Best PlacesHamburg, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hamburg, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hamburg ranks 23,091st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hamburg
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Hamburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hamburg ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of towns
- Short commute21.0 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
Where Hamburg ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hamburg
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hamburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,005, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Hamburg's effective rate of 1.00%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hamburg
Hamburg runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hamburg.
Who works in Hamburg, and how
Work in Hamburg centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Hamburg
Hamburg has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Hamburg and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hamburg, month by month
Hamburg sees roughly 54 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Hamburg
Eppley Airfield sits about 49 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 73 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Hamburg
Schools across Hamburg average a B+, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sidney Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Marnie Simons Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shenandoah Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Hamburg Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Sidney High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hamburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hamburg measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Hamburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hamburg
Is Hamburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hamburg ranks 23,091st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on the weather and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hamburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,600. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $67,005 median income, cost of living beats 65% of towns.
Is Hamburg safe?
Yes, Hamburg is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $285 per resident a year.
Compare Hamburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hamburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hamburg represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Hamburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hamburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hamburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hamburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hamburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hamburg detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.