Best PlacesHardy County, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hardy County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hardy County ranks 2,551st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hardy County
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.
Hardy County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hardy County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of counties
- QuietBetter than 90% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of counties
Where Hardy County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hardy County
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hardy County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,793, 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 Hardy County's effective rate of 0.34%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hardy County
Hardy County 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 Hardy County.
Who works in Hardy County, and how
Work in Hardy County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Hardy County
Hardy County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Hardy County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hardy County growing, and who is moving in?
Hardy County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Baltimore, MD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hardy County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hardy County, month by month
Hardy County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Hardy County
The nearest airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hardy County
Schools across Hardy County average a C−, better than 24% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Moorefield Intermediate SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- East Hardy Early/middle SchoolD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Moorefield Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- East Hardy High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Moorefield High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hardy County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hardy County 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 Hardy County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Hardy County
Is Hardy County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hardy County ranks 2,551st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on health outcomes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hardy County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,090. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $52,793 median income, cost of living beats 5% of counties.
Is Hardy County safe?
Yes, Hardy County is safer than 84% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $240 per resident a year.
Compare Hardy County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hardy County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hardy County 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.
Hardy County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hardy County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hardy County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hardy County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hardy County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hardy County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.