Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / New Jersey

Highlands, New Jersey

Highlands is a suburb of about 4,400 people in Monmouth County, New Jersey, in the New York area. It has lost about 6% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 5 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, New York, is about 18 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of New York

Population
4,350
down 5.8% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$455,000
Monmouth County prices up 28% since 2022
Household income
$91,913
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, New York area
112.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
5 miles
Red Bank, NJ
To New York
18 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 12.6% above the U.S. average in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood10 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 4.2 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byRiverview Medical Center in Red Bank, about 5 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityNew York is about 18 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Highlands meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Highlands runs into the built-up area around New York (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

Worth a closer look

Highlands has lost about 6% of its people since 2020. A shrinking town can mean bargains, but visit Main Street on a weekday and ask what's closed lately.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$455,000U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 28%Monmouth County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,658 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$91,913U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
61%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$8,963 a yearNew Jersey: $9,590
Homes built before 1940
21%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
6%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
7%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
112.6U.S. average = 100 (the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 28% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, not Highlands alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
4,3502020: 4,616
Median age
46.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
24%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
13%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
52%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
9%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (23%); professional and business services (19%); retail (17%)
Unemployment rate
7%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
35 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
18%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
10%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank, NJ, about 5 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Highlands, run by Highlands Borough School District and Henry Hudson Regional School District.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on New Jersey's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
77%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
89%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
25°F
July average high
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
13 a year
Nights at or below freezing
94 a year
Rain and melted snow
47.1 inches a year
Snow
24 inches a year
Elevation
5 feet

Weather stations: Long Branch-oakhurst (7 miles away) and Ny Ave V Brooklyn (13 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Riverview Medical Center, Perth Amboy, New York.

Monmouth County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Navesink Light Station. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Gateway National Recreation Arearight here
  • Statue of Liberty National Monument20 miles
  • Governors Island National Monument20 miles
  • Castle Clinton National Monument21 miles
  • Federal Hall National Memorial21 miles

Read about Highlands's history on Wikipedia.

Know Highlands?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Navesink, NJ (unincorporated)1,867 people, 3 miles
  • Leonardo, NJ (unincorporated)2,493 people, 4 miles
  • Belford, NJ (unincorporated)1,636 people, 5 miles
  • Deal, NJ894 people, 11 miles
  • Allenhurst, NJ470 people, 12 miles
  • Interlaken, NJ826 people, 12 miles
  • Loch Arbour, NJ228 people, 12 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.