Although sparsely populated, there are more than 300 communities along the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, which vary in size. The largest community along the eastern shore outside of Dartmouth and Cole Harbour is Porters Lake with a population of more than 3,716 as of 2021. Some of the communities on the Eastern Shore include:

Dartmouth
Eastern Passage
Lawrencetown
East Preston
Lake Echo
Cole Harbour
Mineville
Porters Lake
Seaforth
Grand Desert
Musquodoboit Harbour
Head of Chezzetcook
West Chezzetcook
Middle Musquodoboit
Upper Musquodoboit
Meagher’s Grant
Dean
Ostrea Lake
Jeddore
Lake Charlotte
Clam Harbour
Little Harbour
East Ship Harbour
Owl’s Head
Tangier
Spry Bay
Taylors Head
Sheet Harbour
Port Dufferin
Moser River
Ecum Secum
Liscombe
Spanish Ship Bay
Sherbrooke
Port Bickerton
St Mary’s River
Goldboro
New Harbour
Tor Bay
Little Dover
Canso
Fox Island
Queensport
Guysborough
Port Shoreham
Pirate Harbour
Mulgrave