Highlands County vs Sumter County

A side-by-side comparison of Highlands County and Sumter County: population, income, housing, and more.

Highlands County and Sumter County are counties in Florida. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Sumter County has the higher population (137,536 vs 103,808 in Highlands County). Sumter County has the higher median household income ($73,297 vs $55,581 in Highlands County). Sumter County has the higher median home value ($356,000 vs $177,900 in Highlands County).

Population, income & housing

	Highlands County	Sumter County
Population	103,808	137,536
Median age	54.2 yrs	68.4 yrs
Median household income	$55,581	$73,297
Median home value	$177,900	$356,000
Median gross rent	$980	$1,225
Housing units	58,086	80,371
Homeownership rate	78.9%	88.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.7%	35.1%
Unemployment rate	5.9%	5.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Highlands County	Sumter County
Population	103,437 → 103,808 (+0.4%)	125,044 → 137,536 (+10.0%)
Median household income	$40,942 → $55,581 (+35.8%)	$57,226 → $73,297 (+28.1%)
Median home value	$108,100 → $177,900 (+64.6%)	$258,600 → $356,000 (+37.7%)
Median gross rent	$816 → $980 (+20.1%)	$914 → $1,225 (+34.0%)

Highlands County

Population

103,437103,808

Median household income

$40,942$55,581

Median home value

$108,100$177,900

Median gross rent

$816$980

Sumter County

Population

125,044137,536

Median household income

$57,226$73,297

Median home value

$258,600$356,000

Median gross rent

$914$1,225

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Highlands County	Sumter County
Under 5	4.1%	1.8%
5 to 17	12.7%	5.3%
18 to 24	5.6%	2.9%
25 to 34	9.1%	5.6%
35 to 44	9.7%	6.1%
45 to 54	9.6%	6.5%
55 to 64	13.2%	14.0%
65 to 74	17.3%	30.8%
75 and over	18.7%	27.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Highlands County	Sumter County
White (non-Hispanic)	64.2%	84.1%
Black or African American	9.2%	6.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	1.5%	1.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.6%	0.4%
Two or more races	2.9%	1.6%
Hispanic or Latino	21.5%	6.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Highlands County	Sumter County
No high school diploma	13.6%	6.8%
High school graduate	34.5%	28.5%
Some college or associate's	32.2%	29.6%
Bachelor's degree	12.4%	21.3%
Graduate or professional degree	7.3%	13.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Highlands County	Sumter County
Drove alone	75.9%	71.1%
Carpooled	12.7%	7.5%
Public transit	0.2%	0.2%
Walked	1.9%	1.5%
Bicycle	0.3%	1.2%
Worked from home	7.6%	13.3%
Other means	1.6%	5.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Highlands County	Sumter County
1-unit, detached	61.4%	82.1%
1-unit, attached	4.9%	1.0%
2 to 4 units	5.0%	0.6%
5 to 19 units	2.6%	0.5%
20 or more units	2.3%	2.9%
Mobile home & other	23.8%	12.8%

Poverty & households

	Highlands County	Sumter County
Poverty rate	15.4%	9.1%
Average household size	2.22	1.93
Mean commute (minutes)	23	28
Median year structure built	1986	2005