Best PlacesHamilton City, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hamilton City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hamilton City ranks 37,675th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hamilton City
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.
Hamilton City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hamilton City ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of towns
Where Hamilton City ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hamilton City
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hamilton City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $71,412, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Hamilton City's effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hamilton City
Hamilton City runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hamilton City.
Who works in Hamilton City, and how
Work in Hamilton City centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hamilton City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hamilton City.
What the weather is like in Hamilton City, month by month
Hamilton City sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 48° | 40° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 50° |
| July | 97° | 83° | 69° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Hamilton City
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hamilton City
Schools across Hamilton City average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Plaza ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Hamilton ElementaryD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Hamilton HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hamilton City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hamilton City 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 Hamilton City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hamilton City
Is Hamilton City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hamilton City ranks 37,675th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and biking, and lowest on education levels and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hamilton City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $350,781. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $71,412 median income, cost of living beats 23% of towns.
Is Hamilton City safe?
Hamilton City is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $452 per resident a year.
Compare Hamilton City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hamilton City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hamilton City 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.
Hamilton City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hamilton City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hamilton City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hamilton City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hamilton City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hamilton City 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.