Best PlacesHampshire County, WV 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. 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.
Hampshire County ranks 2,404th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
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.
Hampshire County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hampshire County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of counties
- QuietBetter than 91% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of counties
Where Hampshire County ranks low
- Short commute41.5 minutes each way, better than only 1% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 3% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hampshire County
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hampshire County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,464, 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 Hampshire County's effective rate of 0.35%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hampshire County
Hampshire County runs older than the country.
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 health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Hampshire County
Hampshire County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% 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 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Winchester, VA metro.
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 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Hampshire County
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 67 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hampshire County
Schools across Hampshire County average a C−, better than 21% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Springfield-green Spring Elementary SchB+ · 52% proficient
- Slanesville Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Augusta Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Romney Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Capon Bridge Middle SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Hampshire Senior High SchoolD · 22% 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
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hampshire County
Is Hampshire County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hampshire County ranks 2,404th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on long commutes and biking. 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 $204,276. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $65,464 median income, cost of living beats 27% of counties.
Is Hampshire County safe?
Hampshire County is safer than 48% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $315 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hampshire County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 26. That works out to about 86 pleasant days a year, more than 47% of counties.
Is Hampshire County good for families?
Schools beat 21% of counties, crime safety beats 48%, and childcare runs $875 a month.
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.