New Hampshire is a state located in the Northeastern United States. It is divided into 234 municipalities, including 221 towns and 13 cities. New Hampshire is organized along the New England town model, where the state is nearly completely incorporated and divided into towns and cities. For each town/city, the table lists the county to which it belongs, its date of incorporation, its population according to the 2020 census, its form of government, and its principal villages. Cities are indicated in boldface. Cities and towns are treated identically under state law.

New Hampshire also has a small number of townships, grants, gores and other unincorporated areas which are not part of any municipality. These are small and rare, with most located in Coös County, and cover a small amount of the land and population of the state.

Municipal government

Historically, the distinction between towns and cities was the form of government. Towns are led by a board of selectmen, who enforce municipal ordinances enacted during town meetings. Cities are led by a mayor, who enforces ordinances passed by a city council or a board of aldermen. City charters are granted by special act of the New Hampshire General Court. The most recent town to be granted city status was Lebanon, in 1957. In 1979, the General Court established new processes for towns to change the form of government, and such changes no longer confer city status. Towns may adopt a new charter for a representative government, such as a council-manager form, and retain their status as a town with a more limited form of town meeting.

Generally, government forms come in several varieties:

The standard form has a board of selectmen acting as the town executive, while the entire voting population of the town acts as the town legislature in a form known as a town meeting. Some towns have adopted a town manager to act as the town executive. In those cases the board of selectmen acts as the town legislature, while town meetings are advisory in nature. This form functions as the council-manager municipal form. Other towns have abolished their boards of selectmen and replaced it with a town council, to form a council-manager system. Prior to 1979, to abolish the board of selectmen and open town meeting required the town to be rechartered by the state legislature as a city, whereby the city charter would establish a representative government for the town, usually a board of aldermen or city council and led by a mayor and/or city manager.

Regardless of which form of government a municipality uses, and whether it calls itself a city or town, all cities and towns are treated identically by the state law.

List of municipalities Cities are listed in bold. The column labeled "localities" lists the USPS postal cities, census designated places, villages and other unincorporated communities within the municipal borders.

