Description: Detailed large map of New Hampshire State, USA showing cities, towns, county formations, roads highway, US highways and State routes.
Map of New Hampshire (USA). New Hampshire map with cities, counties, and towns. Use this detailed map to understand New Hampshire's full county grid, every administrative capital (county seat), the major cities and towns, bordering states and waters, and a few highway cues for orientation only. It is the best map style for residents, travelers, and geography students who want clarity without road clutter. All 10 counties are shown here, each shaded separately so the grid reads at a glance, and the Connecticut, Merrimack, Androscoggin, Saco, and Pemigewasset rivers act as the main orientation lines running through the interior. Light corridor cues for I-93, I-89, and I-95 help place the state's population centers clearly: Manchester and Nashua in Hillsborough County toward the south, the state capital Concord in Merrimack County near the center, and the Seacoast hub of Portsmouth in Rockingham County to the southeast.
Borders and waters at a glance: New Hampshire's western edge runs the full length of the Vermont line along the Connecticut River, touching Coos, Grafton, Sullivan, and Cheshire counties from north to south. Maine sits across the eastern border against Coos, Carroll, Strafford, and Rockingham counties, and Massachusetts runs along the flat southern tier against Cheshire, Hillsborough, and Rockingham counties. At the state's northern tip, Coos County meets the Canadian province of Quebec. The only saltwater New Hampshire touches is its short Seacoast stretch in southeastern Rockingham County, where the Piscataqua River and Great Bay open onto the Atlantic near Portsmouth and Hampton.
Road-light orientation: A handful of corridors do the orienting here. I-93 is the spine, running from the Massachusetts line north through Nashua, Manchester, and Concord, then on through Franconia Notch to Berlin near the Maine border. I-89 angles northwest from Concord through Lebanon to the Vermont line. I-95 clips the short southeastern Seacoast corridor through Portsmouth, with I-293 looping around Manchester and I-393 linking Concord to the Lakes Region. None of these are meant for turn-by-turn navigation, just for placing one town relative to the next.
Start at the top of the state, hard against the Canadian line, and you're in New Hampshire's North Country. Coos County is the state's largest by area, about 1,801 square miles, but also its least populous, with roughly 31,343 residents scattered across deep forest and the Connecticut Lakes chain. Follow this on the map and you'll find Lancaster, the county seat, sitting on the upper Connecticut River, with Berlin on the Androscoggin, Gorham just east of it, and Colebrook up near the Quebec crossing. Move south and the map shows Grafton County, New Hampshire's second-largest by area at about 1,750 square miles, stretching from the Vermont line east into the White Mountains. Its seat sits at Haverhill, in the village of North Haverhill on the Connecticut River, while the bigger labels nearby, Littleton near Vermont, Plymouth on the Pemigewasset, Hanover and Lebanon along the river, and Lincoln at the White Mountains gateway, give you plenty of anchor points.
East of Grafton, the map shifts into the Lakes Region. Carroll County lists Ossipee as its seat, with Conway and North Conway up along the Saco headwaters and Wolfeboro sitting on Lake Winnipesaukee's eastern shore. Just south, Belknap County centers on Laconia, its seat, right at the heart of Winnipesaukee's southern basin, with Gilford, Belmont, and Tilton close by on Winnisquam Lake. Look toward the middle of the state and you land on Merrimack County, home to Concord, both the state capital and the county seat, on the Merrimack River. Franklin, where the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers join to form the Merrimack, plus Hooksett, Bow, and Henniker, round out this central county.
Along the Vermont line south of Grafton sits Sullivan County, a smaller southwestern county with Newport as its seat, Claremont as its largest label on the Connecticut River, and Lake Sunapee touching the northeast corner near New London. Keep following the map south and Cheshire County takes over, holding Keene, its seat and largest city, in the shadow of Mount Monadnock down in the state's southwest corner. Jaffrey, Rindge, and Winchester sit near the Massachusetts border, while Walpole marks the river to the north.
New Hampshire's population center runs through southern Hillsborough County, the state's largest county by population at roughly 433,415 residents, with two county seats, Manchester and Nashua, both bold labels on the Merrimack River corridor heading toward Massachusetts. Milford, Bedford, Hudson, and Amherst fill in the interior. East of Hillsborough, in the state's southeastern corner, Rockingham County lists Brentwood as its seat, with Exeter a strong historic label nearby, Derry, Londonderry, and Salem across the southern tier, and Portsmouth sitting at the mouth of the Piscataqua River on the short Seacoast. North of Rockingham, Strafford County, the smallest county by area at about 369 square miles, holds Dover as its seat, with Rochester inland and Durham, home to the University of New Hampshire, on the Great Bay shoreline.
Because every county block is colored and every county seat carries the same consistent symbol, your eye can answer everyday questions fast. Which county is Manchester in? Hillsborough, in the south. Where does Concord sit? Merrimack County, on the river of the same name, near the state's center. Which seat serves the Lakes Region? Laconia in Belknap. What's the seat way up north? Lancaster in Coos. Where is Keene relative to Nashua? Northwest, across Cheshire from Hillsborough. That's the whole point of this detailed map for residents and visitors alike: counties first, with just enough of a road network to anchor direction.
