Best PlacesHamden, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hamden, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hamden ranks 776th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hamden
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.
Hamden's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hamden ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of cities
- TransitBetter than 85% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of cities
Where Hamden ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,583 a month, better than only 10% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Hamden
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hamden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $109,263, 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 Hamden's effective rate of 2.42%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hamden
Hamden's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hamden.
Who works in Hamden, and how
Work in Hamden centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Hamden
Hamden has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hamden and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hamden, month by month
Hamden sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Hamden
The nearest airport, Tweed/New Haven, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 41 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hamden
Schools across Hamden average a C, better than 26% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Norton SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Spring Glen SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Ridge Road Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dodd Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Amity Middle School: BethanyA · 60% proficient
- North Haven Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Amity Regional High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Cheshire High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- North Haven High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hamden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hamden 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 Hamden against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Hamden suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hamden
Is Hamden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hamden ranks 776th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on civic engagement, tree cover, and fast internet, and lowest on property taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hamden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $306,702. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $109,263 median income, cost of living beats 72% of cities.
Is Hamden safe?
Hamden is safer than 34% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $295 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hamden?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 25. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of cities.
Is Hamden good for families?
Schools beat 26% of cities, crime safety beats 34%, and childcare runs $1,583 a month.
Compare Hamden with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hamden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hamden 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.
Hamden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hamden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hamden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hamden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hamden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hamden 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.