Highland CityFL
A town of 13,276, settled in 1926.
Is Highland City a good place to live?
Highland City grades C− overall, 479th among Florida's 634 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $91K. On the other side, its schools rank behind 88% of the state's. 10% of the land in Highland City is conserved, where Florida’s towns sit at 3% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. The biggest place to walk is Circle B Bar Reserve, 328 acres with 1.9 miles of trail. Homes are expensive, about $262K for a typical one and 4 times the Lakeland metro’s $66K median household income.
Highland City has grown 14% from 2010 to 2020
10,834 counted in 2010 and 12,355 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Highland City grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Florida), ordered by how far Highland City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Walt Disney World Resort and 46 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Highland City. Close and well known come first.
Big draw35 mi Theme parkWalt Disney World Resort
Big draw38 mi Stadium & arenaRaymond James Stadium
12 mi Theme parkLegoland Florida
35 mi Stadium & arenaBenchmark International Arena
40 mi Theme parkSeaWorld Orlando4.3M visitors a year
12 mi Theme parkCypress GardensPhoto credits
Walt Disney World Resort: Anthony Quintano from Westminster, United States, CC BY 2.0 · Raymond James Stadium: NASA, Public domain · Legoland Florida: Jacob Montgomery, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Benchmark International Arena: Miosotis Jade, CC BY-SA 4.0 · SeaWorld Orlando: SeaWorld, CC BY 2.0 · Cypress Gardens: Bruchey at English Wikipedia, Public domain
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Moving to Highland City: who provides what
Highland City is unincorporated, so Polk 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 17, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Highland City.
Highland City has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, has home values still below their peak and sends most of its workers to Lakeland and beyond.
For schools, Highland City earns a D
Its public schools are run by the Polk school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highland City Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 414 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within FL on state tests and graduation
Conserved land covers 10.2% of Highland City
In 1 park or preserve, walkers have 4.0 miles of trail. Highland City’s concentration of trails stands at 0.5 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Circle B Bar Reserve | 1.9 mi | 328 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most working residents commute out of Highland City
Highland City has 1,676 jobs for its 6,003 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here grew from 1,026 in 2013 to 1,676.
Just 3% of Highland City’s working residents have a job in town. Since 2013, Highland City has added 650 jobs, to 1,676 in 2023. In Highland City, 5.9% of residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Lakeland (27%), Bartow (11%) and Tampa (4%).
| Highland City | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5.9% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.6% | 5% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
For cost of living, Highland City earns a D
The typical value, about $262K, is 8% below its September 2022 peak.
Zillow values the typical Highland City home at about $262,000, down 2% in a year, 30% below the Florida typical home. The town’s rent at the middle of the market comes in at $1,993 a month. In Highland City, nearly four in five households are owner-occupiers, against 72% in Florida’s towns and 73% across U.S. towns. Homes sold in Highland City spent a median 75 days on the market.
| Highland City | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,993 a month | $1,647 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 79% | 72% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Natural hazards: high risk in Highland City, mostly hurricanes
In Highland City, the FEMA hazard score is 69 of 100. FEMA puts 43% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to hurricanes, and 32% to inland flooding. Since 2004, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out locally.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Mild winters and hot summers in Highland City
The Bartow 1se weather station, 6 miles away, records that about 121 days a year reach 90°, more than in 98% of U.S. towns. January nights average 49.6°, milder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 92°.
For Highland City, the midsummer high is 92°F. It almost never snows.
| Highland City | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 50°F | 51°F | 22°F |
| July high | 92°F | 91°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Highland City ranks healthier than 65% of the country’s towns
Among adults in Highland City, 31% have high blood pressure and 18% binge drink. Against the Florida average, Highland City comes out ahead on 10 CDC measures out of 31, and behind on 3. 41% of adults sleep under 7 hours locally.
| Highland City | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 37% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Highland City | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.6% | 7.5% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.9% | 3.8% |
| More binge drinkers | 17.5% | 14.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
More children than Florida overall
The share of residents in Highland City who are under 18: 27%. Children under 18 are 27% of residents (20% statewide); people 65 and older are 15% of residents (21% statewide). Florida has just over a third of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 33%.
| Highland City | Florida towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 27% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 39.2 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 31% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.2 points. Across Florida, 50.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 39.8, men 38.1.
| Highland City | FL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.5% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 14.5% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.4% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.6% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 17.9% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.5% | 13.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.6% | 11.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4% | 9.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.4% | 10.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.5% | 27.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.9% | 18.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.1% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.7% | 21.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.5% | 12.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Everything we know about Highland City
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Highland City
About 3 of every 100 Highland City residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Florida.
97% of working residents leave Highland City for work
Where Highland City’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Highland City
Census-designated place in Florida, United States
Highland City is a census-designated place (CDP) in Polk County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, Highland City had a population of 12,355. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 7.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 118 ft
- ZIP code
- 33846
- Area code
- 863
Highland City’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Highland City.
| Town | FL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland City | #479 | C− | D | — | D | B |
| Bartow | #561 | D | B− | C− | D | C− |
Highland City reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Highland City with a neighbor →
Questions about Highland City
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Highland City, FL a good place to live?
Highland City grades C− overall, better than 17% of U.S. towns and #479 of 634 in Florida. It grades B for health and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.