Best PlacesHampstead, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hampstead, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hampstead ranks 4,645th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hampstead
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.
Hampstead's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hampstead ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
Where Hampstead ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Short commute30.5 minutes each way, better than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hampstead
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hampstead home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $102,734; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Hampstead's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hampstead
Hampstead'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 Hampstead.
Who works in Hampstead, and how
Work in Hampstead centers on retail trade 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 79%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Hampstead
Hampstead has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of towns. The coast is about 16 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Hampstead and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hampstead, month by month
Hampstead sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Hampstead
The nearest airport, Wilmington International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hampstead
Schools across Hampstead average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Topsail Annandale Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- North Topsail ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- South Topsail ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Topsail MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
- Dixon MiddleA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Pender Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- Topsail HighA · 71% proficient
- Dixon HighA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hampstead school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hampstead 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 Hampstead against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Hampstead suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hampstead
Is Hampstead a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hampstead ranks 4,645th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and a strong job market, and lowest on disaster risk 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 Hampstead expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $409,039. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $102,734 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Hampstead safe?
Yes, Hampstead is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $246 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hampstead?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 36. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of towns.
Is Hampstead good for families?
Schools beat 98% of towns, crime safety beats 85%, and childcare runs $832 a month.
Compare Hampstead with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hampstead. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hampstead 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.
Hampstead detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hampstead: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hampstead: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hampstead: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hampstead: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hampstead 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.