Best PlacesHertford County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hertford County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hertford County ranks 2,832nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Hertford County
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 Hertford County
The parts of Hertford County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Murfreesboro
Health outcomes score higher.
Ahoskie
Fewer homes sit empty, though tree cover is thinner.
Winton
Scores across Hertford County run from about the 3rd to the 52nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Hertford County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hertford County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- QuietBetter than 85% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 70% of counties
Where Hertford County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Household income$49,943 median, better than only 8% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hertford County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hertford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,943, 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 Hertford County's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hertford County
Hertford County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hertford County.
Who works in Hertford County, and how
Work in Hertford County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Hertford County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hertford County.
Is Hertford County growing, and who is moving in?
Hertford County has lost about 22% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Northampton County, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hertford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hertford County, month by month
Hertford County sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Hertford County
The nearest airport, Pitt-Greenville, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hertford County
Schools across Hertford County average a C−, better than 31% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Meherrin ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Gatesville ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Bearfield PrimaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Chowan MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Joseph P. King Jr. MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Hertford Co Early CollegeA · 70% proficient
- Southampton HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Franklin HighB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hertford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hertford County 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 Hertford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hertford County suits
Common questions about living in Hertford County
Is Hertford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hertford County ranks 2,832nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and clean air, and lowest on crime and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hertford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $127,604. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $49,943 median income, cost of living beats 15% of counties.
Is Hertford County safe?
Hertford County is safer than 2% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $931 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hertford County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 31. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 39% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hertford County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Murfreesboro, Ahoskie, and Winton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Hertford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hertford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hertford County 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.
Hertford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hertford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hertford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hertford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hertford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hertford County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.