Best PlacesHanford, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hanford, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hanford ranks 1,127th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hanford
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.
Hanford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hanford ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute16.2 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
Where Hanford ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hanford
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hanford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $111,667, 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 Hanford's effective rate of 0.91%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Hanford
Hanford runs older than the country, 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 Hanford.
Who works in Hanford, and how
Work in Hanford centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Hanford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hanford.
What the weather is like in Hanford, month by month
Hanford sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 35° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 49° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Hanford
The nearest airport, Mason City Municipal, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 125 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hanford
Schools across Hanford average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- West Fork Elementary At RockwellA− · 62% proficient
- Roosevelt Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Springs Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- West Fork Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Lincoln IntermediateB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockford Junior-senior High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Mason City High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- West Fork High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hanford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hanford 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 Hanford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hanford
Is Hanford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hanford ranks 1,127th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, a strong job market, and short commutes, and lowest on tree cover and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hanford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,700. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $111,667 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Hanford safe?
Yes, Hanford is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $197 per resident a year.
Compare Hanford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hanford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hanford 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.
Hanford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hanford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hanford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hanford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hanford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hanford 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.