Finding the right home in a city as large as Houston can feel daunting. There are more than 60 districts across a nine-county metropolitan statistical area. If you’re considering homes for sale in Houston, and your family includes children in middle school or high school, finding the best high school might be a big part of your search. High-performing schools often offer unique opportunities. What’s more, choosing the optimal learning environment for your children can make a house feel more like home.
The Best High Schools in Houston, Texas: A Guide for Homebuyers
According to data from the City of Houston, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the area’s largest school district and the seventh largest nationwide. Additional independent school districts in the greater Houston area include the second-largest Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, and Fort Bend ISD, known for having some of the state’s top STEM programs. In Texas, ISDs are established as separate units from cities and counties. As a result, any one ISD may include portions of several counties.
How We Determined Houston’s Best High Schools
To explore Houston’s high-achieving high schools, our list includes data from Niche, GreatSchools and Homes.com. For this guide, we’ve selected the one high school in several ISDs that earn an A+ from Niche and a GreatSchools rating of 9 or higher. However, because they are all considered magnet or specialty schools, admission is not based on home address. All students apply and/or audition for admission to these exceptional public schools. We’ve also offered some insights into the neighborhood where each school resides.
Alief Early College High School
- Neighborhood Location: Westchase
- Address: 2811 Hayes Road
- School District: Alief Independent School District
- Enrollment: By application via lottery system preferencing underrepresented or first-generation college students
- Niche Grade: A+
- GreatSchools Rating: 10/10
Alief Early College High School focuses on special circumstances, such as being the first college-bound family member, speaking English as a second language or being at risk of not graduating high school. The school shares a campus with Houston Community College, and Alief students can begin taking college courses in their junior year. This dual enrollment helps students earn an associate degree or as many as 60 college credit hours upon graduation. Earning a 10 rating for college readiness on GreatSchools, Alief Early College High School has also won GreatSchools’ College Success Award every year since 2020. This accolade recognizes schools that facilitate college application and achievement.
Residents living near the school in Westchase in West Houston enjoy quick access to a major tollway into downtown Houston and the Westheimer Road corridor, lined with retailers, grocers and eateries. The neighborhood offers an abundance of condos and townhouses, with a median price of $180,000. The single-family home median price is $799,000. Between 2019 and 2024, the average home value has risen more than $100,000.
Carnegie Vanguard High School
- Neighborhood Location: Midtown
- Address: 1501 Taft Street
- School District: Houston Independent School District
- Enrollment: By application via lottery system for students designated gifted and talented
- Niche Grade: A+
- GreatSchools Rating: 10/10
In 2024, Carnegie Vanguard High School earned a Niche ranking as the fourth-best public high school in Texas. CVHS is the only Vanguard high in the Houston Independent School District, which means it exclusively serves students identified as gifted and talented. Students that don’t win CVHS attendance via lottery will be offered gifted and talented services within their zoned high school. For the 2023-2024 school year, CVHS received more applications for enrollment than any other high school in the Houston Independent School District.
Although you can live anywhere within the district and apply to Carnegie Vanguard High School, residents living nearest the school in Midtown can easily walk on sidewalks to school, and across Genesee Street to a host of recreation amenities in Wiley Park. As one of Houston’s original neighborhoods, Midtown is only a mile from downtown and is filled with dining options from food trucks to fine dining to a popular beer garden with outdoor entertainment. The median home price for townhouses and single-family homes hovers around $430,000.
Debakey High School for Health Professions
- Neighborhood Location: University Place
- Address: 2545 Pressler Street
- School District: Houston Independent School District
- Enrollment: By application via lottery system for students interested in health professions
- Niche grade: A+
- GreatSchools Score: 9/10
This specialized college-prep high school launched in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine in 1972. It is designed for students seeking careers in medicine and the sciences. Today, Debakey High School for Health Professions has grown from 45 students learning inside Baylor to nearly 900 students in a five-floor state-of-the-art facility providing direct access to the Texas Medical Center’s wealth of resources. One visionary Debakey student combined her passion for both medicine and orchestra to establish the Music as Medicine ensemble, which performs at hospitals and raises money to equip local kids with lessons and instruments.
Debakey High School is less than a mile walk from Rice University, named one of the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Residents living near DHSHP enjoy proximity to Houston’s lively Museum District, the Houston Zoo and the hip Rice Village shopping district, as well as quick access to Interstate 69. Single-family homes surround most of Debakey, with a median price of $1.2 million.
