The assailants stormed the villages in the Gueskerou area of Niger's Diffa region in cars and motorbikes, shooting residents, according to Reuters news agency.
Gueskerou is along the banks of the Komadugu River separating Niger from Nigeria.
The militants also set fire to the mostly straw thatched houses in the area where some villages were taking refuge, the report added, citing security sources.
"In all, at least 30 were killed. Some of them died when the houses were set alight," Reuters quoted one of the unnamed sources as saying.
The source further said the death toll was expected to rise because a number of the survivors sustained severe burn wounds.
The attack was the second major cross-border raid by Boko Haram this week, following twin suicide bombings in Chad's capital on Monday that killed no fewer than 34 people.
Boko Haram has been pushed out of areas it held in northeastern Nigerian by a regional military operation but southern Niger has been attacked dozens of times this year.
Nigerien authorities have declared a state of emergency for the region and has arrested more than 600 people it accuses of backing Boko Haram
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