Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 47,957, settled in 1951.
North Highlands is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 442nd of 841 graded towns in California, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools rank ahead of 49% of California towns. Expect to pay for it: the typical home is worth about $368K, 3.8 years of the Sacramento metro’s $97K median household income. North Highlands’ July high is 95°F, where California’s towns sit at 89°F and U.S. towns at 85°F. On hazard risk, just 9 of California’s 1,064 towns do better. North Highlands is home to American River College.
Where North Highlands beats most towns.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| American River College | 16,940 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far North Highlands is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 21,271 in 1960, 49,327 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2026 and 7 maps from 1902 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around North Highlands. Close and well known come first.
8 mi Stadium & arenaARCO Arena
9 mi State parkSutter's Fort
8 mi Stadium & arenaHornet Stadium
9 mi State parkGovernor's Mansion State Historic Park
9 mi MuseumCalifornia State Railroad Museum500K visitors a year
10 mi State parkLeland Stanford Mansion State Historic ParkARCO Arena: CLopez63, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sutter's Fort: Ian Howard, CC BY 2.5 · Hornet Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · Governor's Mansion State Historic Park: Mark James Miller, CC BY 3.0 · California State Railroad Museum: The original uploader was Swampyank at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park: M.Mierzwa. MCalamari at en.wikipedia, Public domain
North Highlands is unincorporated, so Sacramento County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in North Highlands.
North Highlands carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of California (mostly inland flooding), has hotter summers than nearly all U.S. towns and has property taxes about half the California norm.
Its public schools are run by the Twin Rivers Unified school district. Two of its 15 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 754 | – |
| Highlands HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 778 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
North Highlands beats the California average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 21. 41% of adults feel lonely in North Highlands.
| North Highlands | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 68% | 72% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 17% | 17% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | North Highlands | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 17.1% | 10.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11.2% | 7.3% |
| More smokers | 16% | 10.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 99% of California towns, with expected losses of about $116 per resident a year; that rating is what its B+ for hazard risk is built on.
North Highlands’ FEMA risk score is 28 of 100. Since 1978, 41 flood insurance claims have been paid out in North Highlands.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons average 95.1°, hotter than in 96% of U.S. towns; January nights average 39.1°.
North Highlands has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. The January low in North Highlands is 39°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave North Highlands for work: only 6% work in town. 20% of North Highlands residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Sacramento (21%), Roseville (8%) and Rancho Cordova (4%).
| North Highlands | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.1 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hamilton Street Park | — | 16 |
| 2. Brock Park | — | 9 |
| 3. Oakdale Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median property tax bill is $2,021, against $5,124 across California, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The median sale price was $415,000 in May 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
9 within 15 miles of the center of North Highlands
About 7 of every 100 North Highlands residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
42,694 counted in 2010 and 49,327 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Census-designated place in California, United States
North Highlands is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. The population was 49,327 at the 2020 census, up from 42,694 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with North Highlands.
Antelope next door grades higher for schools (A− to North Highlands’s B−) and lower for cost of living (D to C).
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Highlands | #442 | C | C | — | B− | C |
| Carmichael | #244 | C+ | D | — | B− | B+ |
| Sacramento | #509 | C− | D | D | B− | B |
| McClellan Park | — | — | D− | — | C+ | C− |
| Foothill Farms | #472 | C− | C− | — | C+ | C+ |
| Arden-Arcade | #406 | C | D | — | B− | B− |
| Antelope | #186 | B− | D | — | A− | B |
| Rio Linda | #335 | C | C− | — | C+ | B− |
McClellan Park has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. North Highlands, Carmichael, McClellan Park, Foothill Farms, Arden-Arcade, Antelope and Rio Linda report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare North Highlands with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
North Highlands grades C overall, better than 26% of U.S. towns and #442 of 841 in California. It grades C for health and B− for schools.
The typical home is worth about $368,000, 52% below the California typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
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