Highlands is a very small town located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 1,110 people and two associated neighborhoods, Highlands is the 396th largest community in North Carolina. Highlands home prices are not only among the most expensive in North Carolina, but Highlands real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Highlands is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 92.05% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Highlands is a town of sales and office workers, service providers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Highlands who work in sales jobs (18.11%), management occupations (16.64%), and food service (16.45%). Of important note, Highlands is also a town of artists. Highlands has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Highlands’s character. Also of interest is that Highlands has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Highlands telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 19.37% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Another notable thing is that Highlands is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the town’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live. One of the benefits of Highlands is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 13.93 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result. Highlands is a small town, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Highlands, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Highlands is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 53.01% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%. The per capita income in Highlands in 2022 was $48,722, which is wealthy relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $194,888 for a family of four. However, Highlands contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Highlands is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Highlands home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Highlands residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Highlands also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.11% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Highlands include English, German, Irish, Scots-Irish, and Scottish. The most common language spoken in Highlands is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Miao/Hmong.