Five rivers do most of the orientation work on this page. The Connecticut River forms the entire western border with Vermont. The Merrimack River flows south from Franklin through Concord, Manchester, and Nashua toward Massachusetts. The Androscoggin River threads the North Country past Berlin. The Saco River drains the eastern White Mountains toward Maine. The Pemigewasset River runs south out of the White Mountains to join the Winnipesaukee River at Franklin and form the Merrimack. Keep these five in mind and any county on the map is easy to place.
The road layer is intentionally minimal. I-93 runs the Massachusetts line–Nashua–Manchester–Concord–Franconia Notch–Berlin. I-89 runs Concord–Lebanon–Vermont line. I-95 clips the short Seacoast corridor through Portsmouth. I-293 loops around Manchester, and I-393 connects Concord to the Lakes Region. None of these are meant for turn-by-turn navigation, only as county-placement cues.
A standard road map would crowd New Hampshire with thousands of miles of state highway and local road detail that most people never actually need. This one takes the opposite approach: 10 counties as solid color blocks, every seat marked clearly, with only the interstate system left in as light reference lines. Look at the map this way and the questions people actually search for, which county a town sits in, where one county ends and the next begins, which county touches a particular border or lake, get answered faster than a cluttered turn-by-turn road map ever could manage. If you need actual driving directions, a GPS app is still the better tool for that job. If you want to understand how New Hampshire is put together, county by county, this is the clearer picture.
Every one of New Hampshire's 10 counties and its seat, in alphabetical order: Belknap County (Laconia), Carroll County (Ossipee), Cheshire County (Keene), Coos County (Lancaster), Grafton County (Haverhill), Hillsborough County (Manchester and Nashua), Merrimack County (Concord), Rockingham County (Brentwood), Strafford County (Dover), and Sullivan County (Newport).
New Hampshire borders Vermont across the Connecticut River to the west, Maine to the east, Massachusetts along its flat southern tier, and the Canadian province of Quebec at its northern tip in Coos County. The state holds 10 counties, five of them, Rockingham, Strafford, Hillsborough, Cheshire, and Grafton, dating to New Hampshire's original 1769 division as a colony, which makes them the state's oldest. Coos County is the largest by land area at about 1,801 square miles, while Strafford County is the smallest at about 369 square miles. Hillsborough County is both the largest by population, with roughly 433,415 residents, and one of the largest by land area at about 892 square miles. Coos County is the least populous, with roughly 31,343 residents across its forested north. New Hampshire covers about 9,349 square miles in total, with roughly 8,953 square miles of land. The capital, Concord, sits in Merrimack County on the Merrimack River, and the state's largest population base runs from Manchester and Nashua in Hillsborough County northeast to Concord. Landscape-wise, the state moves from the White Mountains and North Country forests in the north, through the Lakes Region and Merrimack Valley lowlands in the center, down to the rolling Monadnock hills in the southwest and the short Seacoast plain in the southeast.
New Hampshire's ten largest cities and towns by current population are Manchester (about 116,386, Hillsborough County), Nashua (about 91,851, Hillsborough County), Concord (about 44,674, Merrimack County), Derry (about 34,062, Rockingham County), Dover (about 33,909, Strafford County), Rochester (about 33,598, Strafford County), Salem (about 31,673, Rockingham County), Merrimack (about 29,367, Hillsborough County), Londonderry (about 27,101, Rockingham County), and Hudson (about 25,787, Hillsborough County). Manchester anchors the state's largest labor market, home to a growing health care and technology sector built up along the Merrimack River's old mill yards. Nashua and the Route 3 corridor host precision manufacturing and defense contractors, a legacy of the area's high-tech buildup since the 1980s. Concord centers state government and insurance, while Portsmouth's Pease International Tradeport and the Port of Portsmouth give the Seacoast the state's only deep-water shipping access. New Hampshire has no broad sales tax and no tax on earned wages, a draw for both employers and cross-border shoppers from Massachusetts. Away from the cities, the economy leans on tourism: White Mountain ski resorts and hiking trails draw visitors to Coos and Grafton counties, the Lakes Region pulls summer crowds to Belknap and Carroll, and small dairy farms, orchards, and maple sugarhouses dot the Merrimack Valley and Monadnock region.
New Hampshire's identity runs through its counties as much as its history. The state motto, Live Free or Die, coined by Revolutionary War general John Stark of Manchester, appears on license plates statewide and reflects a long streak of independent politics, on display every four years when the state holds the nation's first presidential primary. The White Mountains, spanning Coos and Grafton counties, anchor a tourism tradition dating to the grand-hotel era of the 1800s and continuing today through hiking, skiing, and fall foliage drives along the Kancamagus Highway. The Lakes Region around Winnipesaukee in Belknap and Carroll counties has drawn summer visitors for generations. Portsmouth, in Rockingham County, preserves one of the country's oldest colonial waterfronts at Strawbery Banke, a reminder that New Hampshire was one of the original thirteen colonies. Every fall, sugarhouses across Merrimack, Hillsborough, and Cheshire counties tap maple trees for the state's long maple syrup tradition. Higher education is spread across the map too, with Dartmouth College in Hanover (Grafton County), the University of New Hampshire in Durham (Strafford County), and Keene State College in Cheshire County.
On this map, Mount Washington (White Mountains, Coos County) and the Connecticut, Merrimack, and Saco rivers double as landmarks for finding counties quickly. For elevation, terrain, watersheds, and land-cover detail, see our Physical Map of New Hampshire.
New Hampshire has a humid continental climate with warm summers and cold, snowy winters, with the White Mountains and North Country running noticeably colder and snowier than the milder Seacoast and Merrimack Valley to the south. For a full seasonal and biome breakdown, see our Physical Map of New Hampshire.
North-south travel runs mainly on I-93 (the Massachusetts line through Nashua, Manchester, and Concord, then north through Franconia Notch to Berlin), while I-89 covers the Concord-to-Lebanon stretch toward Vermont. I-95 handles the short Seacoast run through Portsmouth, with I-293 looping around Manchester and I-393 linking Concord to the Lakes Region. Keep in mind that ZIP codes do not follow county lines in New Hampshire, so a single ZIP code can span two counties. Always confirm the county name directly from the map or index rather than assuming it from a ZIP prefix.
Use this as a quick index. Every line lists the county with its county seat (and a familiar city when the map labels one). Short cues mention river, lake, or gentle corridor context only.
Coos – Lancaster; Berlin, Gorham, Colebrook; Androscoggin River, Connecticut Lakes.
Grafton – Haverhill (North Haverhill village); Littleton, Plymouth, Hanover, Lebanon, Lincoln; Connecticut and Pemigewasset rivers.
Carroll – Ossipee; Conway, North Conway, Wolfeboro; Saco headwaters, Lake Winnipesaukee.
Belknap – Laconia; Gilford, Belmont, Tilton; Lake Winnipesaukee, Winnisquam Lake.
Merrimack – Concord; Franklin, Hooksett, Bow, Henniker; Merrimack River.
Sullivan – Newport; Claremont, New London; Connecticut River, Lake Sunapee.
Cheshire – Keene; Jaffrey, Rindge, Winchester, Walpole; Monadnock region.
Hillsborough – Manchester and Nashua; Milford, Bedford, Hudson, Amherst; Merrimack River corridor.
Rockingham – Brentwood; Exeter, Derry, Londonderry, Salem, Portsmouth; Piscataqua River, Atlantic Seacoast.
Strafford – Dover; Rochester, Durham; Great Bay, Cochecho River.
This directory aligns with what you see on the page: every county, its seat, and a one-line locator that keeps the focus on counties rather than driving steps.
Ten, and the map shows every one with a colored block and its county seat.
Concord, in Merrimack County, on the Merrimack River.
Hillsborough County, New Hampshire's largest city and one of its two county seats.
Hillsborough County, at the Massachusetts line and the county's other seat.
Merrimack County. Concord is both the state capital and the county seat.
Rockingham County, on the Seacoast at the mouth of the Piscataqua River.
Strafford County.
Belknap County, centered on the southern basin of Lake Winnipesaukee.
Carroll County, along the Saco River headwaters.
Grafton County, on the Connecticut River.
Coos County, New Hampshire's northernmost county.
Cheshire County.
Sullivan County.
Coos, Grafton, Sullivan, and Cheshire, all along the Connecticut River.
Coos, Carroll, Strafford, and Rockingham.
Cheshire, Hillsborough, and Rockingham.
Coos County, at New Hampshire's northern tip along Quebec.
Thin lines for I-93, I-89, and I-95 only, so county names and seats stay the focus.
In Hanover, Grafton County, on the Connecticut River.
In Durham, Strafford County, on the Great Bay shoreline.
Across Belknap and Carroll counties in the Lakes Region.
On the Sullivan-Merrimack edge near Newport and New London.
In Coos County, with Grafton County covering the range's western slopes.
In Merrimack County, where the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers join.
Northwest, across Cheshire County from Hillsborough County.
In Rockingham County, in the state's southeastern corner.
No. Printing or copying maps from this site is not permitted.
Coos County, at about 1,801 square miles.
Strafford County, at about 369 square miles.
Hillsborough County, home to Manchester and Nashua, with roughly 433,415 residents.
Coos County, with roughly 31,343 residents.
Manchester, in Hillsborough County, with about 116,386 residents.
Rockingham, Strafford, Hillsborough, Cheshire, and Grafton counties, all formed in 1769 when New Hampshire was still a colony.
Manchester and Nashua both serve as shire towns, a historic split that gives the county two courthouses.
No. ZIP codes cross county lines, so use the county boundaries and seats shown here instead.
Physical Map of New Hampshire
Physical map and map image of New Hampshire.
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