Texas Renters Pay 50% Higher Rents to Live Near Top Rated Schools

Is it more expensive to rent in a premier school district? Texas renters with young families know the answer to this question all too well and end up paying more on housing to ensure their children get access to the best education possible. But how much more are we talking about? And which Texas cities put the highest price tags on access to quality education?

Extra-Rent-for-Top-Schooling Premium Hits $4,500/Year in Texas

Our research shows that renters spend up to 50% more on rent to live near the top performing elementary schools in Texas’ major hubs, including Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, and El Paso.

We compared the average rent of properties located in close proximity to the highest-ranked public elementary schools in Texas (A+, A, A-) versus those situated near the lowest-ranked elementary schools (F).

While rents in all six cities are clearly pushed up by location and the school attendance zone, the San Antonio rental market in particular is red hot in this respect. If a 55% increase in rental rates doesn’t say that much to you, how does an extra $395 per month sound? This is how much more San Antonio renters shell out every month to live near an award winning public school. When translated into yearly expenses, the premium tops $4,700 on average for parents who prioritize access to top-notch education.

The average rent near Dr. David M. Copeland Elementary, for example, an F-rated facility in the Greater Dellview area of San Antonio, is $640 according to Yardi Matrix. To reap the benefits of living in an area featuring la crème de la crème of elementary education, be prepared to chip in another $431 per month. Rental homes near the A+ Vineyard Ranch Elementary in Stone Oak command an eye-popping $1,071 on average.

Regency at Lookout Canyon is the only community in Stone Oak which is zoned to the acclaimed Comal Independent School District

In Dallas, living in Lake Highlands, in the vicinity of Moss Haven Elementary School will call for $1,077/mo on average, while moving to Redbird near the Umphrey Lee Elementary will save you $439/mo.

If you’re not willing to stretch your finances that much every month, you may however choose to live in a less expensive neighborhood and still provide your children with a first-class education by enrolling them in a private school. Less on rent, more on tuition… Your choice!

Research Methodology

1. For each city, we selected top performing elementary schools (A+, A, A-) and worst performing elementary schools (F), as listed by Children at Risk, a non-profit research and advocacy organization dedicated to addressing the root causes of poor public policies affecting children . The Children at Risk ranking assesses all campuses in Texas across three indices: Student Achievement, Campus Performance, and Growth. The resulting overall composite index is then used to assign a letter grade to each campus, as follows:

• Campuses at or above the 75th percentile (indicating they rank better than at least 75% of schools at that grade level) received an “A.”
• Campuses at or above the 55th percentile, but below the 75th percentile, received a “B”.
• Campuses at or above the 35th percentile, but below the 55th percentile, received a “C”.
• Campuses at or above the 15th percentile, but below the 35th percentile, received a “D”.
• Campuses below the 15th percentile received an “F”.

At each level, “A”, “B”, and “C” grades were further differentiated into plus/minus grades based on the unique sample of scores for this year’s schools.

To see more details about the 2015 Texas Public School Rankings Methodology, click here.

2. Publicly available attendance boundary data was used (where available) to determine average rent for all schools in both categories (using Yardi Matrix Web Tools) – top performing and worst performing.

3. If attendance boundary data was not available, a 1-mile radius was used to determine the average rent.

Additional Notes

1. The value given for the average rents is a combined average of all top performing schools and a combined average of all worst performing schools.
2. The average rents are for the year of 2015.
3. We considered only apartment communities with 50+ units.

Key Takeaways

• Rents near the highest-ranked schools in Texas are 50% higher than rents near the worst performing schools
• Proximity to top quality schools will generate higher rents
• In both San Antonio and Austin, renters have to shell out more than $350 on average every month (or $4,200/year) to live near the top rated schools rather than in low-performing school areas