Financial Literacy in Highlands, NJ

With a population of roughly 4,337, Highlands, New Jersey is the 212th-largest of 322 incorporated places in New Jersey. The population has declined 6% since 2020, from 4,614 to 4,337. The median age is 49.3, skewing older, where the pressing questions shift toward retirement income, medical costs and passing things on.

53.7% of Highlands residents 25 and older have completed a bachelor's degree or more. That runs 10.5 points above the New Jersey average of 43.2%. Put the other way round: of the 3,834 adults 25 and over counted in the 2019–2023 ACS, roughly 1,775 — 46.3% — are building their financial lives without a four-year degree behind them.

The typical household here earns $90,082 a year. That is $11,773 below the New Jersey median. About 7.6% of residents live below the poverty line. The median home is valued at $394,800 — about 4.4× the median household income, a ratio that makes the arithmetic of a mortgage worth understanding before signing one.

Highlands by the numbers

What New Jersey teaches — and to whom

New Jersey requires a half-year of financial literacy in middle school rather than a high-school graduation course. Which means for most residents of Highlands, whatever they know about money they picked up somewhere other than a classroom.

LearnLife organises this the way the decisions actually arrive: Legal literacy — leases, contracts, employment rights and what a signature actually commits you to; Money — budgeting, credit, debt and taxes — the mechanics nobody is formally taught; Emotional regulation — the self-management that decides whether the other skills ever get used.

Where to start in Highlands

Shift from accumulating to drawing down

With a median age of 49.3, a large share of Highlands is closer to drawing on savings than building them. The skills that matter shift accordingly: sequencing withdrawals, understanding Medicare's enrolment windows, and getting beneficiary designations and a will actually filled in.

Treat income stability as a skill

Unemployment in Highlands sits at 9.6%. Where work is less certain, the practical skills are the defensive ones: what unemployment insurance actually pays and how fast, how to read a severance agreement, and which bills to triage first when income stops.

Understand what a shrinking tax base changes

Highlands has lost 6% of its population since 2020. Declining places tend to see slower home appreciation and tighter municipal budgets, which makes the buy-versus-rent calculation genuinely different here than the national advice assumes.

Questions people ask about Highlands

Do high school students in Highlands, New Jersey have to take a personal finance class?

No. New Jersey sets no statewide requirement that students complete personal finance before graduating.

How many adults in Highlands, New Jersey have a college degree?

53.7% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor's degree or higher, based on the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey. The remaining 46.3% are managing their finances without one.

What is the median household income in Highlands, New Jersey?

$90,082, per the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey.

Where can adults in Highlands, New Jersey learn personal finance?

Graduation requirements only ever reach people still in school. For adults, LearnLife covers the same ground on demand — money, legal literacy and the self-management that decides whether either gets used.

Nearby in New Jersey

• Ho-Ho-Kus
• Merchantville
• Lambertville
• Medford Lakes
• Shrewsbury
• Westville
• Magnolia
• Riverdale
• Atlantic Highlands
• Bradley Beach
• Bordentown
• Egg Harbor City

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