03 · New Hampshire

The freest state in North America.

During its first two centuries, the United States spread freedom around the world by setting the example, and others followed. Today, New Hampshire is the example other states and nations can emulate.

Pedro Serra outside the New Hampshire State House at night, gold dome and replica Liberty Bell behind him — The New Hampshire State House. This is where liberty-minded legislators cut spending, taxes, and rules and regulations, to make the state freer and to give residents more choices. Their salary has been $100 a year since 1889. We have a true citizen legislature, as the founders intended.

The Granite State, by the numbers

New Hampshire’s Scorecard

New Hampshire is the best state in the country, and the scorecard is not subtle.

In New Hampshire, we are building the largest libertarian community in the world.

Hundreds of Free Staters gathered at PorcFest in Lancaster, New Hampshire, with the White Mountains behind them — PorcFest (The Porcupine Freedom Festival), an annual gathering of the liberty community in New Hampshire. Photo: The Free State Project

You have no idea.

I moved to New Hampshire for the movement, but what I found was so much more. I’ve made friends, discovered beautiful places, and, best of all, become part of a community of people who share my values.

Hundreds of friends are waiting. You just haven’t met them yet. There are liberty clubhouses in each region of the state, and over 300 liberty chat groups. The Liberty Calendar has an event almost every day of the year, sometimes more than one in a day. There is a liberty group for nearly every hobby, sport, and interest: hiking and shooting, yoga and crypto, homeschooling and family, potlucks and cooking, cats and dogs, arts and crafts, philosophy and public policy. Come find your people.

Free State Project

A New Hampshire welcome sign with the state motto Live Free or Die — The welcome at the state line.

The Live Free or Die spirit predates the Free State Project.

In 2000, before the Free State Project even existed, New Hampshire already ranked the #2 freest state in the United States. People moving here looking for freedom are not changing the culture. They are embracing it.

Historical painting of the 1772 Pine Tree Riot in Weare, New Hampshire — The Pine Tree Riot. Weare, New Hampshire, 1772.

Older than the Revolution

…it even predates the United States.

The Pine Tree Riot of 1772 in Weare sparked revolt before the Boston Tea Party. When Americans ejected Royal Governor John Wentworth from the colony in 1775, New Hampshire was the first colony to end British rule. In January 1776, New Hampshire declared independence, six months before the other twelve colonies did.

Americans have always voted with their feet.

In the United States it is common for people to move to places that reflect their values, whether political, cultural, or personal. For example, in the 1960s and 1970s, counterculture activists flocked to Vermont, while gay Americans built a thriving community in San Francisco. Liberty lovers are doing something similar in New Hampshire, choosing to live among people who share their belief in freedom.

Come see it