Best PlacesHartford, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hartford, 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.
Hartford ranks 34,274th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hartford
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.
Hartford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hartford ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of towns
Where Hartford ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Household income$45,151 median, better than only 8% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 14% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hartford
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hartford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $45,151, 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 Hartford's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hartford
Hartford 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 Hartford.
Who works in Hartford, and how
Work in Hartford centers on hospitality & food and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Hartford
Hartford has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Hartford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hartford, month by month
Hartford sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Hartford
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hartford
Schools across Hartford average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Grassy Fork ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Smoky Mountain ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Cosby High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hartford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hartford 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 Hartford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hartford
Is Hartford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hartford ranks 34,274th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, tree cover, and heat safety, and lowest on cell coverage and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hartford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $162,789. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $45,151 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Hartford safe?
Yes, Hartford is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $287 per resident a year.
Compare Hartford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hartford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hartford 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.
Hartford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hartford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hartford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hartford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hartford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hartford 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.