Best PlacesHanover, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hanover, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hanover ranks 24,259th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hanover
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.
Hanover's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hanover ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 83% of towns
Where Hanover ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,310 a month, better than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hanover
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hanover home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $74,545; 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 Hanover's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hanover
Hanover 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 Hanover.
Who works in Hanover, and how
Work in Hanover centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Hanover
The coast is about 31 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Hanover, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hanover, month by month
Hanover sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Hanover
The nearest airport, Westerly State, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 38 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hanover
Schools across Hanover average a C, better than 33% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lisbon Central SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Canterbury Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Sayles SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dr. Helen Baldwin Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Griswold High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hanover school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hanover 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 Hanover against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hanover
Is Hanover a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hanover ranks 24,259th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, fast internet, and big-city access, and lowest on state finances and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hanover expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $288,606. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $74,545 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Hanover safe?
Yes, Hanover is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $162 per resident a year.
Compare Hanover with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hanover. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hanover 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.
Hanover detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hanover: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hanover: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hanover: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hanover: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hanover 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.