Best PlacesHampshire County, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hampshire County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hampshire County ranks 268th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. It does better on an educated workforce, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Hampshire County
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.
The best areas in Hampshire County
The parts of Hampshire County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Belchertown
More households have young kids, tree cover is thicker, and fewer homes sit empty.
Florence
More residents vote and it is quieter.
Hatfield & Hadley
Local pay stretches further, though biking is worse.
South Hadley & Easthampton
Prices have run up less and homes cost less.
Southampton
Crime runs lower, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Northampton
Streets are more walkable, though incomes run lower.
Amherst Center & Amherst
Transit reaches more jobs and schools score higher.
Ware & Granby
Commutes are longer and health outcomes score lower.
Hampshire County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 9% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Hampshire County's strengths and weaknesses
Hampshire County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. An educated workforce is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Population health and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and the weather also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Hampshire County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of counties
- TransitBetter than 95% of counties
- BikingBetter than 94% of counties
Where Hampshire County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hampshire County
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hampshire County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $95,034, 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 Hampshire County's effective rate of 1.38%, 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 Hampshire County
Hampshire County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Hampshire County.
Who works in Hampshire County, and how
Work in Hampshire County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Hampshire County
Hampshire County has more parkland per resident than 76% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Hampshire County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hampshire County growing, and who is moving in?
Hampshire County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Boston, MA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hampshire County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hampshire County, month by month
Hampshire County sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 35° |
| July | 88° | 74° | 61° |
| October | 68° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Hampshire County
Bradley International sits about 26 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.3 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Hampshire County
Schools across Hampshire County average a B, better than 75% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hadley ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Wolf Swamp RoadB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amherst Regional Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Chestnut Hill Community SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Westfield Intermediate SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Amherst Regional HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Northampton HighA · 70% proficient
- Westfield HighA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hampshire County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hampshire County 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 Hampshire County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hampshire County suits
Common questions about living in Hampshire County
Is Hampshire County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hampshire County ranks 268th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and big-city access, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hampshire County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $412,393. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $95,034 median income, cost of living beats 66% of counties.
Is Hampshire County safe?
Yes, Hampshire County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hampshire County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 18. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hampshire County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Belchertown, Florence, and Hatfield & Hadley. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Hampshire County good for families?
Schools beat 75% of counties, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $1,385 a month.
Is Hampshire County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 66% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 54% of counties. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Hampshire County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hampshire County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hampshire County 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.
Hampshire County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hampshire County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hampshire County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hampshire County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hampshire County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hampshire County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.