Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 47,957, settled in 1951.
Where it falls short is cost of living (C) — the typical home is worth about $368K, 3.8 years of the Sacramento metro’s $97K median household income. North Highlands’s overall grade of C puts it better than 26% of U.S. towns, 442nd of 841 in California. Health is weaker too: CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 69% of the country. Its strongest subject is walkability: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 77% of U.S. towns. The town is home to American River College. North Highlands’ midsummer 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. Only 17 of California’s 1,063 towns score lower on history.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · FEMA National Risk Index · NOAA normals, 1991–2020 · National Register of Historic Places.
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. Below: Two of its 15 schools, each with why it was picked. The 6 public schools in North Highlands teach 3,104 students between them.
| 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
Just over a tenth of North Highlands adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Among adults in the town, 68% had a checkup this year and 21% report frequent mental distress.
| 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.
Paid flood insurance claims in North Highlands since 1978: 41. Nearly two thirds of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by earthquakes at 31%. One declared disaster, in 2022, has brought federal aid to North Highlands households.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · 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’ January low is 39°F. It almost never snows.
| North Highlands | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 95°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 39°F | 41°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Only 6% of working residents stay in North Highlands for work; the rest commute out. In North Highlands, a fifth of residents live below the poverty line. The median commute is under 10 miles. For North Highlands, the middle household income is $65,000.
| 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
Count the trails in 7 parks and preserves and they come to 0.1 miles. Parks and preserves in North Highlands: 7, covering 43 acres.
| 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 typical rent in North Highlands is $1,636 a month. For households in the town, the share who live in a home they own is 51%. Homes sold in North Highlands spent a median 22 days on the market.
| North Highlands | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,636 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · 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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