Highland Beach’s household incomes are higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income A+: better than 95% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #13 of 638 in Florida.
Walkability B−: more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns · #437 of 638 in Florida.
Working residents average 23 minutes each way (Florida 28, U.S. 26). Only 7% work in Highland Beach; the top destination outside it is Boca Raton (20%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Highland Beach
A lot of Highland Beach works from home
45% of Highland Beach workers work from home, against 16% across Florida. Time on the road ↓
Highland Beach’s workforce skews older
44% of Highland Beach’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. The jobs ↓
Highland Beach and Boca Raton trade workers both ways
Boca Raton is the top workplace for Highland Beach residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Highland Beach come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Highland Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida 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.
What’s behind Highland Beach’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Highland Beach is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #13 of 638 in Florida. The poverty rate is its strongest input (2.3%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Highland Beach could be anywhere from A− to A+.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of Florida
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Highland Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 640 commuters (the 45% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
406 jobs are based in Highland Beach. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Highland Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Highland Beach, 2013 → 2023: 369 → 406. 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.
20% of working residents work in Boca Raton
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Highland Beach clocks in
20% of workers
5% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Highland Beach quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,026 residents head out to work, 79 work right here, and 327 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,600 people are in Highland Beach on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.37 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.
Half of Highland Beach commutes less than 15 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 20% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from Highland Beach start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Highland Beach is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns, #437 of 638 in Florida. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across Florida, on an EPA index of 4.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,158 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 1% 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 0.0 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). 0.6% of Highland Beach households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Highland Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
Highland Beach is 196th of 4,039 U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Highland Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Windermere FL | 3,344 | $178K | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 194 | Plain City OH | 4,322 | $118K | 3.5% | 2.7% | 4% | A+ |
| 195 | Carlisle MA | 5,286 | $250K | 1.5% | 4.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 196 | Highland Beach FL | 4,328 | $145K | 2.3% | 3.5% | 7% | A+ |
| 197 | Lake Bluff IL | 5,563 | $204K | 1.5% | 4.4% | 7% | A+ |
| 198 | Thiensville WI | 3,267 | $96K | 5.6% | 0.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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.
24% of Highland Beach works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Boca Raton (20%). Darker towns draw more of Highland Beach’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Highland Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Beach | – | A+ | B− | 23 min | $145,485 |
| Boca Raton | 20% | B+ | A | 21 min | $106,273 |
| Delray Beach | 4% | B− | A | 23 min | $82,041 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Highland Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Highland Beach?
$145,485 (±$15,308) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Highland Beach?
2.3%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Highland Beach?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 45% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Highland Beach work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boca Raton (20%, 4 mi), Fort Lauderdale (5%, 19 mi), Deerfield Beach (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Highland Beach walkable?
Highland Beach is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Highland Beach without a car?
2% 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 Highland Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Highland Beach
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.