Best PlacesHighlands County, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Highlands County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Highlands County ranks 2,149th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on summer heat and car insurance costs. It does better on state infrastructure, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Highlands County
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.
The best areas in Highlands County
The parts of Highlands County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Sebring
More households have young kids.
Lake Placid
Heat risk is lower, though more homes sit empty.
Avon Park
Prices have run up more.
Scores across Highlands County run from about the 2nd to the 89th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Highlands County's strengths and weaknesses
Highlands County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State infrastructure is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Low taxes and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Car insurance costs and disaster risk also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Highlands County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 79% of counties
- TransitBetter than 76% of counties
Where Highlands County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
- Household income$57,632 median, better than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Highlands County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Highlands County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,632, 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 Highlands County's effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Highlands County
Highlands County runs older than the country, 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 Highlands County.
Who works in Highlands County, and how
Work in Highlands County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Highlands County
Highlands County has less parkland per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 68% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Highlands County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Highlands County growing, and who is moving in?
Highlands County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Tampa, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Highlands County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Highlands County, month by month
Highlands County sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 62° | 51° |
| April | 87° | 74° | 63° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 87° | 76° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Highlands County
The nearest airport, Punta Gorda, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Southwest Florida International, about 67 miles away.
The best schools in and around Highlands County
Schools across Highlands County average a B−, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sun 'n Lake Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Cracker Trail Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Park Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hill-gustat Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Sebring Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Avon Park Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Sebring High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Avon Park High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Lake Placid High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Highlands County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Highlands County 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 Highlands County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Highlands County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 60% of counties and health care access beats 55%.
Common questions about living in Highlands County
Is Highlands County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Highlands County ranks 2,149th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low taxes, and big-city access, and lowest on summer heat and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Highlands County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $199,076. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $57,632 median income, cost of living beats 22% of counties.
Is Highlands County safe?
Yes, Highlands County is safer than 62% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $210 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Highlands County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 51. That works out to about 100 pleasant days a year, more than 60% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Highlands County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sebring, Lake Placid, and Avon Park. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Highlands County good for families?
Schools beat 70% of counties, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $715 a month.
Is Highlands County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 22% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 42% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Highlands County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Highlands County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Highlands County 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.
Highlands County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Highlands County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Highlands County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Highlands County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Highlands County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Highlands County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.