In NC, your ZIP code determines the quality of your child’s education

 It’s no secret that families carefully consider school districts when shopping for their next home; in fact there is an entire industry — companies like GreatSchools and Niche — dedicated to tracking high-performing school districts for prospective home buyers. And why? Because parents want the best education possible for their children. What many parents may not realize, however, is that the value of their home has a dramatic impact on the quality of their child’s school.

There has been nowhere near enough public analysis to unpack the correlation between school district performance and property values in North Carolina. Money does matter, and it can have a profound impact on the quality of your child’s education.

High Performing School Districts and High Property Value in NC

According to Niche, which ranks the nation’s school districts based on a comprehensive methodology, North Carolina’s top three performing school districts are the Chapel Hill-Carrboro District, Union County Public Schools and Polk County Schools — in that order. There’s no obvious pattern geographically-speaking — these top three districts are dotted across the state apparently at random. But dig a little deeper and it quickly becomes clear that there is nothing random about it.

Layer the median property value data across these same districts and a very strong correlation emerges. Out of 100 counties, Orange County, which is home to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School District, boasts the fourth highest property value in the state at $629,100; while Union comes in right behind them at fifth with $501,500 and Polk County drops towards the middle of the pack with median property values estimated at $308,300. Analyzing this same data set in our lowest performing school districts presents more alarming conclusions.

Low Performing School Districts and Low Property Value in NC

Robeson County, which is frequently cited as one of the state’s most continuously under-performing school districts, sits squarely last in median property values in NC — 100th out of 100 counties, at just $88,600.

It is no secret that state funding for public education in North Carolina is woefully inadequate. And because of the way that North Carolina schools are funded, the above correlations highlight the systemic reality of our reliance on localized school funding. 

Districts with lower property values inherently have less local property tax revenue to invest in their already low-performing schools. Meanwhile, property values in counties like Orange County and Union will remain stable (and climbing), in part due to their attractive public schools. Those schools will then continue to benefit from higher property tax revenue, in what has become a self-perpetuating cycle — with the reverse remaining true for our poorest districts.

Ongoing Inequities in Local Funding for Low and High Performing School Districts

For counties like Robeson, whose local school funding is the lowest in the state, the outlook for improving public schools is bleak — and the inequities, significant.

In fact, a 2026 report from the States Newsroom recently found that: “Orange County, the state’s highest local spender, provided $456 more per student than the combined total of the seven lowest-spending counties. Three of those seven, Vance, Hoke and Robeson, were among the original five low-wealth districts that sued the state in the landmark 1994 Leandro case.”

The Impact of State Funding of Public Education and Stabilized Property Values

Meanwhile in neighboring Georgia, which allocates a significantly greater portion of state funding to public education than North Carolina (3.84% vs 2%), we see a totally different relationship between the highest and lowest performing school districts and local property values. In fact, in the continually low-performing Clayton County school district, median property values have held steady at a formidable $216,000, higher even than those of Gwinnett County ($166,900), which is home to the top rated school district in the state. 

Could it be that Georgia’s commitment to investing more in public education has had a stabilizing effect on property values? More research would be required to find out. But the economic and educational disparities separating Georgia and North Carolina are significant enough to heed warnings.

The concerning gap between North Carolina’s wealthiest school districts and those struggling to come up with local funding has, and continues to have, a dire impact for economic outcomes and student success in our poorest counties. And it begs the question: what is our government doing to level the playing field?

It is evident from this data analysis that investing in our public school districts has a positive correlation to local property values. More state-level funding would be a good starting place for a more sustainable, and equitable, distribution of wealth and quality education in North Carolina. But the issue is real. If you can afford to live in a more expensive neighborhood, your child is most likely benefiting from a better equipped school. If something isn’t done to correct this disparity, our state’s children will never have equal access to educational opportunities.

Becca Pipitone is an independent editorial consultant, with 14 years of experience in mission-driven strategic communications. She brings expertise in shaping high-impact public narratives for national and regional nonprofits. As a former investigative journalist, she brings a deep, nuanced understanding of state and federal legislative landscapes, complex research-based reporting, and human-centered storytelling. Becca’s career in advocacy and public policy has spanned issues ranging from food insecurity, housing, and income-inequality to healthcare, education, and immigration. She earned her BA at Guilford College in 2012. She lives in North Carolina with her two children, both of whom attend public schools.