Best PlacesHastings, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hastings, 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.
Hastings ranks 11,485th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hastings
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.
Hastings' strengths and weaknesses
Where Hastings ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 91% of towns
- TransitBetter than 89% of towns
Where Hastings ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,221 a month, better than only 13% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hastings
A household needs to earn about $166,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hastings home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,839, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Hastings' effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hastings
Hastings runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hastings.
Who works in Hastings, and how
Work in Hastings centers on hospitality & food and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Hastings
Hastings has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of towns. The coast is about 34 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Hastings and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hastings, month by month
Hastings sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 57° | 46° |
| April | 80° | 70° | 60° |
| July | 90° | 81° | 75° |
| October | 82° | 75° | 67° |
Flying in and out of Hastings
The nearest airport, Daytona Beach International, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hastings
Schools across Hastings average a B+, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Woods Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Bunnell Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian Trails Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Gamble Rogers Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Matanzas High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Pedro Menendez High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hastings school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hastings 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 Hastings against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hastings
Is Hastings a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hastings ranks 11,485th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and walkability, and lowest on education levels and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hastings expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $646,067. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $74,839 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Hastings safe?
Hastings is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $239 per resident a year.
Compare Hastings with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hastings. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hastings 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.
Hastings detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hastings: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hastings: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hastings: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hastings: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hastings 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.