City · Doniphan County, Kansas

Highland, Kansas

Highland is a city in Doniphan County, Kansas, part of the St. Joseph, MO-KS metro area. It has 1,069 residents. Highland, Kansas has a quality-of-life score of 63 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,733 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kansas it ranks #74 of 202 cities and towns. It ranks best on job growth (high), public libraries (high) and child care cost burden (low). It ranks worst on mental health providers (low), arts, entertainment and recreation (low) and access to exercise opportunities (low).

63High

Quality-of-life score: #5,733 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kansas: #74 of 202 in KS
Population: 1,069 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 2,003.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 2031850

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety71#4,505/15,637
Economy70#4,737/15,631
Housing90#1,568/14,977
Health47#8,308/15,609
Healthcare22#12,215/15,650
Environment81#2,896/15,453
Education54#7,143/15,649
Infrastructure54#7,155/15,650
Community61#6,096/15,651
Leisure & amenities18#12,870/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Highland, Kansas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Doniphan County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Job growth · high9.8%
100/100Kansas 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataDoniphan County value
Public libraries · high5.3 /10k
99/100Kansas 1.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesDoniphan County value
Child care cost burden · low17.5%
99/100Kansas 18.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDoniphan County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.6×
97/100Kansas 2.9×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Average commute time · low14.1 min
95/100Kansas 19.7 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Kansas 4.5 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataDoniphan County value

Weaknesses

Mental health providers · low13 /100k
0/100Kansas 266 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDoniphan County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.0 /10k
1/100Kansas 3.4 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDoniphan County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low22.1%
1/100Kansas 80.3%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDoniphan County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Kansas 4.7 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyDoniphan County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Kansas 1.0 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDoniphan County value
New business applications · low8.3 /1k
9/100Kansas 12.6 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauDoniphan County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
1,152 (2015-2019) → 1,069 (2020-2024)
−7.2%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
2.8 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.1% (2015-2019) → 88.3% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
17.6% (2015-2019) → 8.2% (2020-2024)
−9.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Poverty rateImproving
15.7% (2015-2019) → 8.4% (2020-2024)
−7.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$53,750 (2015-2019) → $72,083 (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Highland, Kansas improved on 2 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Uninsured−9.4 points17.6% → 8.2%
Broadband+13 points75.1% → 88.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Highland, Kansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.4 min2015-2019	14.1 min2020-2024	−7.2 min	Within the margin of error	96%
Bachelor's degree or higher	34.8%2015-2019	37.6%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Broadband subscriptions	75.1%2015-2019	88.3%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	73%
Effective property tax rate	1.66%2015-2019	1.14%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	91%
High school diploma or higher	95.6%2015-2019	91.1%2020-2024	−4.4 points	Within the margin of error	7%
Home price to income ratio	1.4×2015-2019	1.6×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	71%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4072015-2019	0.3302020-2024	−0.077	Within the margin of error	92%
Median household income	$53,7502015-2019	$72,0832020-2024	+34%	Within the margin of error	64%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	21.5%2015-2019	19.6%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	17.6%2015-2019	8.2%2020-2024	−9.4 points	Improved	96%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Highland, Kansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Highland, Kansas in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Highland, Kansas itself moved +5.1 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,069 residents (±125)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

213 households (±44)

Highland, Kansas
Kansas share

Under $25k14%†30
$25k–50k19%†41
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

213 households (±44)

Highland, Kansas
Kansas share

Own72%154
Rent28%†59

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

412 workers (±114)

Highland, Kansas
Kansas share

Drive alone67%†277
Carpool3.9%†16
Public transit

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the St. Joseph, MO-KS

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Doniphan County, the county holding most of Highland's residents.

Doniphan County has 160 employer establishments, 213 for every 10,000 residents (0.86× the US rate of 248; 0.82× Kansas's), with 1,841 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,608. The Census Bureau also counts 541 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 160; 541 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 213; US 248 · Kansas 258
Paid employees: 1,841
Average annual pay: $51,608; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Doniphan County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Truck transportation	15	19.9	3.94×More than typical	142	$62,986	27
Ambulatory health care services	12	15.9	0.76×Fewer than typical	58	$48,638	11
Specialty trade contractors	12	15.9	1.03×About typical	116	$75,560	43
Religious organizations	9	12	2.15×Too few to compare	24	$10,708	—
Banks and credit unions	7	9.3	2.88×Too few to compare	50	$73,580	—
Offices of other health practitioners	6	8	1.31×Too few to compare	17	$53,059	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	5	6.6	1.32×Too few to compare	6	$50,167	14
Insurance agencies and brokerages	5	6.6	1.51×Too few to compare	15	$41,067	8
Other specialty trade contractors	5	6.6	2.65×Too few to compare	94	$78,777	16
Restaurants and other eating places	5	6.6	0.36×Too few to compare	66	$12,273	—
Full-service restaurants	4	5.3	0.69×Too few to compare	66	$11,712	—
Building equipment contractors	3	4	0.66×Too few to compare	9	$51,556	10

Rank places for an industry Open Doniphan County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 7,529 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $310 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Highland, Kansas: $0.29 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $310; +37% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.29; US $1,994
Sole-source: 55%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Rural Housing Service$17055%
Indian Health Service$14145%

Top recipients

VAN BINSBERGEN & ASSOCIATES, LLC$17055%
OHLSEN RIGHT OF WAY & MAINTENANCE, INC.$14145%

Spending by fiscal year

341.5FY2022
365.4FY2023
113.2FY2024
226.3FY2025
310.3FY2026

What was bought

Professional services$17055%
Construction & real property$14145%

Top industries (NAICS)

Activities related to real estate · 5313$17055%
Utility system construction · 2371$14145%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Highland, Kansas, so they do not add up across cities.

Highland, Kansas's figures are part of those of Doniphan County, KS ($1M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Highland is mostly in Doniphan County.

See federal money in Doniphan County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Highland, Kansas is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Derek SchmidtR-KS-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.7%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Doniphan County68100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

St. Joseph, MO-KS46

Other cities and towns in Doniphan County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2031850

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends