Austin-Area Renters Pay Through the Nose to Live Near Best Schools

Austin-area renters are willing to pay a hefty price to live near some of Texas’ best elementary schools.

In the Austin area, renters living in desirable school districts pay an average of $365 more a month than those near struggling schools; this adds up to a difference of $4,380 a year.

The average Austin rent near an A-rated school is $1,303, which is 38 percent higher than the cost of living near an F-rates school, the American-Statesman reported.

The recent study by RENTCafe found Texas renters pay as much as 50 percent higher rents to live near top-rates schools. Rents around Austin’s best elementary schools were the highest out of Texas’ six largest cities.

The analysis included schools in the Austin school district as well as the “Del Valle, Eanes, Lake Travis, Leander, Manor, Pflugerville and Round Rock districts,” the American-Statesman reported.

These skyrocketing rents could price out families living there, potentially scattering community members and changing the socioeconomic makeup of schools, Kazique Prince, an aide to Austin Mayor Steve Adler, told the American-Statesman.

The study compared the rents within a one-mile radius of A-rated and F-rates schools in the Austin area as listed by Children at Risk, a non-profit research and advocacy organization.

The researchers noted only buildings with 50 or more rental units were taken into account. Prince told the American-Statesman another limitation to the analysis is that the area around Pecan Springs Elementary (a failing school) is listed as having an average nearby rent of $790 a month, but actual rents around the school are much higher.