Are you a parent looking for the best school districts in Austin to set your kids up for future success? Our team of education experts reviewed all of the top school districts in the greater Austin area to pick the best of the best.

Our staff reviewed each school district to determine which is truly the best. Our rating system includes things like graduation rate, student-teacher ratio, extracurricular activities, college readiness, academic performance, and state test scores!

School DistrictOur RatingLocation
Eanes Independent School District10/10West Austin
Leander Independent School District10/10West of Round Rock
Lake Travis Independent School District9.5/10Southwest Travis County
Dripping Springs Independent School District9/10West of Austin
Liberty Hill Independent School District9/10Near Georgetown
Austin Independent School District9/10Downtown Austin
Round Rock Independent School District9/10Roundrock

Keep reading to learn more about our top picks

The best school districts in Austin TX

Eanes Independent School District

Eanes ISD is one of the top rated public school districts in the Austin area. It has a little more than 8,000 enrolled students spread out across 6 elementary, 2 middle schools, 1 high school – all of which received an Exemplary from, the State of Texas.

Leander Independent School District

Leander ISD is located in Leander, TX and has 43 schools for more than 39,000 students. Dr. Bruce Gearing is ‘Leading to a Bright Future’ – and we like the District because of the high academic standards and extra curricular activities.

Lake Travis Independent School District

Lake Travis ISD is located in Southwest Travis County and home to about 10,000 students. The Superintendent is Paul Norton and the district has received an “Exemplary” rating from the TEA.

Dripping Springs Independent School District

Dripping Springs ISD is located West of Austin down 290. It is home to about 7,200 students with 7 schools, including Dripping Springs High School for grades 9–12.

Liberty Hill Independent School District

Liberty Hill ISD is a 5A District (meaning it is one of the largest in the state) that has been recognized by the TEA with roughly 5,000 currently enrolled students.

Austin Independent School District

Austin ISD is located in the City of Austin, plus a few surrounding towns. With over 80,000 students and 5,000+ teachers it is one of the largest districts in the state with 129 open school campuses in 2021.

Round Rock Independent School District

Round Rock ISD serves the 51,000+ students of Round Rock, which is located just North of Austin. It has high academic standards and good extra curricular activities at all school levels.

How We Picked

Looking for more information about our rating system. Here are the factors that helped us pick the top public and private schools in Central Texas.

  • Location – If it is not close to Austin, it does not count! All school districts on this list are within 1 hour of downtown Austin
  • State test scores – Test scores are not everything, but they give a good idea of the academic standards in a school district
  • Extracurricular activities – Having fun outside the classroom is key to healthy child development and an important ranking factor in our formula
  • Public sentiment – What people think of your school district matters, it means access to better colleges and higher property values

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