Investing in Highlands County, FL Real Estate: The Actual Numbers

Considering rental property in Highlands County, FL? The typical home ($235,940, Zillow) against typical rent ($1,490/mo, Zillow Observed Rent Index) works out to a 7.6% gross cap rate. Gross is where analysis starts, not ends — below is the investor cost stack that turns it into a real number, and the demand-and-supply data that decides whether the rent holds.

Highlands County yield at a glance

The investor cost stack, worked

Start with $17,880 of gross annual rent. Property tax: investors get NO homestead exemption and no 3% cap — at Highlands County’s typical 16.70 mills on a $235,940 assessment, roughly $3,939 a year (non-homestead assessments can still rise up to 10% annually). Insurance: Citizens averages about $1,753/yr here, and landlord (DP-3) policies typically price above owner-occupied. That already takes the yield to about 5.17% before vacancy, maintenance, management and any HOA — the line items that separate real operators from spreadsheet optimists.

Will the rent hold? Demand and supply

Rent growth here is running +0.6% (Zillow index). On demand, IRS migration data shows a net 1,558 people per year into the county; on supply, builders pulled 768 residential permits in 2025. Rising rents plus positive migration plus a restrained pipeline is the configuration that protects yields; the reverse erodes them. Our valuation model currently reads the county as undervalued by 13.8% versus income-and-rent fundamentals.

Where investors actually buy here

Community-level medians, days on market and price trends for every tracked Highlands County community are on the county’s community and lifestyle pages — start with the county rent page (full rent-versus-own math).

The Highlands County market, in context

Highlands County is Sebring — the racing-and-lakes seat of Florida's inland Heartland — plus Avon Park and Lake Placid. It is a rural, very affordable, retiree-and-agriculture county on the Lake Wales Ridge, known for the Sebring International Raceway and a chain of clear lakes.

The economy behind the market: {'drivers': 'agriculture (citrus and cattle), healthcare, retirement services, and tourism (motorsports)', 'summary': "Highlands County's economy rests on a deep agricultural base — citrus, cattle, and the Lykes Brothers ranching operations among the region's largest — plus healthcare (AdventHealth Sebring and HCA), retirement services, and the tourism around Sebring International Raceway, the historic home of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Energy infrastructure (Gulfstream Natural Gas) and the county's government and schools round it out.", 'employers': ['School Board of Highlands County', 'AdventHealth Sebring', 'HCA Florida Highlands Hospital', 'Lykes Brothers (agriculture)', 'Sebring Airport Authority / Sebring International Raceway', 'Highlands County government', 'Gulfstream Natural Gas'], 'jobNote': 'Sebring International Raceway, home of the 12 Hours of Sebring, is a signature local employer and tourism draw; agriculture (Lykes Brothers citrus and cattle) anchors the rural economy.'}

What could change it: Highlands' risks are rural-Florida ones: an economy heavily tied to agriculture and retirees, lake-and-low-lying flooding, and limited job diversity. It is well inland, so hurricane risk is wind-and-rain rather than surge, and insurance is among the more moderate in the state. Appreciation tends to be slow and steady.

Near-term outlook: Expect Highlands to stay an affordable, value-driven market over the next 12 months, with steady retiree-and-seasonal demand, slow price movement, and the lakes and the raceway as enduring draws.

Run the numbers in Highlands County

• Find the best agent in Highlands County
• Get a cash offer in Highlands County
• Highlands County housing scorecard
• What would selling net you
• Buyer closing costs calculator

Common questions

Figures from Zillow research series, Zillow Observed Rent Index, verified county millage, Citizens Property Insurance, IRS SOI migration and Census permits, as of 2026-06-16; deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Informational only - not investment, tax or legal advice. Equal Housing Opportunity.