Living in Highland City, FL: what to set up and who to call
Highland City has no town government of its own, so Polk County runs its elections and most services, and its children attend Polk County School District. Spectrum and Frontier both wire most of Highland City; 90% of addresses can get fiber.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Highland City, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Highland City.
Power comes from Duke Energy
Duke Energy (Duke Energy Florida, LLC), an investor-owned utility, serves all of Highland City. Its homes paid an average of 18.4¢ per kWh in 2025, about $185 a month (its average across Florida).
Start or move service: progress-energy.com · (800) 700-8744
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from Southwest/Polk County Utility
Southwest/Polk County Utility supplies Highland City: about 60% of residents live in its service area. City of Lakeland serves another 37%. About 30% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It draws ground water (EPA lists City of Lakeland as seller) and serves 39,209 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 83% of the 3,525 systems serving 10,001–50,000 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan–Dec 2023, was 1.0 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. That’s lower than 59% of similar systems’ latest results.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0 (EPA’s estimate). Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. FL6530852.
6 home internet providers serve Highland City
100% of 4,752 addresses can get 100/20 Mbps; 90% can get fiber.
| Provider | Technology | Addresses | Fastest (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spectrum | Cable, Fiber | 99% | 1,000/35 |
| Frontier | Fiber | 90% | 7,000/7,000 |
| Verizon | Fixed wireless | 96% | 300/20 |
| Rapid Systems | Fixed wireless | 91% | 50/10 |
| T-Mobile | Fixed wireless | 84% | 100/20 |
| AT&T | Fixed wireless | 54% | 100/20 |
FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025. Availability as providers report it, not speeds people get.
We don’t have Highland City’s trash rules yet
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Highland City.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Highland City is in Polk County School District.
DSchool gradeSee Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
No town hall: the county runs things
Highland City is unincorporated, so Polk County is the local government.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated May 2026; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Nov 17, 2025.
Highland City spans 3 ZIP codes
ZIP codes where Highland City residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Highland City | ZIP’s residents in Highland City |
|---|---|---|---|
| 33812 | Lakeland, FL | 72% | 60% |
| 33813 | Lakeland, FL | 24% | 8% |
| 33830 | Bartow, FL | 4% | 2% |
33846 is P.O. box or single-organization ZIP with no homes.
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Highland City
Who supplies Highland City’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
Southwest/Polk County Utility (EPA ID FL6530852). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 83% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 1.0 ppb (Jan–Dec 2023), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Highland City?
Duke Energy (Duke Energy Florida, LLC), an investor-owned utility. Its homes paid about 18.4¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What internet providers serve Highland City?
Spectrum, Frontier, Verizon, Rapid Systems, T-Mobile, AT&T (FCC, as of December 2025).
What ZIP codes are in Highland City?
33812 (72%), 33813 (24%), 33830 (4%), by share of residents. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Highland City in?
Polk County School District.
How do I register to vote in Highland City?
In Florida you can register online until 29 days before Election Day, in person until 29 days before Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 29 days before). Elections here are run by the Polk Supervisor of Elections. Check your registration at registration.elections.myflorida.com.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 17, 2025 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet: FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025.