Municipality Type County Form ofgovernment Population(2020) Land area(sq mi) Yearincorporated LocalitiesU.S. Board on Geographic Names, Geographic Names Information System Manchester City Hillsborough (seat) Mayor-council 115,644 33.1 1751 Amoskeag, Bakersville, Goffs Falls, Hallsville, Manchester, Massabesic, Rimmon Heights, Youngsville * The Manchester Department of Planning & Community Development has defined 25 neighborhoods within the city, including those listed above. Nashua City Hillsborough (seat) Mayor-council 91,322 30.8 1746 Broad Acres, Crown Hill, French Hill, Lincoln Park, Nashua, Nashville Historic District, North End Concord City (capital) Merrimack (seat) Council-manager 43,976 64.0 1733 Concord, Concord Heights, Concord Manor, East Concord, Mast Yard, Penacook, Riverhill, West Concord Derry Town Rockingham Council-manager 34,317 35.6 1827 Chases Grove, Collettes Grove, Conleys Grove, Derry, Derry Village, East Derry, Howards Grove, Hubbard, Peppermint Corner, West Derry Dover City Strafford (seat) Council-manager 32,741 26.7 1623 Bellamy, Boston Harbor, Cocheco, Dover, Gates Corner, Sawyers, Wentworth Terrace Rochester City Strafford Council-manager 32,492 45.0 1722 East Rochester, Gonic, Meaderboro Corner, Melrose Corner, North Rochester, Pickering, Rochester, West Gonic Salem Town Rockingham Council-manager 30,089 24.7 1750 Arlington Park, Canobie Lake, Cluffs Crossing, Cowbell Corners, Foster Corners, Hampshire Road, Millville, Mount Ararat, North Salem, Noyes Terrace, Pine Grove Park, Salem, Salem Depot, Wilson Corners Merrimack Town Hillsborough Council-manager 26,632 32.6 1746 Lawrence Corner, East Merrimack, Merrimack, Reeds Ferry, Souhegan Village, South Merrimack, Thorntons Ferry, Woodland Park Londonderry Town Rockingham Town council 25,826 42.0 1722 Londonderry, North Londonderry, West Derry, Wilson Hudson Town Hillsborough Town meeting 25,394 28.3 1746 Hudson, Hudson Center, Perhams Four Corners, Potash Corner Bedford Town Hillsborough Council-manager 23,322 32.8 1750 Bedford Keene City Cheshire (seat) Mayor-council 23,047 37.1 1753 Joslin, Keene, North Swanzey, South Keene Portsmouth City Rockingham Council-manager 21,956 15.7 1631 Atlantic Heights, Bersum Gardens, Christian Shore, Colonial Pines, Creek Area, Elwyn Park, Haymarket Square, Hillcrest Estates, Maplehaven, Meadowbrook, Pannaway Manor, Portsmouth, Portsmouth Plains, Sagamore Grove, Seacrest Village, Strawbery Banke, The Woodlands, Wentworth Acres Goffstown Town Hillsborough Town meeting 18,577 36.9 1761 Browns Corner, Goffstown, Grasmere, Mountain Base, Parker, Pinardville, Shirley Park Laconia City Belknap (seat) Council-manager 16,871 19.9 1855 Interlaken Park, Laconia, Lakeport, Mallard Cove, Pendleton Beach, Weirs Beach, Wildwood Village Hampton Town Rockingham Town meeting 16,214 12.9 1639 Coffins Mill, Dunvegan Woods, Eastman Point, Elmwood Corners, Great Boars Head, Hampton, Hampton Beach, Hampton Landing, North Beach, Plaice Cove, Smith Colony, The Five Corners, The Plantation, The Willows Milford Town Hillsborough Town meeting 16,131 25.2 1794 East Milford, Milford, South Milford, Richardson Exeter Town Rockingham Town meeting 16,049 19.6 1638 Dows Corner, Exeter, Gooch Corner, Haynes Corner, Jady Hill, Perkins Hill Windham Town Rockingham Town meeting 15,817 26.8 1742 West Windham, Windham, Windham Depot Durham Town Strafford Council-manager 15,490 22.4 1732 Durham Hooksett Town Merrimack Council-manager 14,871 36.4 1822 Hooksett, Martin, Martins Corner, Martins Ferry, Rowes Corner, South Hooksett Lebanon City Grafton Council-manager 14,282 40.3 1761 East Wilder, Lebanon, Mascoma, Sachem Village, West Lebanon Pelham Town Hillsborough Town meeting 14,222 26.4 1746 North Pelham, Pelham Claremont City Sullivan Council-manager 12,949 43.2 1764 Claremont, Claremont Junction, Puckershire, West Claremont Hanover Town Grafton Town meeting 11,870 49.0 1761 Etna, Hanover, Hanover Center, Rivercrest Somersworth City Strafford Council-manager 11,855 9.8 1754 Blackwater, Central Park, Crocketts Crossing, Foundry, Somersworth Amherst Town Hillsborough Town meeting 11,753 34.2 1760 Amherst, Baboosic Lake, Cricket Corner, Ponemah Raymond Town Rockingham Town meeting (with town manager) 10,684 28.8 1764 Onway Lake, Raymond Conway Town Carroll Town meeting 9,822 69.5 1765 Center Conway, Conway, East Conway, Intervale, Kearsarge, North Conway, Quint, Redstone, South Conway Newmarket Town Rockingham Council-manager 9,430 12.5 1727 Four Corners, Newmarket Berlin City Coös Council-manager 9,425 61.4 1829 Berlin, Berlin Mills, Cascade Barrington Town Strafford Town meeting 9,326 46.6 1722 Barrington, East Barrington, South Barrington, West Barrington Weare Town Hillsborough Town meeting 9,092 58.8 1764 Chase Village, Clinton Grove, North Weare, Riverdale, Slab City, South Weare, Tavern Village, Weare Hampstead Town Rockingham Town meeting 8,998 13.3 1749 Baglett Grove, East Hampstead, Hampstead, West Hampstead Franklin City Merrimack Council-manager 8,741 27.4 1828 Franklin, Webster Lake, Webster Place, West Franklin Litchfield Town Hillsborough Town meeting 8,478 15.1 1734 Litchfield Seabrook Town Rockingham Town meeting (with town manager) 8,401 8.9 1768 Atlantic, Fogg Corners, Riverside, Seabrook, Seabrook Beach, Seabrook Station, Smithtown, South Seabrook, Walton Landing, Weare Corner, Weares Mill Hollis Town Hillsborough Town meeting 8,342 31.8 1746 Hollis, Hollis Depot, West Hollis Bow Town Merrimack Town meeting (with town manager) 8,229 28.0 1727 Bow Bog, Bow Center, Bow Junction, Bow Mills, South Bow Plaistow Town Rockingham Town meeting (with town manager) 7,830 10.6 1749 Atkinson Depot, Plaistow, Westville Gilford Town Belknap Town meeting 7,699 38.9 1812 Ames, Belknap Point, Dockham Shore, Gilford, Glendale, Lake Shore Park, Samoset, The Ledges, Yale Estates Stratham Town Rockingham Town meeting 7,669 15.1 1716 Parkman Corner, Stratham, Winniconic, Winnicut Mills Belmont Town Belknap Town meeting 7,314 30.5 1727 Belmont, Gardners Grove, Lochmere, Winnisquam, Tioga Swanzey Town Cheshire Town meeting 7,270 45.0 1753 East Swanzey, North Swanzey, Spragueville, Swanzey, Swanzey Station, West Swanzey, Westport Pembroke Town Merrimack Town meeting 7,207 22.8 1759 North Pembroke, Pembroke, Pembroke Hill, Suncook (west part) Epping Town Rockingham Town meeting (with ballot initiative) 7,125 26.0 1741 Camp Hedding, Epping, Martin Crossing, North Epping, West Epping Atkinson Town Rockingham Town meeting 7,087 11.2 1767 Atkinson, Atkinson Heights, Conleys Grove, Westville, Atkinson Depot Farmington Town Strafford Town meeting 6,722 37.2 1798 Farmington, Hornetown, Merrill Corners, Place Plymouth Town Grafton Town meeting 6,682 28.1 1763 Plymouth, West Plymouth Meredith Town Belknap Town meeting (with town manager) 6,662 39.9 1768 Bear Island, East Bear Island, Leavitt Park, Lovejoy Sands, Meredith, Meredith Center, Meredith Hill Sandown Town Rockingham Town meeting 6,548 13.9 1756 Sandown Rindge Town Cheshire Town meeting (with town manager) 6,476 37.2 1768 Converseville, Cutter Hill, East Rindge, Jones Corner, Rand, Rindge, Thomas, West Rindge, Woodmere Peterborough Town Hillsborough Town meeting 6,418 37.7 1760 Drury, Happy Valley, MacDowell, Noone, North Village, Peterborough, West Peterborough Wolfeboro Town Carroll Town meeting