Best PlacesHighland, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Highland, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Highland ranks 7,886th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Highland
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Highland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Highland ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 91% of towns
Where Highland ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 50 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Highland
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Highland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $97,477, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Highland's effective rate of 1.91%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Highland
Highland's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Highland.
Who works in Highland, and how
Work in Highland centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Highland
Highland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns and more parkland per resident than 96% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Highland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Highland, month by month
Highland sees roughly 50 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Highland
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 38 miles away.
The best schools in and around Highland
Schools across Highland average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Alhambra Primary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- St Jacob Elem SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Germantown Elem SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Triad Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Highland Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Triad High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Highland High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Central Comm High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Highland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Highland measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Highland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Highland
Is Highland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Highland ranks 7,886th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, walkability, and few empty homes, and lowest on the weather and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Highland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $228,583. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $97,477 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Highland safe?
Yes, Highland is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $170 per resident a year.
Compare Highland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Highland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Highland represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Highland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Highland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Highland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Highland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Highland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Highland detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.