Best PlacesHercules, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hercules, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hercules ranks 9,065th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hercules
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.
Hercules' strengths and weaknesses
Where Hercules ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 177 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
Where Hercules ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,942 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute37.7 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hercules
A household needs to earn about $208,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hercules home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $137,254, 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 Hercules' effective rate of 0.99%, 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 Hercules
Hercules runs older than the country, 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 Hercules.
Who works in Hercules, and how
Work in Hercules centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Hercules
Hercules has more parkland per resident than 82% of towns. The coast is about 26 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Hercules and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hercules, month by month
Hercules sees roughly 177 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 51° | 41° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 72° | 58° |
| October | 82° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Hercules
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 20 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 Hercules
Schools across Hercules average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top high schools
- Middle College HighA · 75% proficient
- Alhambra Senior HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hercules school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hercules 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 Hercules against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Hercules suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hercules
Is Hercules a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hercules ranks 9,065th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, biking, and the weather, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hercules expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $775,745. The overall cost of living runs about 25% above the national average. Set against a $137,254 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is Hercules safe?
Hercules is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $455 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hercules?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 41. That works out to about 177 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of towns.
Is Hercules good for families?
Schools beat 72% of towns, crime safety beats 21%, and childcare runs $1,942 a month.
Compare Hercules with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hercules. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hercules 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.
Hercules detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hercules: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hercules: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hercules: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hercules: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hercules 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.