Moving to
Lakeland Highlands.

All Lakeland Highlands data Compare Lakeland Highlands

12,102people live here $108,263median household income▲ 34% above US $1,704median rent per month▲ 21% above US $385,000median home value▲ 16% above US

Lakeland Highlands is an unincorporated community in Polk County, FL. 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 Lakeland Highlands

Lakeland Highlands is an unincorporated community in Florida with household incomes running above the national average, air quality that stays clean most of the year, a highly educated workforce, and schools with class sizes near the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Lakeland Highlands deals with rent well above the national average, a population that has been shrinking, hot summers, and above-average rainfall.

The good

Higher-than-average incomes
Clean air
Highly educated workforce
Average class sizes

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
Shrinking population
Hot summers
Above-average rainfall
Smaller place — fewer dining and entertainment options
Car-dependent — few commuters use transit

How Lakeland Highlands compares

Median household income

Lakeland Highlands$108,263

Florida avg$74,568

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Lakeland Highlands$1,704

Florida avg$1,669

US$1,413

Median home value

Lakeland Highlands$385,000

Florida avg$359,000

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Lakeland Highlands

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

To rent

$3,408

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

Income to keep rent under 30%: $68,160 a year
27% of Lakeland Highlands renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$77,000

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $38,500
Homes cost 3.6× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 21% above US

$1,704/mo median rent

Rent runs on the higher side, at $1,704 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 $385,000. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.

Median home value $385,000 · 27% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.8% county unemployment

Unemployment in Polk County is 4.8%, 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.

Polk County (county-wide)

Safety

187 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

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

Property crime 488/100k · Policed by Polk County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

24 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 24.3 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 15% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

74%

Work from home

15%

Carpool

9.1%

Other

1.2%

Walk

0.8%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 92°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 53°F. It's a wet climate overall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▲ 24% above US

45% bachelor's degree or higher

The population is well-educated, with 45% holding college degrees. That points to a strong professional base and generally a healthy local economy.

Schools

1 public school inside the boundary

There is 1 public school inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 16:1, close to the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is De Soto National Memorial (52 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Lakeland Highlands's strongest points are household incomes running above the national average and air quality that stays clean most of the year; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and a population that has been shrinking. A year of median rent ($1,704/mo) equals 19% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (15% of workers here already work from home) and college-educated professionals.

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