County Maps US

Highland County, Virginia

The least populous of Virginia's 133 counties and independent cities.

CountyFIPS 51091

Within Virginia
Highland County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Monterey, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
2,318
+76 (+3.4%) since 2020
Land area
415.2
square miles. A further 0.2% of the total area is water
Population density
5.6
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Monterey
Seat of county government.
Established
1847
178 years ago
Largest city
Monterey town
Population 162.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Highland County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Highland County, Virginia from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 769 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Highland County ranks

Position among the 133 counties and independent cities of Virginia, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn VirginiaNationally
Population2,318133rd of 1333,018th of 3,144
Land area415.2 sq mi42nd of 1332,435th of 3,144
Population density5.6 per sq mi133rd of 1332,742nd of 3,144
Median household income$65,62575th of 1331,576th of 3,143

Full data for Highland County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population2,318Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 20202,242Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?2,234Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area415.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area0.69 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area415.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?5.6 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$65,625American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$200,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age56.5American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households1,003American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units1,864American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-16
14 births, 30 deaths
Net migration
-2
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 4 areas bordering Highland County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Pocahontas CountyWest Virginia32 mi7,602
Augusta CountyVirginia27 mi78,940
Pendleton CountyWest Virginia24 mi5,826
Bath CountyVirginia17 mi4,076

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 133 counties and independent cities of Virginia

Open the interactive Virginia county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.