Photo: Us Census Bureau · Public domainHighlands ranks among the highest-earning U.S. towns by household income
For jobs and income Highlands is better than 92% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (A−). Measured by household income, Highlands is among the highest-earning towns in the country. 3.9% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.0% for California as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Highlands, in brief
A lot of Highlands works from home
36% of Highlands workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Highlands is a place people come home to
There are 277 jobs based in Highlands, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Highlands has about 1,500 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Four in five Highlands workers earn over $40,000 a year
80% of Highlands’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Highlands are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Highlands’ Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Highlands’ grade up ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
The Census reports Highlands’ median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Highlands could be anywhere from A− to A+.
How long Highlands spends getting to work: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Highlands workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 708 commuters (the 36% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The workday shuffle in and out of Highlands
On a workday 1,181 residents head out to work, 27 work right here, and 250 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Highlands on a workday afternoon, 38% fewer than live here.
0.23 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The 277 jobs based in Highlands
277 jobs are based in Highlands.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Highlands, 2013 → 2023: 290 → 277. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Highlands’s own residents hold wherever they work.
19% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Highlands clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Half of Highlands commutes less than 17 miles
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Highlands
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 6.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,103 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.1% of Highlands households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Highlands’ commuters take a bus or train.
291st of 5,207: where Highlands ranks among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Fairbanks Ranch CA | 2,703 | $250K | 5.5% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 289 | Monaghan Township PA | 2,817 | $111K | 2.7% | 3.0% | 4% | A |
| 290 | Dekorra WI | 2,485 | $122K | 5.5% | 0.5% | 2% | A |
| 291 | Highlands CA | 2,450 | $250K | 3.9% | 4.7% | 2% | A |
| 292 | Paramount-Long Meadow MD | 2,569 | $122K | 2.9% | 2.6% | 1% | A |
| 293 | El Lago TX | 2,984 | $96K | 2.4% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Highlands, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns around Highlands
The biggest share goes to San Mateo (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Highlands workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands | – | A | A− | 24 min | $250,000+ |
| San Mateo | 6% | A− | A+ | 26 min | $153,504 |
| Hillsborough | under 3% | A− | B+ | 27 min | $250,000+ |
| Baywood Park | under 3% | A+ | B | 26 min | $217,206 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Highlands’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Highlands: questions
What is the median household income in Highlands?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Highlands?
3.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Highlands?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 36% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Highlands work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (19%, 18 mi), San Mateo (6%, 3 mi), Palo Alto (5%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Highlands walkable?
Highlands is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Highlands without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Highlands, from the people who make the trip.
More of Highlands
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.