Highland Springs vs Laurel

A side-by-side comparison of Highland Springs and Laurel: population, income, housing, and more.

Highland Springs and Laurel are places in Virginia. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Laurel has the higher population (18,180 vs 15,091 in Highland Springs). Laurel has the higher median household income ($69,932 vs $56,931 in Highland Springs). Laurel has the higher median home value ($272,300 vs $206,300 in Highland Springs).

Population, income & housing

	Highland Springs	Laurel
Population	15,091	18,180
Median age	36.5 yrs	34.9 yrs
Median household income	$56,931	$69,932
Median home value	$206,300	$272,300
Median gross rent	$1,234	$1,497
Housing units	6,480	7,600
Homeownership rate	61.8%	50.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.5%	27.4%
Unemployment rate	5.9%	4.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Highland Springs	Laurel
Population	16,459 → 15,091 (-8.3%)	17,535 → 18,180 (+3.7%)
Median household income	$48,886 → $56,931 (+16.5%)	$59,126 → $69,932 (+18.3%)
Median home value	$145,800 → $206,300 (+41.5%)	$195,900 → $272,300 (+39.0%)
Median gross rent	$1,063 → $1,234 (+16.1%)	$1,188 → $1,497 (+26.0%)

Highland Springs

Population

16,45915,091

Median household income

$48,886$56,931

Median home value

$145,800$206,300

Median gross rent

$1,063$1,234

Laurel

Population

17,53518,180

Median household income

$59,126$69,932

Median home value

$195,900$272,300

Median gross rent

$1,188$1,497

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Highland Springs	Laurel
Under 5	5.7%	6.2%
5 to 17	19.5%	13.6%
18 to 24	9.0%	9.4%
25 to 34	13.6%	21.1%
35 to 44	12.1%	13.6%
45 to 54	9.9%	12.0%
55 to 64	13.8%	11.9%
65 to 74	10.6%	7.3%
75 and over	5.9%	4.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Highland Springs	Laurel
White (non-Hispanic)	20.6%	43.0%
Black or African American	72.5%	30.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.2%
Asian	0.3%	9.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.5%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.4%	3.8%
Hispanic or Latino	2.6%	12.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Highland Springs	Laurel
No high school diploma	10.0%	11.5%
High school graduate	40.5%	30.8%
Some college or associate's	30.0%	30.3%
Bachelor's degree	12.7%	17.6%
Graduate or professional degree	6.8%	9.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Highland Springs	Laurel
Drove alone	73.7%	73.4%
Carpooled	7.3%	9.3%
Public transit	1.0%	1.0%
Walked	3.2%	0.2%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	11.9%	13.7%
Other means	2.9%	2.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Highland Springs	Laurel
1-unit, detached	76.6%	50.9%
1-unit, attached	7.8%	12.5%
2 to 4 units	4.6%	10.1%
5 to 19 units	7.8%	21.8%
20 or more units	3.2%	3.8%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.9%

Poverty & households

	Highland Springs	Laurel
Poverty rate	16.7%	7.4%
Average household size	2.49	2.41
Mean commute (minutes)	23	21
Median year structure built	1978	1981