David Anthony Higgins was born on December 9, 1961 in Des Moines, Iowa, one of five children of Marian Higgins (née Coppola; 1932–2011) and Harold Higgins, who was a janitor at West Des Moines schools. After receiving encouragement from a fourth grade Teacher, he won a scholarship to the Des Moines Playhouse where he performed in several summer operettas. He was raised in Des Moines and graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1980. He attended the University of Iowa where he studied liberal arts until he realized he wanted to pursue a career in entertainment.

Along with his brothers Steve and Alan, he performed in a comedy troupe, Don't Quit Your Day Job and performed at notable places including the Hotel Kirkwood. Eventually, they toured in other states including California and received such good reception that they got their own show on Comedy Central in 1989, The Higgins Boys and Gruber. After the show ended, they each started separate careers in comedy.

Higgins received his big break when cast in 1995 as outspoken barista Joe in the retooled version of the sitcom Ellen. He is perhaps most well recognized for his roles as Craig Feldspar in Malcolm in the Middle and Mr. Bitters in Big Time Rush. He also guest starred on Nickelodeon's True Jackson, VP as Dave. He appeared in 3 episodes as minor character Stan in American Horror Story: Murder House. He began recurring as Harry in season two of the CBS series Mike & Molly, and was then upgraded to a series regular in season three.

In 2000, he married Julia and they have two children, Gabe and Janie. They live in Studio City, California. Jane lives in Des Moines, IA and attends Roosevelt High School. In 2004, he was featured on a Hollywood edition of the Discovery Channel series Body Challenge where he worked with a personal trainer. He is a fan of Laurel and Hardy and Buster Keaton.