A town of 1,074, settled in 1875. A typical home worth about $1.06M.
The 3 things Highlands does most differently from other towns.
2006 · Harris Lake6 postcards, papers and photographs from public archives, and 12 places on the National Register.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Be the first to start the conversation.
Nothing on the calendar.
Ordered by what stands out in Highlands. Another town gets a different order.
The typical Highlands home is worth about $1,063,000, up 7.5% in a year, 218% above the North Carolina typical home.
About one in 3 of Highlands’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Franklin (3%), Charlotte (3%) and Asheville (3%). Half commute less than 4 miles.
Highlands beats the North Carolina average on 17 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7.
| What stands out | Highlands | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6% | 12.2% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4% | 8.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 14.9% | 7.9% |
The public schools Highlands’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 69% of North Carolina’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the top.
| School | Grades | Students | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands School | K–12 | 344 | A− |
Highlands has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. A typical July afternoon reaches 76°, a January night drops to 25°, and about 10 inches of snow falls in a normal winter.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 39% of U.S. communities.
Highlands's reported crime rate is below North Carolina's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. No violent crimes were reported in 2024.
2.1 miles of trails across 11 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Brushy Face Preserve | 0.6 mi | 65 |
| 2. Nantahala National Forest | — | 62 |
| 3. Highlands Recreation Park | — | 26 |
Where Highlands’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
12 places in Highlands on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in North Carolina, United States
Highlands is an incorporated town in Macon County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located on a plateau in the southern Appalachian Mountains, within the Nantahala National Forest, it lies mostly in southeastern Macon County and slightly in southwestern Jackson County, in the Highlands and Cashiers Townships, respectively. The permanent population was 1,014 at the 2020 census.
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