At 10.1%, unemployment in Highlands is higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
2% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. The two grades for Highlands are C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Measured by household income, Highlands is behind 85% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Highlands and work: the main findings
Highlands and Houston trade workers both ways
Houston is the top workplace for Highlands residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Highlands come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Highlands makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Highlands are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Highlands residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Few Highlands workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Highlands has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Highlands went from 1,332 in 2013 to 1,904 in 2023, +43%. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
40% of the jobs in Highlands are in trade, transport and utilities, against 24% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, 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.
What’s behind Highlands’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Highlands is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #364 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Highlands’ grade up; unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Highlands could be anywhere from C to B.
32% of working residents work in Houston
Where Highlands clocks in
32% of workers
11% 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.
Highlands works in goods: 40% of its jobs
1,904 jobs are based in Highlands.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Highlands, 2013 → 2023: 1,332 → 1,904. 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 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Highlands’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Highlands: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Highlands workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,330 commuters (the 2% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Highlands
On a workday 3,127 residents head out to work, 134 work right here, and 1,770 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Highlands on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.58 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Highlands’ commute, mile by mile
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Highlands commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Highlands is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #135 of 642 in Texas. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.0% across Texas, on an EPA index of 6.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,386 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.3% of Highlands households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Highlands’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Highlands ranks: 2,313th of 3,396 U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,600
| # | 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% | 6% | A+ |
| 4 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,311 | Hamilton Township PA | 8,520 | $74K | 10.5% | 7.7% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,312 | Hancock MI | 4,596 | $60K | 19.1% | 1.8% | 27% | C+ |
| 2,313 | Highlands TX | 6,335 | $52K | 9.8% | 10.1% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,314 | Gaylord MI | 4,444 | $45K | 8.0% | 3.1% | 34% | C+ |
| 2,315 | Mechanicville NY | 5,021 | $51K | 18.1% | 3.3% | 10% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,396 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Highlands, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
13% of Highlands works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Baytown (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Highlands workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands | – | C+ | B+ | 31 min | $52,167 |
| Channelview | 2% | C+ | C | 30 min | $64,422 |
| Baytown | 11% | C | B− | 25 min | $59,910 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Highlands’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 2023, 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 Highlands: questions
What is the median household income in Highlands?
$52,167 (±$12,038) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Highlands?
9.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Highlands?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Highlands work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (32%, 20 mi), Baytown (11%, 6 mi), Pasadena (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Highlands walkable?
Highlands is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Highlands without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Highlands, from the people who make the trip.
More of Highlands
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, 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.