Highland, California.
Typical home $539,387 (+1.9% in a year), asking rent $2,630 (+4.5%). Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,511 (+114%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $10,154 +2%
- $529,233$539,387 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $91,471 +20%
- $447,916$539,387 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Highland$2,831
- California$3,997
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 19 years.
Typical home values in Highland, CA rose 1.9% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Asking rents in Highland, CA rose 4.5% over the past year — faster than the nation's +2.7%.
Owning the typical home in Highland runs $1,094/mo more than renting one. The gap peaked at $1,285 in May 2024.
That is $3,723 a month against $2,630 rent: a $2,831 mortgage payment, plus $315 property tax and $577 insurance & upkeep.
Owning vs renting — Highland
The owning line is the typical home's monthly payment at that month's rate, plus property tax and insurance & upkeep; the renting line is the typical asking rent; the grey line is the mortgage payment on its own. Same homes, same months, both ways of paying for a roof.
- Owning all in$3,723
- Renting$2,630
- Mortgage only$2,831
Property tax · $315/mo 0.70% of value a year — the ACS 2020-2024 median bill over the median home value for San Bernardino County, CA
Insurance & upkeep · $577/mo insurance, maintenance and repairs together, from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey — the national figure for mortgaged homeowners, scaled to this market's home value. BLS publishes the three bundled and they cannot be split.
Both are priced off the same month's home value, so they rise with the market. Neither is a quote — a specific home's bill depends on its assessment, its age and its insurer.
Living in Highland, San Bernardino County, California
Highland is a city of 56,999 people in San Bernardino County. Half its households earn more than $77,120 a year and half less, against $85,478 across San Bernardino County; 17% of its people live below the poverty line. 64% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 36% are rented. Unemployment in Highland was 5.4% in August 2026, and San Bernardino County had 0.4% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Highland is a city in San Bernardino County where most homes are lived in by their owners, though there are more renters than you might expect in a place of this kind. The population is younger than in many American towns, and household incomes run below the county's. A smaller share of adults hold a four-year degree than in many places, and a noticeable portion of residents live below the poverty line. Winters are mild, with cool days and chilly nights, and snow is rare. Summers are hot, especially in August, and the year brings only a little rain.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, in professional and business services, and in transport, warehouses and utilities. Among the largest workplaces in Highland are In-Roads Creative Programs, which provides companion services for disabled and elderly people, Lowe's of Highland, a home center, and Cedar Holdings, which runs skilled nursing facilities. The typical commute is a fairly long one, and only a small number of people work from home. Unemployment has eased a little compared with a year earlier, and job numbers across the county have edged up.
Things to do. A few green spots lie a short drive away, including Mill Creek and Lytle Creek, both rivers, and the Abraham Lincoln Shrine, a park. Farther afield, a longer drive brings you to San Bernardino National Forest, a protected area of mountain country. Snow Valley Mountain Resort, a ski area, is also a longer drive away, which suits a place where snow seldom falls in town.
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- 16,265households
- 23%of adults have a degree
- 17%below the poverty line
- 30 mintypical commute
- 8%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. San Bernardino County had 848,961 jobs in 2025, 0.4% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in December, with highs near 66° and lows near 40°; warmest in August, with highs near 96° and lows near 63°. About 13 inches of rain a year, and little or no snow.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Redlands weather station, 6 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Highland
- In-Roads Creative ProgramsCompanion services for disabled persons, the elderly, and persons diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities1,531
- Lowe's Companies, INCHomecenter147
- Bear Springs HotelHotels122
- Cedar HoldingsSkilled nursing facilities121
- Robertson's Ready MixAutomotive repair and replacement shops, general113
- Pro Cast ProductsCopings, concrete, manufacturing105
- Food 4 Less FoodsCoSupermarkets and other grocery except convenience stores76
- AlbertsonsSupermarkets and other grocery stores75
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 18 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 2,620 people in all. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- WildfireVery high
- EarthquakesRelatively high
- Inland floodingRelatively high
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Highland’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on San Bernardino County and the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro.
Highland home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Highland$539,387
- California$761,538
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 5 Highland listings, and the typical home goes pending in 18 days — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Highland21.58%
- United States26.90%
Days to pending
How long the typical listing takes to go under contract.
- Highland18
- United States27
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Highland97
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Highland34
Median sale price
What buyers actually paid — closed sales, not asking prices.
- Highland$531,802
- United States$371,407
Sale-to-list ratio
Above 100%, homes sell over asking; below, buyers negotiate wins.
- Highland99.40%
Zip codes with a Highland address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Highland — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.