Best PlacesHastings, MN 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. 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.
Hastings ranks 476th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
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
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of cities
Where Hastings ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,682 a month, better than only 8% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 28% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 42% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Hastings
A household needs to earn about $94,000 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 $102,485, 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 0.97%, 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.
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 health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Hastings
Hastings has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife 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 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 19° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 60° | 50° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Hastings
Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain sits about 21 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 17.5 million passengers in 2025, with 195 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Hastings
Schools across Hastings average a B+, better than 69% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Kennedy ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Christa Mcauliffe ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Afton-lakeland ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oak-land Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Hastings Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Robert Boeckman Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- East Ridge High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Stillwater Area High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Hastings High SchoolA− · 61% 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 2,097 cities.
Who Hastings suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hastings
Is Hastings a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hastings ranks 476th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, state infrastructure, and a stable housing market, and lowest on childcare costs and a weak job market. 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 $352,392. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $102,485 median income, cost of living beats 77% of cities.
Is Hastings safe?
Yes, Hastings is safer than 93% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $193 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hastings?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 13. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 47% of cities.
Is Hastings good for families?
Schools beat 69% of cities, crime safety beats 93%, and childcare runs $1,682 a month.
Compare Hastings with other cities
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.