Hillsborough County, New Hampshire facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hillsborough County
U.S. county
Manchester skyline
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of New Hampshire
New Hampshire's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	New Hampshire
Founded	1769
Named for	The Earl of Hillsborough
Seat	Manchester and Nashua
Largest city	Manchester (by population) Weare (by area)
Area
• Total	892.5 sq mi (2,312 km2)
• Land	876.5 sq mi (2,270 km2)
• Water	15.9 sq mi (41 km2)  1.8%
Population  (2020)
• Total	422,937
• Estimate  (2022)	426,594
• Density	486.7/sq mi (187.9/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts	1st, 2nd

Hillsborough County is the county with the most people in the state of New Hampshire. In 2020, about 422,937 people lived here. This is almost one-third of everyone in New Hampshire!

The county seats, or main administrative cities, are Manchester and Nashua. These are also the two largest cities in the state. Hillsborough County is the most populated and most crowded county in northern New England.

This county is part of a larger area called the Manchester-Nashua Metropolitan Statistical Area. This area is also a piece of an even bigger region that includes Boston, Worcester, and Providence.

History of Hillsborough County

Hillsborough was one of the first five counties created for the old Province of New Hampshire. This happened in 1769. The county was named after Wills Hill, who was the Earl of Hillsborough. He was a British government official in charge of the colonies at that time. The county officially started on March 19, 1771, in Amherst.

Later, in 1823, twelve towns from Hillsborough County became part of a new county called Merrimack County. The town of Merrimack itself, which is in Hillsborough County, was not included in the new county.

The county's main offices moved a few times. First, they moved from Amherst to Milford in 1866. Then, in 1869, they moved to the current county seats, Manchester and Nashua.

Geography of Hillsborough County

Hillsborough County covers a total area of about 892 square miles. Most of this area, about 876 square miles, is land. The remaining 16 square miles (1.8%) is water.

The highest point in Hillsborough County is Pack Monadnock Mountain. It stands tall at 2,290 feet.

Neighboring Counties

Hillsborough County shares its borders with several other counties:

• Merrimack County (to the north)
• Rockingham County (to the east)
• Essex County, Massachusetts (to the southeast)
• Middlesex County, Massachusetts (to the south)
• Worcester County, Massachusetts (to the southwest)
• Cheshire County (to the west)
• Sullivan County (to the northwest)

Protected Natural Areas

• Wapack National Wildlife Refuge

Population and People

2020 Census Information

In 2020, the county had 422,937 people. This means there were about 482 people living in each square mile.

The people living in Hillsborough County come from many different backgrounds. Based on the 2020 census:

• About 81% of the people were white.
• Around 4.8% were Asian.
• About 3.9% were Black or African American.
• Around 1.7% were American Indian.
• About 2.1% were from other races.
• About 2.0% were from two or more races.
• People of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8% of the population.

Many people in the county have French ancestry (about 24.8%). This includes those with French Canadian roots. Other common ancestries include Irish (20.9%), English (13.1%), Italian (10.2%), and German (8.2%).

Cities and Towns

Hillsborough County has several cities and many towns.

Cities

• Manchester (a county seat)
• Nashua (a county seat)

Towns

Census-Designated Places

These are areas that are like towns but are not officially incorporated as towns.

Villages

• Grasmere
• West Peterborough

Former Towns

• Monson

Education in Hillsborough County

Many different school districts serve the students in Hillsborough County.

K-12 School Districts

These districts offer schooling from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Secondary School Districts

These districts focus on high school education.

Elementary School Districts

These districts provide education for younger students, typically up to middle school.

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Hillsborough (Nuevo Hampshire) para niños