Best PlacesHardscrabble, DE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hardscrabble, 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.
Hardscrabble ranks 21,860th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hardscrabble
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.
Hardscrabble's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hardscrabble ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 84% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 83% of towns
Where Hardscrabble ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hardscrabble
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hardscrabble home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,059, 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 Hardscrabble's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 Hardscrabble
Hardscrabble's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hardscrabble.
Who works in Hardscrabble, and how
Work in Hardscrabble 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 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hardscrabble
The coast is about 36 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Hardscrabble, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hardscrabble, month by month
Hardscrabble sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Hardscrabble
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hardscrabble
Schools across Hardscrabble average a D+, better than 15% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Seaford Central Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- North Georgetown Elementary SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Laurel Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Georgetown Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Seaford Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Sussex Central High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Sussex Technical High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Seaford Senior High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hardscrabble school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hardscrabble 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 Hardscrabble against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hardscrabble
Is Hardscrabble a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hardscrabble ranks 21,860th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low property taxes, and big-city access, and lowest on the weather and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hardscrabble expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $263,551. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $77,059 median income, cost of living beats 47% of towns.
Is Hardscrabble safe?
Hardscrabble is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.
Compare Hardscrabble with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hardscrabble. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hardscrabble 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.
Hardscrabble detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hardscrabble: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hardscrabble: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hardscrabble: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hardscrabble: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hardscrabble 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.