Best PlacesLakeland Highlands, FL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lakeland Highlands, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lakeland Highlands ranks 1,629th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lakeland Highlands
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.
Lakeland Highlands' strengths and weaknesses
Where Lakeland Highlands ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- BikingBetter than 93% of towns
Where Lakeland Highlands ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 27% of towns
- Cheap childcare$844 a month, better than only 45% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lakeland Highlands
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lakeland Highlands home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $107,036, 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 Lakeland Highlands' effective rate of 0.71%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lakeland Highlands
Lakeland Highlands runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lakeland Highlands.
Who works in Lakeland Highlands, and how
Work in Lakeland Highlands centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lakeland Highlands
Lakeland Highlands has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of towns. The coast is about 39 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Lakeland Highlands and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lakeland Highlands, month by month
Lakeland Highlands sees roughly 145 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 60° | 51° |
| April | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 85° | 76° | 68° |
Flying in and out of Lakeland Highlands
Tampa International sits about 36 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.1 million passengers in 2025, with 135 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lakeland Highlands
Schools across Lakeland Highlands average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Valleyview Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Scott Lake Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Highlands Grove Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lakeland Highlands Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- George W. Jenkins Senior HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lakeland Highlands school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lakeland Highlands 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 Lakeland Highlands against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lakeland Highlands
Is Lakeland Highlands a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lakeland Highlands ranks 1,629th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, fast internet, and low taxes, and lowest on car insurance costs and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lakeland Highlands expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $378,212. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $107,036 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is Lakeland Highlands safe?
Yes, Lakeland Highlands is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $106 per resident a year.
Compare Lakeland Highlands with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lakeland Highlands. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lakeland Highlands 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.
Lakeland Highlands detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lakeland Highlands: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lakeland Highlands: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lakeland Highlands: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lakeland Highlands: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lakeland Highlands 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.