Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Highland Heights has lower household incomes than 84% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 4.7 in Louisville. 19.9% of residents are in poverty, next to 16.1% for Kentucky as a whole. The two grades for Highland Heights are B− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Highland Heights apart
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Highland Heights
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Highland Heights is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #61 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Highland Heights’ grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Highland Heights could be anywhere from C to B.
19% of working residents work in Cincinnati
Where Highland Heights clocks in
19% of workers
5% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Who leaves Highland Heights for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,846 residents head out to work, 113 work right here, and 3,643 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,100 people are in Highland Heights on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The 3,756 jobs based in Highland Heights
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Highland Heights, 2014 → 2024: 3,944 → 3,756. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Highland Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Highland Heights: about 20 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Highland Heights workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,782 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Short hops and long hauls from Highland Heights
About 17% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Highland Heights is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Highland Heights is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns, #2 of 142 in Kentucky. Both inputs place Highland Heights near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,267 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 36% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 6.1% of Highland Heights households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Highland Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,396 U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,600, Highland Heights comes 2,031st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Union KY | 7,937 | $137K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 179 | Edgewood KY | 8,503 | $119K | 3.8% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 282 | Fort Wright KY | 6,240 | $105K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,029 | Wauseon OH | 7,430 | $64K | 8.9% | 4.5% | 28% | B− |
| 2,030 | Olive Township OH | 5,887 | $55K | 9.1% | 1.1% | 22% | B− |
| 2,031 | Highland Heights KY | 6,341 | $53K | 19.9% | 3.0% | 4% | B− |
| 2,032 | German Township IN | 7,453 | $75K | 14.2% | 4.7% | 7% | B− |
| 2,033 | Wailua Homesteads HI | 5,431 | $90K | 9.9% | 3.8% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,396 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Highland Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
Highland Heights and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Fort Thomas (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Highland Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Heights | – | B− | A+ | 20 min | $53,275 |
| Fort Thomas | 2% | A | A− | 21 min | $104,350 |
| Cold Spring | 2% | B+ | A− | 22 min | $75,000 |
| Wilder | under 3% | B− | C | 20 min | $70,893 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Highland Heights’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Highland Heights?
$53,275 (±$7,658) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Highland Heights?
19.9%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Highland Heights?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Highland Heights work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cincinnati (19%, 8 mi), Covington (5%, 3 mi), Florence (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Highland Heights walkable?
Highland Heights is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.9 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Highland Heights without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 36% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Highland Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Highland Heights
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.