Highlands County, FL

51% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 47% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.3 students for every full-time teacher across 17 public schools, more than in most measured places.

62.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Florida’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Population has grown 8% since 2020, reaching 109,778 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 768 units authorized in 2025, 22% below the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 109,778 residents in 2024, up 1.5% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 655 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Highlands County gained about 2.0% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $56,484, above the $50,998 of households that moved out.

At 6.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

People moving in and out

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, strong wind and inland flooding, with hurricane alone responsible for 34% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Highlands County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.9 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 28.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 19.5 per 100,000 residents in Highlands County.

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Highlands County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

9 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Lakeland Linder Intl at 61 miles.

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.