Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,350, settled in 1871.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Highlands grades B overall, 242nd of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. It is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns. It is healthier than 87% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $618K, 6.2 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Only 42 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on hazard risk. Highlands has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Navesink Light Station and Twin Lights. Highlands's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 82% of U.S. towns.
Where Highlands beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Coastal flooding makes up 24% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Highlands is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 9%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Navesink Light Station is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,228 in 1900, 4,621 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1821 and 5 maps from 1947 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Highlands. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw12 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw26 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw25 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw26 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a yearMadison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Coney Island: OptimumPx, Public domain · Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Highlands, and how to reach them.
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 Highlands.
Highlands is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in New Jersey; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding).
Within New Jersey it is healthier than 51% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar. Its widest gap with New Jersey is tooth loss: 5.8% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.6% statewide.
28% of Highlands adults feel lonely, against 32% in New Jersey’s towns and 33% across U.S. towns. 16% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Highlands. Highlands beats the New Jersey average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2.
| Highlands | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 36% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 22% | 25% |
| What stands out | Highlands | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.8% | 9.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.7% | 14.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Henry Hudson Regional School District. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 153 | – |
| Henry Hudson Regional SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 278 | – |
NCES · EDFacts
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 92% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $632 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 1,527 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 183 properties have flooded more than once.
At 85 of 100, Highlands’ FEMA risk score is above both the New Jersey town median (52 of 100) and the median of U.S. towns (44 of 100). Since 1978, 1,527 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Highlands.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1.1 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Highlands | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Memorial Park | 0.2 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most working residents leave Highlands for work: only 8% work in town. The average trip to work in Highlands is 35 minutes. Since 2013, Highlands has added 181 jobs, to 796 in 2023.
| Highlands | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $92,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 10% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 10.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 60% of New Jersey’s graded towns.
Highlands’ violent crime rate is 2.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Highlands | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Children under 18 are 13% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 24% of residents (17% statewide). 52% of Highlands adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Highlands has lost 5.9% of its people since 2020, down to 4,350 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Highlands | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 13% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 52% | 45% | 29% |
| Median age | 46.8 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.4 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women. Among residents 75 and older, 57% are men (NJ 41%).
| Highlands | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.5% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.8% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.7% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 17.4% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.9% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.5% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.5% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.7% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.7% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.7% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.4% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.6% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 30.2% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 21.3% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,400, single groups can be off by several points
Highlands has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 26° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Typical home values rose 8.7% in the year to September 2026.
| Highlands | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,658 a month | $1,780 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
12 within 15 miles of the center of Highlands
About 2 of every 100 Highlands residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
Where Highlands’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Highlands on the National Register of Historic Places.
Borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, US
See also New York–New Jersey Highlands for the northwestern part of New Jersey. Highlands is a borough in northern Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A historic waterfront community located on the Raritan Bay within the Raritan Valley region, this scenic borough is a commuter town of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,621, a decrease of 384 (−7.7%) from the 2010 census count of 5,005, which in turn reflected a decline of 92 (−1.8%) from the 5,097 counted in the 2000 census. The eastern part of the town is on a high bluff that overlooks Sandy Hook and Sandy Hook Bay, the entrance to New York Harb…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Highlands.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands | #242 | B | D | B+ | — | A |
| Atlantic Highlands | — | — | C− | — | — | A |
| Middletown Township | #93 | A | C− | A− | B+ | A |
| Sea Bright | — | — | D− | B+ | A− | A+ |
Sea Bright has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Atlantic Highlands reports no FBI crime data of its own. Atlantic Highlands isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Highlands with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Highlands grades B overall, better than 61% of U.S. towns and #242 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A for health and B+ for safety. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
2 notable people were born here, including Jason Mewes and Bryan Johnson.
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