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What came first: the increased price of homes, or the higher rated school districts? A Realtor.com report sheds light on the higher-price/higher-education rumors.
Javier Vivas, manager of economic research for Realtor.com, published a report that shows homes within the boundaries of highly rated public school districts are 49 percent more expensive on average than the national median list price of $269,000. Furthermore, he found that that those same homes are 77 percent more expensive than homes within the boundaries of lower rated schools.
The schools are rated based on data from GreatSchools.org. The homes are picked based on 2016 listings inside the boundaries of a school that has received either a nine or a 10 rating from GreatSchools.org’s 10-point scale.
Out of the 872 schools used in the data pool — schools rated 8.5 or higher by GreatSchools.org — only 81 received a 10-point rating.
San Francisco
There are four school districts rated an 8.8 and higher in Contra Costa County, where median home list price exceeds $618,000 and tops out at $1,629,000. Median list price in the county is $540,000.
Alameda County only had two school districts that made the pool, with Dublin and Pleasanton Unified school districts ranking 8.9 and 9, respectively. Median list price in Alameda is $749,000, but the median list for homes in Pleasanton ($950,000) is $100,000 more than those in Dublin ($800,000).
Marin County will hold relatively expensive home prices no matter the school district, but those in the Reed Union Elementary School District, which holds a 10 rating, have a median list price of $3.175 million — more than $1 million higher than second place Tamalpais Union High School District, which holds a school rating of 9.5 and median list price of $2.088 million.
Houston
Harris County has two school districts in the pool, rated 8.6 and 8.7, respectively. Median list prices in Tomball Independent School District are $50,000 above the $280,000 county median, at $330,000, but homes in Clear Creek Independent School District are actually $15,000 below it.
Chicago
Just north of downtown Chicago is Lake County, which offers 18 school districts rated 8.6 or higher. Lake County’s median list price is $325,000 — a low middle ground from the $297,000 to $1,275,000 variance in median list prices in the high rated districts.
Cook County has 29 school districts rated 8.5 or higher. The countywide median list price is $266,000, but there are districts where homes are listed for upwards of 600 percent higher than the county median.
Los Angeles
Beverly Hills Unified School District is the most expensive school district in not just the county, but the country as well, with a school rating of 9.1. There are neighborhoods in Los Angeles County with better schools, though, and cheaper homes.
Homes in Beverly Hills Unified School District have a median list price of $3.785 million. Median list price in Los Angeles County is $550,000.
Several other top-rated districts in L.A. County see homes with a median list price in the million-plus category.
Orange County features five districts in the pool, as well. The median list price for homes in this county do not exceed the median list of of $730,000 by more than 123 percent — a relatively low amount given the spreads in other parts of the country.
Consequently, nine of the top ten schools with the highest median list price are all located in California: Los Angeles, San Diego, Marin, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties all have top rated schools and expensive homes.
Maryland
Calvert and Worcester counties are the only two counties in Maryland offering schools rated 8.5 or above. Homes in both of the respective districts share median list price with the rest of the county: $339,000 and $285,000.
