Best PlacesWest Hatfield, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Hatfield, 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.
West Hatfield ranks 11,933rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Hatfield
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.
West Hatfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Hatfield ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute17.7 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
Where West Hatfield ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Hatfield
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Hatfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $88,399, 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 West Hatfield's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 West Hatfield
West Hatfield 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 West Hatfield.
Who works in West Hatfield, and how
Work in West Hatfield centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in West Hatfield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Hatfield.
What the weather is like in West Hatfield, month by month
West Hatfield sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 35° |
| July | 88° | 74° | 61° |
| October | 68° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of West Hatfield
Bradley International sits about 31 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.3 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around West Hatfield
Schools across West Hatfield average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Jackson StreetB+ · 52% proficient
- LeedsB · 48% proficient
- Hatfield ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- John F Kennedy Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Northampton HighA · 70% proficient
- Smith AcademyC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Hatfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Hatfield 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 West Hatfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Hatfield
Is West Hatfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Hatfield ranks 11,933rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, tree cover, and an educated workforce, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Hatfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $418,708. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $88,399 median income, cost of living beats 47% of towns.
Is West Hatfield safe?
Yes, West Hatfield is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $179 per resident a year.
Compare West Hatfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Hatfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Hatfield 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.
West Hatfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Hatfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Hatfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Hatfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Hatfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Hatfield 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.