinardville, Henniker, and Hampton Beach.

If you’re curious, here are the worst small towns in New Hampshire:

  1. Colebrook
  2. Farmington
  3. Littleton

For more New Hampshire reading, check out:

Best Small Towns In New Hampshire

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Value Unemployment Rate
1 Peterborough, NH 2,539 $85,833 0.0%
2 Contoocook, NH 1,376 $97,928 2.1%
3 Epping, NH 2,796 $95,273 0.6%
4 Goffstown, NH 3,490 $132,997 0.4%
5 Troy, NH 1,081 $96,250 1.2%
6 Seabrook Beach, NH 1,001 $93,571 9.8%
7 Plymouth, NH 4,969 $89,500 7.2%
8 Pinardville, NH 4,418 $79,340 1.2%
9 Henniker, NH 2,993 $76,326 2.6%
10 Hampton Beach, NH 2,605 $82,557 9.5%
11 Marlborough, NH 1,048 $67,356 0.9%
12 Jaffrey, NH 3,277 $99,667 5.7%
13 Enfield, NH 1,994 $99,330 0.0%
14 Gorham, NH 2,092 $62,679 0.0%
15 Conway, NH 3,879 $59,167 17.2%
16 Belmont, NH 1,378 $52,594 0.0%
17 North Conway, NH 2,041 $71,198 0.0%
18 Meredith, NH 2,617 $59,375 5.6%
19 Wilton, NH 1,038 $84,342 2.5%
20 Tilton Northfield, NH 3,101 $66,705 3.0%
21 Bethlehem, NH 1,058 $64,625 3.9%
22 Raymond, NH 3,645 $73,066 5.3%
23 Sanbornville, NH 1,317 $126,359 0.0%
24 Pittsfield, NH 1,744 $60,144 0.5%
25 Wolfeboro, NH 2,531 $51,839 1.4%
26 Winchester, NH 1,306 $81,250 1.7%
27 Bristol, NH 2,098 $73,993 2.2%
28 Lancaster, NH 2,230 $66,765 1.9%
29 Woodsville, NH 1,422 $57,946 2.5%
30 Antrim, NH 1,265 $72,738 2.5%
31 Hillsborough, NH 1,616 $49,205 0.0%
32 Hinsdale, NH 1,580 $72,292 7.1%
33 Whitefield, NH 1,512 $61,429 4.6%
34 Ashland, NH 1,404 $44,188 2.8%
35 West Swanzey, NH 1,188 $47,090 5.1%
36 Newport, NH 4,758 $78,174 2.7%
37 Littleton, NH 4,114 $53,082 5.0%
38 Farmington, NH 3,924 $55,029 4.7%
39 Colebrook, NH 1,268 $46,833 3.9%
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

 Best Small Towns