Best PlacesSouth Hamilton, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Hamilton, 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.
South Hamilton ranks 1,197th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South 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.
South Hamilton's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Hamilton ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$146,024 median, better than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
Where South Hamilton ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Short commute32.3 minutes each way, better than only 23% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Hamilton
A household needs to earn about $237,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Hamilton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $146,024, 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 South Hamilton's effective rate of 1.32%, 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 South Hamilton
South Hamilton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Hamilton.
Who works in South Hamilton, and how
Work in South Hamilton centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in South Hamilton
The coast is about 10 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across South Hamilton, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Hamilton, month by month
South Hamilton sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of South Hamilton
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 19 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 21.1 million passengers in 2025, with 199 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around South Hamilton
Schools across South Hamilton average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bessie Buker ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Centerville ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Winthrop SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Miles River MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- Proctor ElementaryA− · 55% proficient
- Manchester Essex Regional Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Hamilton-wenham Regional HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Manchester Essex Regional High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Hamilton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South 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 South Hamilton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Hamilton
Is South Hamilton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Hamilton ranks 1,197th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on an educated workforce, health care access, and high incomes, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Hamilton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $847,612. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $146,024 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is South Hamilton safe?
Yes, South Hamilton is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $161 per resident a year.
Compare South Hamilton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Hamilton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South 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.
South Hamilton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Hamilton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Hamilton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Hamilton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Hamilton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South 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.