It is approximately 30 miles (48 km) south of Salt Lake City and is part of the Provo–Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area.

[4] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.5 square miles (22.1 km2), all land.

It was named by Scottish Mormon immigrants who felt the area resembled the highlands of Scotland.

[9] At the 2000 census, there were 8,172 people in 1,804 households, including 1,733 families, in the city.

There were 1,864 housing units at an average density of 267.8 per square mile (103.4/km2).

[3] An estimation by bestplaces.net claimed that 95.7% of the people in Highland are religious, with 93.3% being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons).