Best PlacesHertford, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hertford, 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.
Hertford ranks 26,559th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hertford
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.
Hertford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hertford ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
Where Hertford ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Short commute32.9 minutes each way, better than only 20% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hertford
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hertford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,123, 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's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 8 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
Hertford 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.
Who works in Hertford, and how
Work in Hertford centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hertford
Hertford has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Hertford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hertford, month by month
Hertford sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 74° | 63° | 54° |
| July | 90° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 76° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Hertford
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 105 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hertford
Schools across Hertford average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hertford GrammarB+ · 54% proficient
- Pasquotank ElementaryD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Perquimans County MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Chowan MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- River Road MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- John A Holmes HighB · 50% proficient
- Northeastern HighB− · 43% proficient
- Perquimans County HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hertford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hertford 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hertford
Is Hertford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hertford ranks 26,559th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, fast internet, and clean air, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hertford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $242,641. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $70,123 median income, cost of living beats 51% of towns.
Is Hertford safe?
Hertford is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $374 per resident a year.
Compare Hertford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hertford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hertford 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hertford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hertford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hertford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hertford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hertford 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.