Kerr High School
- Neighborhood Location: Alief
- Address: 8150 Howell Sugar Land Road
- School District: Alief Independent School District
- Enrollment: By application via lottery system
- Niche grade: A+
- GreatSchools Score: 9/10
Kerr High School was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School, with academic centers that are designed to encourage independent work through project-based learning and group labs. Students work at a personalized pace and can choose when and where to study, which helps foster self-management. Coursework follows a college structure, with four classes each semester, rather than eight year-round. Additionally, dual enrollment courses at Kerr equip students with college credits upon graduation.
Known as one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Southwest Houston, Alief is rich in multicultural markets and community parks, including the Alief community garden, which features the Alief Art House alternative art space. Every year, Alief public school students enter floats in the Alief International Parade, followed by “Taste of Alief” at Crump Stadium, celebrating Alief’s tapestry of food and music. Condominium and townhouse communities share the neighborhood with single-family homes. The median townhouse price is $154,000, while the median price for a single-family home is around $250,000.
Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
- Neighborhood Location: Downtown Houston
- Address: 790 Austin Street
- School District: Houston Independent School District
- Enrollment: by application and audition demonstrating outstanding ability in writing, music, theater or visual arts
- Niche grade: A+
- GreatSchools Score: 9/10
In the heart of Downtown Houston, between the Central Business and Houston Skyline districts, Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts focuses on helping students pursue careers in the arts. Students in all programs participate in a calendar of performances including dance recitals, gallery shows, stage readings and even lunchtime concerts in the 12-acre Discovery Green, an urban oasis for relaxation and recreation. Niche ranks it the second-best Texas high school for the arts, and famed attendees include Beyoncé, “Grey’s Anatomy” star Chandra Wilson and Broadway actress Samantha Williams.
Residents of Downtown Houston have easy access to the 17-block Theater District with professional resident companies in ballet, symphony, opera and theater. A network of underground tunnels affords pedestrian access to employers, restaurants and specialty shops across nearly 100 blocks. Residential options include mid- and high-rise condominiums with a median price of $329,000.
Clear Horizons Early College High School
- Neighborhood Location: Southbelt-Ellington
- Address: 13735 Beamer Road
- School District: Clear Creek Independent School District
- Enrollment: by application via lottery system for students living within the Clear Creek Independent School District boundary
- Niche grade: A+
- GreatSchools Score: 9/10
Built in 2007 on the campus of San Jacinto College, Clear Horizons Early College High School specializes in rigorous real-world experience for students who want to accelerate high school graduation or are not likely to attend college. Students can earn up to 60 college credit hours or an associate degree and are required to participate in volunteer service and internships.
Within the Southbelt-Ellington neighborhood surrounding Clear Horizons, many homes are adjacent to or within a quick drive of the Pasadena Municipal golf course, Ellington Airport and the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. Residential options are primarily single-family homes, ranging from established midcentury ranch-styles to two-story new-construction homes in contemporary subdivisions. The median single-family home price is $295,000.
How to Find Houston Area High Schools in Your Zone that Don’t Require Application
Parents should be aware that not all high schools in the Houston area require an application for admission granted by a lottery system. To find schools with the best ratings in your zone, you can search for schools in Houston to view Niche and GreatSchools ratings for the district serving your neighborhood. From here, you can filter by grade level, school type and school rating.
To find the school district for your next home, you can also view Houston neighborhoods. Each page includes Niche and GreatSchools ratings for the high school, middle school and elementary school for that area.
Houston residents can also contact their district for a list of specialized and school choice programs such as STEM, fine arts or Career and Technical Education centers. Houston’s largest district, HISD, has a school choice site that explains the application process.
Higher Education Options in Houston
Houston is convenient to multiple institutions for higher education. If you are considering community college, several campuses of area community college systems are close by, including:
Houston Community Colleges
- Houston Community College Central Campus in Midtown
- Lone Star College-Houston North Victory in Greater Inwood
- San Jacinto Community College South in Southbelt-Ellington
Additional campuses within these systems serve different parts of greater Houston.
Houston Public Universities
High school graduates can also consider Houston area public universities such as Texas Southern University and the University of Houston, which are both in the Third Ward neighborhood.
Houston Private Universities
Private universities convenient to Houston include:
- Baylor College of Medicine in Medical Center
- Rice University in University Place
- Houston Christian University in Sharpstown
- University of Saint Thomas in Montrose
Lia Girard is a seasoned writer, editor, marketer and voiceover artist whose career includes co-owning an advertising shop, authoring a nonfiction book and serving as primary editor for a team of more than 40 content creators for an online lifestyle platform. Her writing has appeared in dozens of media and corporate publications. She studied mass communications at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she earned the Outstanding Advertising student award, and currently lives in the Fan District of Richmond, Virginia.
