Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Highland’s best subject grade is an A− for civic life; its weakest is a C− for cost of living. Highland’s mean commuting time is 39 minutes, where New York’s towns sit at 25 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Highland has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Spring House and Minisink Battlefield. Highland has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Highland beats most towns.
Spring House2,530 counted in 2010 and 2,196 in 2020; an estimated 2,214 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Highland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 993 in 1860, 2,196 in 2020. The archive holds 7 old photos and papers going back to 1853 and 3 maps from 1922 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Highland, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Highland.
Among residents in Highland, 7.1% live below the poverty line. Commuting out is the norm locally: 13% of working residents work locally. Jobs in Highland grew by 57 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 407. The town’s median household income stands at $64,000, against $82,000 in New York’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns.
| Highland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $64,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.1% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its one school is below. The Eldred Central School District runs its public schools. Enrollment at Highland’s public school: 214 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eldred Junior-Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 214 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
In Highland, 38% of adults sleep under 7 hours. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Highland is ahead of New York on 8 and behind on 4. Two figures for adults locally: 15% report frequent mental distress, 29% have obesity.
| Highland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 21% | 23% |
| What stands out | Highland | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11% | 17.2% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.5% | 14.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.9% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The July high for Highland comes to 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
36% of adults 25 and older hold at least a bachelor’s degree, against 40% across New York. For residents in Highland, the share who are under 18 is 12%.
| Highland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 55.4 years | 43 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 12% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 32% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.1 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Highland | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.8% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 4.7% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.2% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.6% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.4% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.3% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 24.9% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.4% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.8% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.4% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.6% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.8% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.1% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.8% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20.3% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,200, single groups can be off by several points
The biggest park or preserve is Hickok Brook Multiple Use Area, at 1,025 acres. Across 4 parks and preserves: 11 miles of trail. Highland’s density of trails is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Highland | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.9% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Minisink Battlefield County Park | 1.7 mi | 57 |
| 2. Hickok Brook Multiple Use Area | — | 1,025 |
| 3. Sullivan Forest Preserve Detached Parcel | — | 50 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Households in Highland have drawn federal disaster aid in 9 declared disasters, most recently in 2017. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 55% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 77% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 6% to cold waves. Paid flood insurance claims here since 1980: 19.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
87% of Highland households live in a home they own.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Highland. Close and well known come first.
21 mi LakeLake Wallenpaupack
21 mi MountainHigh Point
33 mi Theme parkLegoland New York33 mi Park & preserveMinnewaska State Park Preserve
17 mi National park siteMiddle Delaware National Scenic River4.1M visitors a year
33 mi Ski areaMountain Creek44 runs · 1,001 ft verticalLake Wallenpaupack: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 · High Point: Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Legoland New York: MattCC716, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Middle Delaware National Scenic River: Mike Serfas, Public domain · Mountain Creek: NHRHS2010, CC BY-SA 3.0
None within 15 miles of Highland; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Highland residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Where Highland’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in New York, United States
Highland is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 2,196 at the 2020 census. The town's name denotes its location on elevated ground north of the Delaware River. The town is in the southwestern part of the county.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Highland.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland | — | — | C− | — | B− | B+ |
| Lumberland | — | — | C | — | B− | B+ |
| Tusten | — | — | C | — | B− | B |
| Barryville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bethel | #708 | D | D | — | D | B+ |
Highland, Lumberland and Tusten have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Highland, Lumberland, Tusten and Bethel report no FBI crime data of their own. Barryville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Highland with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
2.2 times the nonprofits per person than the typical New York town.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $255,000, 51% below the New York typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
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