Table of Content
- Is Living Near a School Really Worth the Increase in Home Value?
- Buyers agree
- What’s the Relationship Between Public School Ratings and Property Values?
- Pro: Your children can walk to school
- Sample Property
- Same street, similar properties, different values
- On the flip side, lower property taxes can be a plus
Safety is a priority for schools, and many schools have daily police patrols and tight security measures to keep their campuses secure. This can be an added benefit for home buyers looking for a safe community. While the findings may be good news for homeowners living near good schools, they also illustrate how less affluent families can be locked out of good schools, unable to live near enough to get their children a place.

Things like the quality of public transit or ease of access to shopping and entertainment are often better in larger cities. However, if you live in a city that is prone to floods, fires, or other natural disasters, your home values might suffer a bit, even if it’s a popular location. We consistently hear from real estate agents the battle between those who have relocated for the interest of schools and those who are being priced out of their community due to taxes. Sometimes a lower-rated school district can work as a benefit to buyers, such as retirees, land investors, or farmers — all people who like to keep expenses low, he adds. “Usually, the better the school district, the higher the property tax rate,” says Spurgeon. As a homeowner, you’d like to know about all of the factors that impact your property value — and your school district is a big one.
Is Living Near a School Really Worth the Increase in Home Value?
For those working-class families relocating with schools as a high consideration; this is not an issue. However, what can become problematic are those who have lived in the community who no longer consider schools to be a benefit. This survey conducted by Realtor.com gathered data from 1,000 participants. The survey showed that a whopping 91 percent of respondents included school boundaries in their decision-making process for choosing a home. “A low-scoring public school can decrease the availability of amenities in the area and increase the proportion of renters to homeowners,” Nimkoff says. In the Los Angeles metropolitan area, for example, this means that homes in a top-tier school district cost an average of 79% more than those in an average district.
Some buyers are planning on starting a family or already have children. Towns with top-rated school systems weathered the real estate slump from 2006 to 2012 much better than those towns that did not have highly rated schools. Looking at home prices in 2006 and then 2009, he found that those homes with great schools nearby tended to weather the falling real estate market much better than those with only mediocre schools nearby. Many home buyers are willing to pay more for good schools and are even willing to trade bigger and better homes to access quality school systems. There is no denying that the quality of nearby schools can impact the price of a home.
Buyers agree
Hopefully this will change over time, but for now, racial disparities are affecting your property value. As a prime example of this phenomenon, homes that are located in a top-tier school district in Los Angeles fetch an average 79% more than homes in an average school district nearby. I am living in a neighborhood of expensive homes and they are planning to build a high school along our back property lines.
That may be related to the proximity to a high school or middle school. “Schools are typically in very safe neighborhoods with parks and local law enforcement nearby,” says de Jong. One of the biggest gripes neighbors have about living near a school is the lack of parking enforcement and inconsiderate parents parking in, or blocking, neighborhood driveways.
What’s the Relationship Between Public School Ratings and Property Values?
One might even hypothesize that the high home prices make the schools better. After all, we just discussed multiple reasons why buyers will seek out homes located in good school districts and pay a premium for them. The desire for a home in a better school district is important enough for some homebuyers to pay 6 percent to 10 percent over their budget, or even to give up a bedroom or a garage in a new home. A majority of homebuyers who said school boundaries will have an impact on their home-buying decision are willing to pay 1 percent to 10 percent above their budget to live within school boundaries. Sixty-two percent of homebuyers who said school boundaries will have an impact on their decision indicated they would do without a pool or spa and 51 percent would give up easy access to shopping.

A good buyer’s agent should have at least a general understanding of what schools are considered top-notch and less desirable. All of this information paints an interesting picture of the impact of schools on home prices. It shows that buyers care about the quality of schools – for evident and not-so-obvious reasons.
This, too, is typically a lower number than the fair market value, and it is used to figure out just how much you’ll owe in property taxes. Agents can only refer clients who ask about a state’s education system rankings so that they can see the data that would point to each of these characteristics for themselves. You can also inquire directly with you agents about what a school offers. If they don’t have money for special programs or sports and music then they are likely underfunded and may not have a good school district in the area.
Living near a good school can add up to £47,000 ($57,000) onto the price of a house, according to new analysis. Gain access to the resources you need to become a successful Realtor® in Pennsylvania. Bill Gassett is a nationally recognized Real Estate leader who has been helping people move in and out of the Metrowest Massachusetts area for the past thirty-six plus years.
Your free Realm dashboard can also show you comparable homes and their value. Naturally, since all homes have unique quirks and features, a comp can’t be the same as your home in every way, and comps can have different square footage or be in different conditions. What really matters is the proximity to your home and just how long ago it was sold. Comps can give you a realistic idea of what your home is worth in the current market. Depending on how long you’ve owned your home, the past resale value might be more or less relevant.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. Everybody is different when it comes to schools and the home buying process. Just make sure you give it a considerable amount of thought before ultimately making your final decision.
Those who plan on putting their children in private schools will most likely place less emphasis on the quality of the school district and will spend more time considering the private school itself. With that being said, those who live close to highly regarded private schools can typically command higher home values due to their close proximity to the private school. Even if your school district isn’t highly desirable, you can talk to your real estate agent about other selling points about your home or community you can frame when talking to a potential buyer. A report from NPR found that a budget for a typical school boosts a community’s funding and nets the school a 45% boost in funds, mostly drawn from property taxes.
This is primarily because new schools typically require additional construction projects while school is in session, which is distracting to students. However, after all construction is complete and students are no longer being disrupted, the study found that student test scores went back to what they were prior to construction. The students also seemed to benefit from the improvements made to the school over the long term. The appraiser takes your home’s features, age and condition, then compares it to other similar homes in the area and what they sell for. Because your home’s value is based on the value of similar homes in the area, the local market will have a big impact on your appraisal.