Highland highlight
Growing Inland Empire community
Highland is part of the Inland Empire, a region of roughly 4.6 million people that grew by 375,000 between 2010 and 2020.
The Inland Empire spans San Bernardino and Riverside counties in the region east of Los Angeles and Orange counties. This region encompasses more than 27,000 square miles—larger than West Virginia—and has become one of the nation's largest metropolitan areas. Originally a citrus-farming hub, the Inland Empire transformed after World War II when developers replaced agricultural land with residential and commercial neighborhoods.
Highland is centrally located within this expanding region, approximately 65 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and 50 miles west of Palm Springs. The city was founded in 1857 and incorporated as a California municipality on November 24, 1987. Between 2010 and 2020, the Inland Empire added 375,000 residents, a 9 percent increase, making it one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the nation.
Rapid regional growth brings new neighborhoods, infrastructure, and opportunity for families building lives in the Inland Empire. It also means careful financial planning: families moving to growing communities often take on mortgages and long-term commitments, and term life insurance sized to those obligations protects the people who depend on that income if something unexpected happens.