City profile · Delaware · Census ACS 2023

Highland Acres, DE

Highland Acres's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

3,661
Residents
$101,685
Median income
$293,600
Median home
$1,560
Median rent (state)
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See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Highland Acres.

Place dossier plate

Sheet DE-HIGHLAND-ACRES-DE · Highland Acres, DE 3,661 pop · income 79th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-HIGH · COL-PAR · SAFE-UNK · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 3,661
  • INC-HIGH $101,685
  • COL-PAR 99.8
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-UPPER 79th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Conejo
  • HOME-MID $293,600
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Conejo, NM (+ $0 income $)

Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.

Income neighbourhood around Highland Acres

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Highland Acres on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Highland Acres on ACS population and median household income . Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.

Similar population

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 3,661.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $101,685. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Highland Acres - the verdict

Nationally, Highland Acres sits in the 79th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.

79th
percentile, household income
64th
percentile, home value
78th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this

Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.

Data Snapshot: Highland Acres, DE

Highland Acres is a small town in Delaware, home to 3,661 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Highland Acres brings in $101,685 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 5.3%. Typical homes in Highland Acres are valued around $293,600, and the median resident age is 42.9 years. About 37.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 49.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

Delaware tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Delaware at 99.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,560 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Delaware run around $243, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 91.3 out of 100 (Very High).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Highland Acres's data

How this reading path is ordered

This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Highland Acres, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares. No matched row is reported here for annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

1. Work and mobility

What does the journey to work look like in Highland Acres?

Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.

Compare commute patterns →

Question 2

How far does income reach against housing in Highland Acres?

The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Question 3

Which cities make useful reference points for Highland Acres?

Within Delaware, the closest population matches are Harrington (3,805 residents, $72,606 income); Milton (3,469 residents, $64,906 income); Lewes (3,415 residents, $92,375 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Cedar Springs, MI (3,661 residents); Morton, MS (3,661 residents); Stanford, KY (3,662 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.

Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

Population

3,661 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$101,685 /yr

High income · poverty 5.3% (Below-median poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

99.8 (US=100)

Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Delaware average

City profile score · Highland Acres, DE

64/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023

Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Household income B+
$101,685

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Bachelor's+ share B
37.4%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Poverty rate C+
5.3%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Cost of living D
99.8 index

BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Highland Acres profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Household income, Bachelor's+ share, Poverty rate, Cost of living. Household incomeBachelor's+ sharePoverty rateCost of living 64 C+
Highland Acres profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Household income: 78/100 (B+) · $101,685
  • Bachelor's+ share: 71/100 (B) · 37.4%
  • Poverty rate: 63/100 (C+) · 5.3%
  • Cost of living: 41/100 (D) · 99.8 index

How does Highland Acres compare to other US cities?

Where Highland Acres sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 79% higher than other cities
Home value 64% pricier than other cities
Median rent 78% pricier than other cities

"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.

How we calculate these percentiles & ranks

Each percentile compares Highland Acres against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Delaware only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.

Delaware-relative analysis

Median Gross Rent places Highland Acres near the bottom of Delaware's cities

Among the 79 Delaware cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Highland Acres ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Highland Acres only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#19 of 77
75th percentile in Delaware
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 79
0th percentile in Delaware
Median Home Value
#34 of 77
56th percentile in Delaware
Poverty Rate
#42 of 79
47th percentile in Delaware
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#26 of 79
67th percentile in Delaware
How in-state ranks are ordered

Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Delaware only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.

79thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

79th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Highland Acres's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$293,600 36th percentile more affordable than 36% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). This entry sits in this band. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Highland Acres $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023

Highland Acres's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,039 of 15,516
More affordable than 61% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,192 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 2.9×, Highland Acres sits in the affordable band: national rank #6,039 of 15,516 and #5,192 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000). The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.

How this ratio is calculated

Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000. Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0). This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.

Income distribution context

$101,685 Highland Acres, DE median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Highland Acres, DE Highland Acres, DE's median household income ($101,685) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Highland Acres, DE-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Highland Acres, DE median $101,685/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Highland Acres, DE median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Highland Acres, DE.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 37.4%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 5.3%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 49.5%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
3,661
Median Income
$101,685
Median Home Value
$293,600
Median Age
42.9
Poverty Rate
5.3%
Labor force participation
49.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
37.4%

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
76.2%
Carpool
7.6%
Public Transit
0.7%
Walk
0.3%
Work from Home
5.5%
Other
9.7%

Based on 1,565 workers 16 and over.

Monthly Utility Costs

Delaware statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $243

EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Delaware at $243 (electricity about $115 , water and sewer about $48 ).

These are Delaware statewide averages, not a meter reading for Highland Acres. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.

Living Costs & Risk

Delaware's BEA cost-of-living index is 99.8 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Highland Acres is $1,560/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Delaware statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 91.3 / 100 (Very High).

Cost/risk geography note

Cost of living is a Delaware statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Highland Acres sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Highland Acres compares to similar-size Delaware cities

Same-state peer method

Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.

City Population Median Household Income
Highland Acres (this city) 3,661 $101,685
Harrington 3,805 $72,606
Milton 3,469 $64,906
Lewes 3,415 $92,375
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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