Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Highland Park are among the highest of any U.S. town
The poverty rate is 7.0%, next to 13.8% for Texas as a whole. Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Highland Park grades A for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Highland Park at work: what stands out
Nearly half of Highland Park works in Dallas
1,578 working residents, 46%, have their main job in Dallas, 3.3 miles away. That’s 12 times as many as work in Highland Park itself. The commute map ↓
Highland Park is where the jobs are
Highland Park has 5,780 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A lot of Highland Park works from home
26% of Highland Park workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Time on the road ↓
Highland Park has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Highland Park went from 3,664 in 2014 to 5,780 in 2024, +58%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Highland Park are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Highland Park
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Highland Park is better than 90% of U.S. towns, #85 of 642 in Texas. Household income holds Highland Park’s grade up ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
The Census reports Highland Park’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Highland Park could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The daily trip into Highland Park
Where Highland Park clocks in
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 Park for work, and who comes in
On a workday 3,280 residents head out to work, 126 work right here, and 5,654 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Highland Park on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Each way, about 20 minutes from Highland Park
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Highland Park workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,773 commuters (the 25% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% 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.
68% of the jobs in Highland Park pay over $3,333 a month
5,780 jobs are based in Highland Park.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Highland Park, 2014 → 2024: 3,664 → 5,780. 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 Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Highland Park to work
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.
Most trips from Highland Park start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Highland Park is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #96 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.0% across Texas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,720 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, 24% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% 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). 2.1% of Highland Park households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Highland Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Highland Park is 440th among 2,927 U.S. towns of 6,100 to 11,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Oak Point TX | 6,909 | $126K | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 438 | Glen Ridge NJ | 8,259 | $250K | 1.1% | 7.6% | 3% | A |
| 439 | Ridley Park PA | 7,255 | $94K | 5.4% | 3.1% | 3% | A |
| 440 | Highland Park TX | 8,764 | $250K | 7.0% | 4.5% | 4% | A |
| 441 | Colona Township IL | 6,595 | $84K | 3.5% | 0.5% | 5% | A |
| 442 | Scott Township IN | 10,740 | $107K | 3.9% | 2.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,927 | 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 Park, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Highland Park and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to University Park (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Highland Park workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Park | – | A | B+ | 20 min | $250,000+ |
| University Park | 3% | A+ | A+ | 17 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Highland Park’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- 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 Park: questions
What is the median household income in Highland Park?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Highland Park?
7.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Highland Park?
20 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Highland Park work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dallas (46%, 3 mi), Irving (5%, 10 mi), Plano (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Highland Park walkable?
Highland Park is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 13.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Highland Park without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 24% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Highland Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Highland Park
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.