Highland, Utah

Area Profile

20,119 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Highland, in Utah County.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 35% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 13% of 3,904 published cities75
Growth1616th of 2,973 published cities48
Housing affordability2318th of 4,223 published cities78
Climate3958th of 4,223 published cities55
Physical resilience2411th of 4,182 published cities49
AccessTop 31% of 4,226 published cities96
Economic stabilityTop 13% of 4,226 published cities77
The quick read

Highland ranks in the top 13% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.8% and median household income of $186,075.

Residential permitting has slowed: 44 units authorized over the past twelve months, 48% below the prior year.

A major airport is 15 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
20,119
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$186,075
Top 2% nationally
Density
2,316/sq mi
8.7 sq mi of land
Median age
28.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Utah County
Utah
Metro area
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT
Nearest major airport
PVU
15 mi · Provo Muni
Median home value
$928,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.8% is lower than 70% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 347,314 employed residents.

64% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 95% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 98% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$13,861$186,075Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5,491$62,900Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate1.9%Bottom 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.3 minBottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher64.4%Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment347,314Top 20%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.1%Top 34%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.6%Top 47%June 2026
Labor force361,169Top 21%June 2026
Labor force participation63.6%Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$64,230Bottom 28%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$48,010Bottom 22%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.1%Bottom 41%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.8%Bottom 30%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024186k156k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $186,075 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers12,060$28,710
Retail Salespersons8,710$33,120
General and Operations Managers7,910$95,790
Software Developers7,870$131,210
Customer Service Representatives7,780$39,560
Office Clerks, General6,540$43,080

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Utah County, UT, which contains this city.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,166 takes 14% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.0 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
14.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,166
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$928,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.99Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate91.7%Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2795,206Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$298$2,166Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$32,668$928,300Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income14.0%Bottom 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate3.0%Bottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
48/ 100
Ranks 1616 of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 9% since 2020, reaching 21,146 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
44
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.2
Bottom 49% nationally
Year over year
−48%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202421k19k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
20202021202220232024202523376
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−23%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 24°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 15.5 inches, including 51.9 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SALT LAKE CITY INTL AP, 25.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation15.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall51.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low24°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months41991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing50°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

49 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, wildfire and heat wave.

WildfireHigh
EarthquakeModerate
Heat waveModerate
AvalancheModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, winter weather, inland flooding, strong wind, volcanic activity, drought, tornado, ice storm, cold wave, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 15 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Provo MuniPVU15 mi8,603 ft
Salt Lake City IntlSLC27 mi12,002 ft
Ogden-HinckleyOGD54 mi8,107 ft

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.

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Area Score
65
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Other cities in Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
ProvoUtah County114,76655vs Highland
OremUtah County97,18257vs Highland
LehiUtah County85,17369vs Highland
Eagle MountainUtah County53,29063vs Highland
Saratoga SpringsUtah County48,42568vs Highland
Spanish ForkUtah County44,94664vs Highland
Pleasant GroveUtah County37,85265vs Highland
American ForkUtah County37,10967vs Highland
SpringvilleUtah County35,84957vs Highland
PaysonUtah County23,03959vs Highland
SantaquinUtah County16,43669vs Highland
VineyardUtah County14,44669vs Highland

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.