43,785 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.0% since 2020)
553 square miles of land · 79 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
5 active community water systems list Highland County in the area they serve, reporting 42,501 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| HIGHLAND COUNTY WATER COMPANY, INC. groundwater · private · OH3600514 | 28,421 served |
| HILLSBORO CITY surface water · local government · OH3600614 | 6,650 served |
| GREENFIELD VILLAGE PWS groundwater · local government · OH3600312 | 4,600 served |
| LYNCHBURG VILLAGE PWS groundwater · local government · OH3600915 | 1,515 served |
| LEESBURG VILLAGE groundwater · local government · OH3600712 | 1,315 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 70 people were held in Highland County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 264 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 83.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
5 school districts have their office in Highland County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $40.9 million — $32.4 million to run schools, about $14,649 per student, plus $7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.6 million local (mostly property tax), $17.1 million state, $9.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.1 million.
Spent $35.3 million — $28.2 million to run schools, about $14,754 per student, plus $6.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.8 million local (mostly property tax), $17 million state, $9.1 million federal.
Spent $17.9 million — $16.6 million to run schools, about $15,445 per student, plus $896,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.9 million local (mostly property tax), $11.4 million state, $1.9 million federal.
Spent $13.8 million — $12.6 million to run schools, about $13,839 per student, plus $839,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.8 million local (mostly property tax), $9.5 million state, $1.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.7 million.
Spent $11.6 million — $10.6 million to run schools, about $14,645 per student, plus $698,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3 million local (mostly property tax), $7.5 million state, $1.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $723,000.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Highland County about $13.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
245 bridges in Highland County: 175 in good condition, 65 fair, and 5 poor (2.0%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| US 62 over CLEAR CREEK · built 1934 | 7,161 vehicles a day |
| SR 73 over East Fork Little Miami · built 1946 | 5,565 vehicles a day |
| OHIO BRUSH CREEK over OHIO BRUSH CREEK · built 1955 | 1,424 vehicles a day |
| PANHANDLE RD #8 over TURTLECREEK · built 1981 | 343 vehicles a day |
| GIBLER RD #118 over DODSON CREEK · built 1950 | 28 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $5.7 million of work in Highland County in fiscal 2025, about $131 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Ohio are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Highland County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Highland County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Ohio: the state government and every county in Ohio.
Nearby counties: Clinton County (19 mi) · Brown County (23 mi) · Adams County (25 mi) · Fayette County (27 mi) · Pike County (30 mi) · Ross County (31 mi).