Fastest Growing Towns in New Hampshire (2026 Data)

Quick answer: The fastest growing towns in New Hampshire, by the U.S. Census Bureau's 2025 estimates, are Epping (+11.5% since 2020), Merrimack (+10.7%), Brentwood (+9.6%), Brookfield (+9.3%) and Tuftonboro (+8.2%). Merrimack added the most people outright (2,864), followed by Dover and Londonderry. The state's big cities barely moved: Manchester grew 1.1%, Nashua 1.4%, and Derry shrank slightly.

New Hampshire added about 36,590 residents between 2020 and 2025, a 2.7% gain. That growth did not land evenly. It clustered in a handful of smaller southeastern towns with new housing, in two big suburbs along the Merrimack River and Route 3 corridor, and in the Lakes Region. If you are deciding where to buy, the growth map tells you something the price map does not: where people are actually choosing to go, and where inventory will stay tight because of it. This guide ranks the fastest growing towns in New Hampshire on the 2025 estimates, then pairs the growth data with July 2026 prices and inventory so you can see what it means for your search.

Which NH towns are growing the fastest?

The New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute analyzed the Census Bureau's town-level estimates in June 2026. These are the communities it identified as leading the state on five-year growth rate, 2020 to 2025:

Source: NHFPI analysis of U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimates, June 2026. Statewide growth over the same period was 2.7%, so every town in this table grew at more than double the state rate.

Ranked by the number of people added rather than the percentage, the order changes: Merrimack (2,864), Dover (1,833), Londonderry (1,740), Manchester (1,311), Nashua (1,240) and Lebanon (1,172). That is the list that matters for anyone tracking where housing demand is concentrating.

The one-year picture: who is still accelerating?

Five-year totals can hide a town that boomed in 2021 and has flattened since. The 2024 to 2025 change is the better read on momentum. Brentwood led the state with 148 new residents (+3.1%) in that single year, then Londonderry with 766 (+2.8%), Epping with 190 (+2.4%), Dover with 720 (+2.1%) and Litchfield with 151 (+1.8%).

Londonderry is the standout. It added more people in 2025 alone than most towns added in five years, and it did so with only 17 single-family homes for sale in July 2026 and 1.0 months of supply (NHAR). Its July median sale price was $725,000, up 3.6% year over year. NHFPI attributes the recent southeastern surge partly to the decline of fully remote work: more Granite Staters are commuting again, to Boston and to the Seacoast and Merrimack Valley employers, and they are choosing towns on the highway corridors.

Why are Merrimack and Londonderry growing so fast?

Both towns share three things: a highway interchange to the region's jobs, a large stock of family-sized homes built in the 1980s through 2000s, and, crucially, new construction. Epping, the state's growth leader, issued more single-family building permits in 2024 than any other municipality in New Hampshire. Growth follows permits. Towns that let builders build are the towns that grow, and the ones that do not are the ones where prices climb fastest while population stays flat.

The market numbers tell the story. Merrimack's July 2026 median single-family sale was $650,000, unchanged from a year earlier, with a year-to-date median of $605,000 (+1.7%). It had 19 homes for sale and 1.0 months of supply, one of the tightest markets in southern New Hampshire. Londonderry matches it at 1.0 months. Compare Manchester, which grew just 1.1% in five years but had 77 homes for sale and a $500,000 July median, or Nashua at 1.4% growth, 49 for sale and a $576,500 July median. The cities have more to choose from; the growth towns have almost nothing sitting.

Something we watched all summer: inventory across the state finally loosened, with 2,992 single-family homes for sale statewide in July 2026, up 15.6% from a year earlier, and 2.7 months of supply. Almost none of that relief reached the fastest growing towns in New Hampshire. Merrimack and Londonderry sat at 1.0 months while Bedford (2.2) and Amherst (2.6) absorbed the new listings. If you are shopping a growth town, the "buyer's market" headlines do not apply to you yet.

Does a fast-growing town mean higher home prices?

Not automatically, and this is the part most buyers get backwards. Population growth requires new housing; a town cannot add 2,864 people without somewhere to put them. So the fastest growing towns in New Hampshire are usually the ones building, and building keeps price growth moderate. Merrimack's flat July median is the proof. The towns where prices run hardest are often the ones that grew least, because a fixed housing stock and rising demand is the recipe for bidding wars.

What growth does reliably do is shrink your window. In a town gaining 700 or more residents a year, a well-priced listing draws its buyers in the first weekend, days on market stay in the low teens (Londonderry's July figure was 13, NHAR), and a home that needs a second price cut is rare. Growth towns reward buyers who are pre-approved and decisive, not buyers waiting for a discount.

What about the places that are not growing?

Three of the state's ten largest communities were essentially flat or down. Derry lost 90 residents (-0.3%) from 2020 to 2025, Manchester grew 1.1% and Nashua 1.4%. NHFPI's explanation is housing cost and low inventory: people priced out of the cities are moving one ring further out, to Litchfield, Auburn, Dunbarton and Boscawen, each of which grew at triple the state rate. Derry's July 2026 median of $590,000 (+4.2%) and 35 homes for sale show a town that is affordable relative to its neighbors and, for a buyer, easier to get into than Londonderry next door.

Flat population is not a warning sign for a homeowner. Manchester's 9 days on market and 103.3% of original list price in July 2026 (NHAR) make it the fastest-selling market in the state. What flat population means is that the city's growth is constrained by what it has built, not by demand.

Growth towns at a glance: what they cost in 2026

For the fast-growing towns in our service area with a full NHAR local market update, here is the July 2026 single-family picture. Smaller towns in the growth table (Epping, Brentwood, Auburn, Dunbarton, Litchfield, Boscawen) do not have a comparable monthly report, so we do not quote a median for them.

Market figures: NHAR Local Market Update, July 2026. Tax rates are 2025 per $1,000 of assessed value (NH DRA); 2026 rates are set in October and November. A rate is only comparable across towns once you account for each town's equalization ratio, so use the column as a rough guide, not a bill.

How to use the growth data in your home search

Start with what you need the town to do for you, then check the growth column as a tiebreaker. If two towns fit your commute and budget, the one adding residents is the one where your home will have a deeper pool of future buyers and where the town's tax base is expanding rather than concentrating on existing owners. If you want more choice and more negotiating room, look one ring in: the cities and the flat towns are where the July inventory actually is.

Our team works this corridor daily. The Phinney Team at Keller Williams in Bedford covers Merrimack, Londonderry, Manchester, Nashua, Derry and the towns around them, and we can tell you which growth towns have a listing coming that fits you before it hits the portals. If you are relocating and weighing towns, book a town-matching call and we will narrow the list to three in one conversation.

Related reading

• Best Towns to Live in New Hampshire (Ranked): our 12-town hub with prices, taxes and commutes.
• Best NH Towns for Boston Commuters: the corridor towns behind the growth numbers.
• Moving to NH from Massachusetts: what the largest group of new arrivals needs to know.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest growing town in New Hampshire?

Epping, in Rockingham County, grew fastest from 2020 to 2025, adding about 820 residents for an 11.5% increase, according to NHFPI's analysis of Census Bureau estimates. Epping also issued the most single-family building permits of any NH municipality in 2024, which is the main reason it could absorb that many new residents.

Which New Hampshire town added the most people?

Merrimack added 2,864 residents between 2020 and 2025, the largest numerical gain in the state and a 10.7% increase. Dover (1,833) and Londonderry (1,740) were second and third. Londonderry then led the large towns in 2025 alone, adding 766 people in a single year.

Are Manchester and Nashua growing?

Slowly. Manchester added 1,311 residents (+1.1%) and Nashua 1,240 (+1.4%) from 2020 to 2025, well under the 2.7% state rate, after both lost population during the pandemic. NHFPI points to housing cost and low inventory pushing households to surrounding towns. Both cities still sell fast: Manchester averaged 9 NHAR days on market in July 2026.

Is a fast-growing NH town a good place to buy a home?

Usually, with one caveat. Growth towns have the deepest buyer demand and expanding tax bases, which supports resale value, but they also have the least inventory: Merrimack and Londonderry each had 1.0 months of supply in July 2026. Expect to compete, get pre-approved first, and budget for a home that may need little negotiation.

Are the Lakes Region towns still growing after the pandemic?

Yes, but more slowly. Carroll County towns such as Brookfield (+9.3%), Tuftonboro (+8.2%) and Moultonborough (+7.2%) posted some of the state's highest five-year growth rates, driven by retirees and remote workers, but NHFPI notes annual growth there has eased since 2022 as remote work has declined.

Where do the population numbers come from?

The U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 subcounty population estimates, released in spring 2026 and analyzed by the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute in June 2026. The next update, with 2026 figures, is due in spring 2027.