Manchester (New Hampshire)

Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the eleventh largest city in New England, and as of 2016 the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 109,565, and its estimated 2016 population was 110,506. It is located in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which divides the city into eastern and western sections. Manchester is near the northern end of the Northeast megalopolis. It was first named by the merchant and inventor Samuel Blodget (after whom Samuel Blodget Park and Blodget Street in Manchester's North End are named). Blodget's vision was to create a great industrial center similar to that of the original Manchester in England, which was the world's first industrialized city.Manchester often appears favorably in lists ranking the affordability and livability of American cities. In 2009, CNNMoney.com rated Manchester 13th in a list of the 100 best cities in which to live and launch a business in the United States. In addition, Kiplinger voted Manchester the second most tax-friendly city in the United States, second only to Anchorage, Alaska. Also in 2009, Forbes magazine ranked the Manchester region first on its list of "America's 100 Cheapest Places to Live." According to the Equality of Opportunity Project, released in 2013, Manchester ranked as the seventh best metropolitan area in terms of upward income mobility in the United States.