A multimillion-dollar home may come with sweeping views and lavish amenities — but a top public school rating isn’t necessarily part of the package.
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rating → come → package
The New York-Newark-Jersey City metro ranks ninth among the most expensive luxury housing markets tracked in Realtor.com’s September luxury housing report, with the priciest 10% of listings starting at $2.62 million.
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% → rank → million
Yet public elementary schools assigned to those properties average 6.7 out of 10 on GreatSchools, placing the metro among the bottom 10 of the 43 markets studied.
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schools → assign → markets
The findings suggest that buying at the top of a housing market doesn’t necessarily mean getting a public elementary school rated among its state’s best.
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school → suggest → state
GreatSchools ratings compare schools with others in the same state, rather than using a single nationwide academic benchmark.
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ratings → compare → benchmark
According to GreatSchools’ published methodology, ratings reflect state test results and academic progress relative to other schools in the same state.
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ratings → accord → state
Realtor.com averaged the overall ratings of public elementary schools assigned to luxury listings in each metro.
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Realtor.com → average → metro
The New York result covers the broader metropolitan area, including communities in New Jersey.
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result → cover → Jersey
Realtor.com examined markets that averaged at least 500 million-dollar listings over the previous 12 months.
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that → examine → months
Within each metro, it defined luxury homes as September listings priced at or above the local 90th percentile.
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it → define → percentile
Each property received the average GreatSchools rating of its assigned public elementary schools.
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property → receive → schools
Those property-level scores were then averaged across the market, excluding homes without an assigned school rating.
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scores → average → rating
Naples-Marco Island, Florida, led with an average school rating of 9.3.
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Island → lead → 9.3
Its luxury listings started at $3.69 million, making it the third-most-expensive market in the analysis.
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it → start → analysis
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, also in Florida, followed with a 9.1 average and a $2.87 million luxury threshold.
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Destin → follow → average
Closer to New York, Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, Connecticut, ranked third for school ratings at 8.5, with luxury listings starting at approximately $3.6 million.
But some markets with substantially lower luxury price thresholds also stood out.
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markets → rank → thresholds
Jacksonville, Florida, ranked 11th for school ratings, averaging 7.8, despite a luxury entry point of $900,388.
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Jacksonville → rank → 900,388
San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas, placed 15th with a 7.4 average and a threshold of $780,487.
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Antonio → place → 780,487
“Some really affordable areas really popped out here in the top 15,” Smith said.
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Smith → pop → top
Their placement indicates that schools assigned to luxury listings can rate highly against their state peers even in markets where the top tier of housing costs considerably less.
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tier → indicate → less
At the other end, Kahului-Wailuku, Hawaii, had the second-highest luxury threshold, at $3.79 million, but the lowest average school rating, at 5.0.
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Wailuku → have → 5.0
Urban Honolulu followed with a 5.7 average.
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Honolulu → follow → average
The analysis also excludes private schools, school-choice programs and lottery-based admissions, capturing only part of the educational picture families may consider when purchasing a home.
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families → exclude → home
School ratings are often a starting point for buyers, but other priorities can carry more weight, said Seth Keslow, an associate real estate broker with Compass’ Keslow Hurwitz Team in Westchester.
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Keslow → carry → Westchester
“Most of my clients rely on their online searches to obtain general school ratings,” he told The Post.
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he → rely → Post
He added that a home’s location within a town and proximity to work or loved ones can matter more than its school district.
“In any event, the definition of a ‘great school’ varies from person to person,” Keslow said, adding that online ratings are “usually a starting point but not always an ending point.”
Strong school ratings weren’t a shield against falling luxury asking prices, either.
Despite its third-place school rating, Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury’s luxury threshold fell 15.6% from a year earlier — the steepest decline among the 10 most expensive markets.
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threshold → add → markets
New York’s threshold dropped 11.3% annually, although it rose 1.1% from August.
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it → drop → August
Nationally, the luxury entry point fell 3.6% to $1.199 million marking the 30th consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
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point → fall → declines
The threshold now sits 14.1% below its May 2023 peak.
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threshold → sit → peak
Those figures measure listing prices rather than completed sale prices — and, like the school ratings, offer buyers one piece of a much larger decision.
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figures → measure → decision
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