High-End Homebuyers Are Flocking to Areas With Top-Rated Public Schools—Here’s Where

There are many reasons that luxury-home buyers choose a location—everything from jobs to family to weather. But a high-quality public school system has always been a factor that lures wealthy families to an area.

"A highly rated public school district carries real value for a home and attracts buyers to pay a premium," says Anthony Smith, senior economic analyst with Realtor.com®. "It can broaden the pool of interested buyers, and it often supports pricing when a home eventually sells."

In Smith's latest luxury market report, he evaluates how elementary school quality lines up with luxury across its curated list of luxury markets.

The report highlights the metro areas that averaged at least 500 million-dollar listings over the past 12 month. It defines luxury homes as those listed for sale in September 2026 at or above the metro's 90th percentile (top 10%) price.

Each luxury home was scored using the average rating of its assigned public elementary schools from GreatSchools.org, and those scores were averaged across all luxury homes in the market.

"Many luxury buyers also weigh private school options, and a meaningful share may put significant funds toward elite private schools regardless of where a home is assigned," says Smith. "Public school ratings are just one lens on how school quality lines up with luxury."

But, especially for those considering resale value or just wanting to save thousands of dollars a year, a solid public school system will never be a negative. While strong schools can certainly help keep home prices afloat, it is only one of many factors that determine pricing.

For instance, No. 3-ranked Bridgeport, CT, "shows that strong schools don't prevent price softness," explains Smith. "Its luxury homes' average school rating is 8.5/10, third in the luxury list. But its luxury threshold is down 15.6% from a year ago, the steepest annual decline among the 10 most expensive markets."

Paying for class: Luxury markets with the best elementary schools

Ranked No. 1 on the list, with an average 9.3 (out of 10) elementary school rating for its active luxury home listings, is Naples-Marco Island, FL.

The metro is an established luxury haven along the Sunshine State's southwest coastline, with an entry threshold of $3,692,892 and a 33.0% share of active million-dollar-plus listings.

Florida takes up three of the top four spots, with Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin ranked No. 2 with a luxury threshold of $2,865,779 and a 9.1 average rating. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota ranked No. 4 with a luxe entry point of $1,775,086 and an 8.4 rating.

Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT, comes in at No. 3 with a $3,597,500 luxe entry point and an 8.5 rating. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, rounds out the top 5 with a $3,349,600 entry point and a rating of 8.4.

"School quality is an important factor, but it's not everything," says Smith. "Because these ratings cover public schools only, they capture one part of the picture, and buyers at this level may weigh private options as well.

"As luxury prices continue to drift lower nationally, school quality is one of several local factors that can separate markets from one another, and it is not a reliable predictor of how a market is performing on price."

Nor do high home prices guarantee great schools. Kahului-Wailuku, HI, has the lowest average elementary rating on the list at 5.0, roughly in line with the state average, yet the second-highest luxury price threshold at $3,789,000.

Rounding out the top 10 are: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (8.1); Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH (7.9); Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL (7.9); San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA (7.9); and Boise City, ID (7.8).

On Marco Island, older properties and lots sell for millions so buyers can build their dream homes overlooking the canals. (Chris Massa Designs)

No. 1: Naples-Marco Island, FL

The metro's 9.3 average elementary school rating is the highest for the luxury level on the list.

While luxe entry levels drifted lower nationwide, to a median of $1,199,321, down 3.6% year over year, only two markets in the top 10—Naples-Marco Island, FL, and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL—posted annual luxury gains.

Naples-Marco gained far more than Destin: 8.9% year over year, versus 2.4%.

Homes here move slowly, with a median days on the market of 127, the second-longest in the top five, behind only North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota with 135, which is the longest in the top 15.

However, homes in the Naples-Marco Island region are moving a median 32 days faster than they were last year.

Exclusive Marco Island is a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico with miles of unspoiled shoreline and human-made canals, island estuaries, and myriad opportunities for snorkeling and fishing.

Eighteen miles south of Naples, the island is a short drive to the Everglades and the only developed isle of the Sunshine's State's "Ten Thousand Islands."

In September 2026, there were 69 closings on here, versus only 30 in the same month in 2024, according to the Marco Island Area Multiple Listing Service.

And where you are on the island means significant price differentials: Beachfront homes start at a whopping $11,500,000, while inland houses start at a relative bargain rate of $700,000.

The 24-square-mile island has only one elementary school: Tommie Barfield, which is pre-kindergarten through 5th grade.

The highly rated elementary school "has drawn buyers here," confirms Jim Prange of Premier Sotheby's International Realty, who has lived on Marco Island since the 1980. His four children, now adults, came up through the small enclave's elementary school.

Prange says that he used to be on the scholarship committee for the Rotary Club and saw many "successful kids coming out of Marco," which he attributes to "the upbringing they had from Tommie Barfield.

"An all-around amazing school," he says. "Always had a really high standard."

Marco Island, FL, real estate agent Jim Prange has been selling real estate for 50 years. All four of his children went to school on the isle. (Courtesy of Jim Prange)

He says the school is a prime reason—besides the island's obvious attributes such as the pristine beaches and plentiful marinas—that families choose to migrate there.

"It's amazing the young families, especially since COVID, that we've attracted," he says.

The broker tells of one family—farmers from the Midwest—who had kids in grade school and decided to make Marco Island their permanent home, in large part due to the schools.

Prange hands out marketing materials to potential buyers about the schools—the island's middle and high schools are also highly rated. "We try to brag about it," he says.

According to the elementary school's website, half of its teachers have earned advanced degrees. The school also boasts a "new turf field, expansive playgrounds, and multiple hard courts ... for student games and activities."

There are also small groups where kids have opportunities to learn chess, crocheting, violin, and even foreign languages.

To keep little minds focused, smart watches and cellphones must be turned off and in backpacks during school hours, and soda and energy drinks are not allowed in lunch boxes.

"They have good parent participation and good volunteer services," Prange says of the school. "They have people to walk kids to the after-school programs at the YMCA."

The broker, who recently sold the island's most expensive home for the year at $12 million, currently represents a five-bedroom, five-bath house built in 1982. It will likely be a teardown despite it's hefty $6 million price tag, or $1,479 per square foot, he adds.

"It's the lack of inventory," he says of upwinds on prices. "Typically, on Marco, you have 800 to 1,000 units for sale. There's less than 400 properties for sale right now, and only about 40 lots."

Realtor.com data backs up that slim inventory: In the Naples-Marco Island metro, there is an average of 2,100 listings at a million dollars or above. But this is a shrinkage of 15.6% from a year ago.

Adds the broker: "They're not making any more island."