Best PlacesHamlin, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hamlin, 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.
Hamlin ranks 27,773rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hamlin
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.
Hamlin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hamlin ranks high
- Cheap childcare$512 a month, better than 91% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 80% of towns
Where Hamlin ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 16% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hamlin
A household needs to earn about $20,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hamlin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,079, 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 Hamlin's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hamlin
Hamlin runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hamlin.
Who works in Hamlin, and how
Work in Hamlin centers on education 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 1%
Life in Hamlin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hamlin.
What the weather is like in Hamlin, month by month
Hamlin sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 34° | 28° |
| April | 64° | 54° | 45° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Hamlin
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 139 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hamlin
Schools across Hamlin average an A−, better than 80% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Lebanon MiddleA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Castlewood HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hamlin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hamlin 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 Hamlin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hamlin
Is Hamlin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hamlin ranks 27,773rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low disaster risk, and heat safety, and lowest on cell coverage and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hamlin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $81,596. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $68,079 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Hamlin safe?
Hamlin is safer than 23% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $442 per resident a year.
Compare Hamlin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hamlin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hamlin 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.
Hamlin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hamlin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hamlin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hamlin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hamlin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hamlin 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.