Best PlacesHastings, IA 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. 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.
Hastings ranks 13,534th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and the weather ranks 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
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of towns
Where Hastings ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hastings
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hastings home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,481, 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 Hastings' effective rate of 1.19%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hastings
Hastings's age mix sits close to the national median.
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 manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Hastings
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hastings.
What the weather is like in Hastings, month by month
Hastings sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Hastings
Eppley Airfield sits about 28 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 73 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Hastings
Schools across Hastings average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- East Mills Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- East Mills Jr/sr High SchoolA · 77% 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 13,534th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on the weather and noise. 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 $151,664. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $79,481 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is Hastings safe?
Hastings is safer than 39% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $316 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.