Best PlacesPine Rock, Hamden, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pine Rock, Hamden, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Pine Rock, Hamden ranks 2,028th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pine Rock, Hamden
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.
Pine Rock, Hamden's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pine Rock, Hamden ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
Where Pine Rock, Hamden ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD, better than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,583 a month, better than only 17% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Pine Rock, Hamden
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pine Rock, Hamden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $122,390, 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 Pine Rock, Hamden's effective rate of 2.01%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pine Rock, Hamden
Pine Rock, Hamden's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pine Rock, Hamden.
Who works in Pine Rock, Hamden, and how
Work in Pine Rock, Hamden centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Pine Rock, Hamden
The coast is about 11 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Pine Rock, Hamden, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Pine Rock, Hamden, month by month
Pine Rock, Hamden sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Pine Rock, Hamden
The nearest airport, Tweed/New Haven, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pine Rock, Hamden
Schools across Pine Rock, Hamden average a D, better than 14% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Helen Street SchoolD · 17% proficient
- King/robinson Magnet SchoolF · 10% proficient
- Brennan Rogers SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- James Hillhouse High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Hamden High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Eli Whitney Technical High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pine Rock, Hamden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pine Rock, Hamden 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 Pine Rock, Hamden against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Pine Rock, Hamden
Is Pine Rock, Hamden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pine Rock, Hamden ranks 2,028th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on civic engagement, heat safety, and fast internet, and lowest on property taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pine Rock, Hamden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $310,914. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $122,390 median income, cost of living beats 86% of neighborhoods.
Is Pine Rock, Hamden safe?
Yes, Pine Rock, Hamden is safer than 60% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $302 per resident a year.
Compare Pine Rock, Hamden with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pine Rock, Hamden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pine Rock, Hamden 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.
Pine Rock, Hamden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pine Rock, Hamden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pine Rock, Hamden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pine Rock, Hamden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pine Rock, Hamden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pine Rock, Hamden 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.