Best PlacesHardwick, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hardwick, 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.
Hardwick ranks 30,555th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hardwick
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.
Hardwick's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hardwick ranks high
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 138 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
- Short commute20.7 minutes each way, better than 85% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 82% of towns
Where Hardwick ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hardwick
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hardwick home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $86,711; 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 Hardwick's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Hardwick
Hardwick runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hardwick.
Who works in Hardwick, and how
Work in Hardwick centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Hardwick
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hardwick.
What the weather is like in Hardwick, month by month
Hardwick sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 102 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 38° |
| April | 80° | 63° | 47° |
| July | 102° | 85° | 64° |
| October | 84° | 65° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Hardwick
The nearest airport, Fresno Yosemite International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 140 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hardwick
Schools across Hardwick average a C, better than 27% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kings River-hardwick ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Jefferson AcademyA− · 57% proficient
- Joseph M. SimasC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Liberty MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- John F. Kennedy Junior HighD · 21% proficient
- Laton MiddleF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Lemoore HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Laton HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hardwick school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hardwick 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 Hardwick against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hardwick
Is Hardwick a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hardwick ranks 30,555th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, the weather, and short commutes, and lowest on air quality and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hardwick expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $355,851. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $86,711 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Hardwick safe?
Hardwick is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $302 per resident a year.
Compare Hardwick with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hardwick. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hardwick 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.
Hardwick detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hardwick: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hardwick: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hardwick: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hardwick: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hardwick 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.