Best PlacesWest Hawley, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Hawley, 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 Hawley ranks 34,289th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Hawley
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 Hawley's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Hawley ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of towns
Where West Hawley ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Hawley
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Hawley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $61,667, 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 Hawley's effective rate of 1.28%, 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 Hawley
West Hawley 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 Hawley.
Who works in West Hawley, and how
Work in West Hawley centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in West Hawley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Hawley.
What the weather is like in West Hawley, month by month
West Hawley sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 65° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of West Hawley
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 47 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Hawley
Schools across West Hawley average a C−, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Emma L Miller Elementary SchoolD+ · 21% proficient
- Hawlemont RegionalD · 19% proficient
- Abbott MemorialD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Mohawk Trail Regional SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Hoosac Valley High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Drury HighD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Hawley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Hawley 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 Hawley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Hawley
Is West Hawley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Hawley ranks 34,289th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, clean air, and health care access, and lowest on internet speeds 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 Hawley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $313,700. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $61,667 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is West Hawley safe?
Yes, West Hawley is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $197 per resident a year.
Compare West Hawley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Hawley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Hawley 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 Hawley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Hawley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Hawley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Hawley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Hawley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Hawley 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.