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North Highlands.

All North Highlands data Compare North Highlands

47,957people live here $65,495median household income▼ 19% below US $1,636median rent per month▲ 16% above US $367,600median home value▲ 10% above US

North Highlands is an unincorporated community in Sacramento County, CA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in North Highlands

North Highlands is an unincorporated community in California. The numbers below lay out what daily life there actually looks like.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. North Highlands deals with rent well above the national average, household incomes below the national average, commute times longer than most cities, and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks.

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
Below-average household incomes
Above-average commute times
Air quality concerns
Low college degree attainment
High student-teacher ratio

How North Highlands compares

Median household income

North Highlands$65,495

California avg$99,122

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

North Highlands$1,636

California avg$2,036

US$1,413

Median home value

North Highlands$367,600

California avg$734,700

US$332,700

What it takes to move to North Highlands

Based on North Highlands's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$3,272

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $65,440 a year
61% of North Highlands renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$73,520

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $36,760
Homes cost 5.6× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 16% above US

$1,636/mo median rent

Rent runs on the higher side, at $1,636 a month median. Whether that premium makes sense usually comes down to the local job market and what it pays. Home prices run above average, with a median around $367,600. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.

Median home value $367,600 · 61% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

5.0% county unemployment

Unemployment in Sacramento County is 5.0%, somewhat above the national average of 4.3%. Lining up work before the move is the safer route. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Sacramento County (county-wide)

Safety

473 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

North Highlands doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs above the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1357/100k · Policed by Sacramento County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 18% above US

31 min average commute

Traffic is a real factor here. The 30.7 minute average means plenty of commuters are pushing 45 to 60 minutes on a bad day. Proximity to work matters more here than it might elsewhere. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 13% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

70%

Work from home

13%

Carpool

12%

Other

4.4%

Walk

0.8%

Public transit

0.6%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 92°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 42°F. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 57% below US

15% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.

Schools

13 public schools inside the boundary

There are 13 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 21:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial (56 miles away). There are 8 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Nothing in North Highlands's numbers stands out as a clear strength, and the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and household incomes below the national average. A year of median rent ($1,636/mo) equals 30% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It may be a harder fit for anyone who doesn't drive.

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