Best PlacesHayward, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hayward, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hayward ranks 175th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 28 minutes away. Its strengths are the weather and biking. The cost shows up in childcare costs, civic engagement, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Hayward
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.
The best areas in Hayward
The parts of Hayward, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Fairway Park & Tennyson-Alquire
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and prices have run up less.
Mission-Garin, Hayward Highland & Whitman-Mocine
More adults hold degrees, though fewer households have young kids.
Glen Eden
Streets are more car-dependent and fewer residents vote.
Longwood-Winton Grove & Santa Clara Street
It is noisier.
Mt Eden & Southgate
Disaster risk is higher and biking is worse.
Harder-Tennyson & Jackson Triangle
Health care is harder to reach.
Burbank-Hayward, Mission-Foothill & Upper B Street
More homes sit empty and commutes are longer.
Scores across Hayward run from about the 19th to the 97th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Hayward's strengths and weaknesses
Hayward lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. The weather, biking, and clean air carry most of that.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Civic engagement and noise also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Hayward to another than it does between Hayward and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Hayward ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 250 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of cities
- BikingBetter than 91% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of cities
- Household income$119,981 median, better than 86% of cities
Where Hayward ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,082 a month, better than only 3% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 6% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of cities
- Short commute32.2 minutes each way, better than only 9% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Hayward
A household needs to earn about $211,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hayward home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $119,981, 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 Hayward's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Hayward
Hayward's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hayward.
Who works in Hayward, and how
Work in Hayward centers on health care & social 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 79%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Hayward
Hayward has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. The coast is about 28 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hayward and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hayward, month by month
Hayward sees roughly 250 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 75 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 52° | 46° |
| April | 67° | 58° | 51° |
| July | 75° | 65° | 58° |
| October | 75° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Hayward
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 9 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Hayward
Schools across Hayward average a B, better than 66% of cities.
Top high schools
- James Logan HighA− · 59% proficient
- Impact Academy Of Arts & TechnologyB− · 41% proficient
- Leadership Public Schools - HaywardC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hayward school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hayward 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 Hayward against the other 444 cities.
Who Hayward suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hayward
Is Hayward a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hayward ranks 175th of 445 cities. It scores highest on the weather, biking, and clean air, and lowest on childcare costs and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hayward expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $818,865. The overall cost of living runs about 32% above the national average. Set against a $119,981 median income, cost of living beats 46% of cities.
Is Hayward safe?
Hayward is safer than 37% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $441 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hayward?
July highs average about 75 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 46. That works out to about 250 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hayward?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fairway Park & Tennyson-Alquire, Mission-Garin, Hayward Highland & Whitman-Mocine, and Glen Eden. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Hayward good for families?
Schools beat 66% of cities, crime safety beats 37%, and childcare runs $2,082 a month.
Is Hayward good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 46% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 76% of cities. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Hayward with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hayward. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hayward 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.
Hayward detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hayward: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hayward: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hayward: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hayward: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hayward 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.