Best PlacesLake Hamilton, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Hamilton, 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.
Lake Hamilton ranks 34,011th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Hamilton
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.
Lake Hamilton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Hamilton ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
Where Lake Hamilton ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Hamilton
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Hamilton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,141, 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 Lake Hamilton's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lake Hamilton
Lake Hamilton 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 Lake Hamilton.
Who works in Lake Hamilton, and how
Work in Lake Hamilton centers on transportation & warehousing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lake Hamilton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake Hamilton.
What the weather is like in Lake Hamilton, month by month
Lake Hamilton sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 50. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| April | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 75° |
| October | 89° | 78° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Lake Hamilton
Orlando International sits about 32 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 28.1 million passengers in 2025, with 223 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lake Hamilton
Schools across Lake Hamilton average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Elbert Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Alta Vista Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Sandhill Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shelley S. Boone Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Denison Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Winter Haven Senior High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Haines City Senior High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Hamilton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Hamilton 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 Lake Hamilton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake Hamilton
Is Lake Hamilton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Hamilton ranks 34,011th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, cell coverage, and low taxes, and lowest on summer heat and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake Hamilton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $209,028. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $57,141 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Lake Hamilton safe?
Yes, Lake Hamilton is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $165 per resident a year.
Compare Lake Hamilton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Hamilton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Hamilton 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.
Lake Hamilton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Hamilton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Hamilton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Hamilton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Hamilton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Hamilton 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.