Best School Districts in DFW 2026: Ranked, With Prices

Thirteen DFW districts with at least 3,000 students earned an A on the state's 2026 report card. Highland Park ISD scored the highest at 95.

Next came Lovejoy ISD at 94. Then Coppell ISD and Carroll ISD, both at 93.

But home prices in those thirteen districts are not close to the same. In May 2026 the middle home price was $405,000 in Wylie and $1,368,500 in Southlake.

Both are A-rated. A rating also will not tell you which district your address is in.

Boundaries move often. Always verify current boundaries with the district before you buy.

How does Texas actually rate school districts?

The Texas Education Agency, or TEA, gives every district a letter grade from A to F. The grade is based on test scores, student growth, and how well the district serves all its students.

This grade is called the accountability rating. It comes out once a year.

The 2026 grades came out on August 14, 2026.

The grade looks at more than one test score. It also looks at how much students improve during the year.

Not just where they end up.

One district can cover very different neighborhoods. It still gets one grade.

So a district can have an A school and a lower-rated school at the same time.

You can look up any district or campus yourself at TXSchools.gov, the TEA's official lookup.

Which DFW school districts rank highest?

Thirteen DFW-area districts with at least 3,000 students earned an A on the 2026 ratings. Highland Park ISD scored highest at 95.

Smaller districts earned an A too, including Sunnyvale ISD at 94 and Brock ISD at 91. This ranking covers districts with at least 3,000 students.

Here is how they rank by their 2026 overall score, with the median sale price in the district's main city.

The prices below are city prices, not district prices. Most districts do not match city limits exactly.

So read the price as a rough guide to the area, not as the district line.

Ratings also change from year to year. A district that ranks high one year may not rank as high the next.

Do you have to pay a premium for an A-rated district?

No. The A-rated districts span a very wide price range.

Wylie ISD scored a 92. That ties Argyle ISD and Aledo ISD.

The middle home price in Wylie was $405,000 in May 2026.

Allen ISD scored a 90. The middle price in Allen was $511,495 in May 2026.

Rockwall ISD scored a 91. The middle price there was $499,999 in May 2026.

At the other end, the May 2026 middle price was $1,368,500 in Southlake and $2,720,000 in Highland Park. Both are top-scoring districts.

So price and rating do not track each other. Several districts scoring 90 or better sit in cities where the middle home price was under $700,000.

Prices also range widely inside one district. Look at your own neighborhood, not the city average.

Does a higher-rated district always mean a better fit?

Not always. It depends on what matters most to you.

The rating measures how students score and how much they improve. It does not measure school size, sports and clubs, your drive to work, or your monthly payment.

District size ranges widely. Frisco ISD had 62,627 students in the 2026 rating year.

Lovejoy ISD had 3,841.

Not all of them are growing. Some of these districts have flat or falling student counts, and some have closed or combined campuses.

Check the district's own board pages before you assume it is growing.

The rating is one number. The right district depends on what matters most to you.

How do I find the exact school district for a specific address?

Look up the address directly with the district. School boundaries change often, and a map you find online may be out of date.

Step 1. Start with the district's own boundary lookup tool.

Most districts post an address lookup on their website. Type in the address.

It gives you the assigned elementary, middle, and high school. Examples: Frisco ISD's attendance zones, Carroll ISD's enrollment and zone maps, and Grapevine-Colleyville ISD's attendance area maps.

Step 2. Confirm the campus, not just the district.

One district can hold several elementary zones. Each can have a different rating.

The district name alone is not enough if the campus matters to you.

Step 3. Check the TEA rating for that exact campus.

The district grade is an average. Look up the single school's grade at TXSchools.gov instead.

Step 4. Verify current boundaries with the district before you make an offer.

Boundaries move as districts grow and rezone. A home that fed one school last year may not feed it this year.

Always verify current boundaries with the district. This matters most in fast-growing towns.

The numbers

Ratings and enrollment: Texas Education Agency, 2026 accountability ratings, released August 14, 2026. Prices: Redfin Data Center city data for May 2026, the most recent month published.

Two cautions on the price column. City limits and district boundaries are not the same line, so the price describes the main city, not the district. And in the smaller cities the monthly sale counts are low, so a single month's median can move a lot. Highland Park ISD also serves University Park, where the May 2026 median was $3,220,000 across 15 sales.

There are two unrelated districts named Highland Park ISD and two named Wylie ISD in Texas. The ones above are the Dallas County and Collin County districts.

Keep reading

• Celina ISD vs Prosper ISD: compare size, ratings, zones
• Best school districts near Fort Worth: a buyer's guide
• Plano vs Frisco: which city is right for you?
• Fort Worth-area neighborhoods with top-rated schools

Have questions about which school district fits a specific home you're looking at? Talk to the team and we'll walk through it with you.