School ratings for every level — elementary, middle, and high — across Oakland neighborhoods, Berkeley, Albany, Piedmont, Alameda, Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, El Cerrito, and Kensington. Because a block can change the school. And a school can change everything.
See the full ratings table →| Area | Median Sale Price |
Elementary | Middle | High School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AlbanyAlbany City Unified | $1.59M |
Ocean View, Cornell, Marin, Harding
K–5 · typically 7–9 range
Ocean View: 2025 CA Distinguished School
|
Albany Middle8/10
6–8 · only middle school · top 10% CA
|
Albany High10/10
#76 in CA · A+ Niche · 95% grad rate
|
| AlamedaAlameda Unified | $1.62M |
Amelia Earhart Elementary10/10
K–5 · Bay Farm Island · largest elem
Edison · Frank Otis · Franklin9/10
K–5 · main island
Bay Farm School9/10
K–8 · covers elem + middle grades
William G. Paden8/10
K–5
|
Lincoln Middle9/10
6–8 · Fernside Blvd · top 5% CA
Will C. Wood Middle7/10
6–8 · Grand St
Bay Farm K–8 also covers middle grades
|
Alameda High10/10
A+ Niche · 97% grad rate · SAT avg 1310
Encinal Jr/Sr High7/10
6–12 · west end · $50M renovation 2021
|
| BerkeleyBerkeley Unified | $1.74M |
Washington10/10
K–5 · North Berkeley
Oxford · Arts Magnet9/10
Thousand Oaks · Sylvia Mendez8/10
Mendez is dual Spanish/English immersion
Cragmont · Emerson · John Muir7/10
|
Willard Middle10/10
6–8 · Stuart St
MLK Jr. · Longfellow8/10
6–8
|
Berkeley High9/10
9–12 · only public HS · #213 in CA
Lottery/integration system — zone ≠ guarantee
|
| PiedmontPiedmont Unified | $3.23M |
Havens · Wildwood9/10
K–5
Beach Elementary8/10
K–5
|
Piedmont Middle8/10
6–8 · feeds all three elementaries
|
Piedmont High9/10
A+ Niche · top 100 nationally · separate city district
|
| OrindaOrinda Union Elem. + Acalanes HS District |
$2.19M |
Del Rey · Glorietta · Sleepy Hollow · Wagner Ranch8/10
K–5 · all four Orinda Union elementaries
|
Orinda Intermediate8/10
6–8 · only middle school
|
Miramonte High10/10
#31 in CA · A+ Niche · 98% grad rate
|
| LafayetteLafayette Elem. District + Acalanes HS District |
$2.02M |
Burton Valley · Happy Valley · Springhill · Lafayette Elem.8/10
K–5
|
M.H. Stanley Middle7/10
6–8 · only middle school
|
Acalanes High10/10
#77 in CA · A+ Niche · 97% grad rate
|
| MoragaMoraga Elem. District + Acalanes HS District |
$2.00M |
Los Perales9/10
K–5
Donald Rheem · Camino Pablo8/10
K–5
|
Joaquin Moraga Intermediate9/10
6–8 · only middle school
|
Campolindo High10/10
#30 in CA · A+ Niche · 99% grad rate
|
| Neighborhood | Median Sale Price |
Elementary | Middle | High School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper RockridgeHillcrest zone | $2.25M |
Hillcrest Elementary7/10
K–8 · only K-8 in OUSD · covers both levels
|
Covered by Hillcrest K–8
or Claremont Middle 7/10 if not at Hillcrest
|
Oakland Technical8/10
A Niche · #557 in CA
|
| RockridgeChabot / Peralta zone | $2.25M |
Peralta Elementary9/10
K–5 · Lower Rockridge · oversubscribed
Chabot Elementary8/10
K–5 · Rockridge
|
Claremont Middle7/10
6–8 · College Ave at BART
|
Oakland Technical8/10
|
| Crocker HighlandsTrestle Glen area | $1.96M |
Crocker Highlands Elem.8/10
K–5 · 2025 CA Distinguished School
|
Edna Brewer Middle7/10
6–8 · 13th Ave
|
Oakland High4/10
9–12 · zoned HS
Many families pursue lottery transfer to Oakland Tech
|
| Glenview | $1.36M |
Glenview Elementary7/10
K–5 · MacArthur Blvd
|
Edna Brewer Middle7/10
6–8 · 13th Ave
|
Oakland High4/10
Many families pursue lottery transfer to Oakland Tech
|
| Montclair / Thornhill | $1.50M |
Montclair Elementary9/10
K–5 · Mountain Blvd
Thornhill Elementary8/10
K–5 · Thornhill Dr
|
Montera Middle6/10
6–8 · feeds Skyline HS
|
Skyline High6/10
B+ Niche · 45-acre hill campus
|
| Area | Median Sale Price |
Elementary | Middle | High School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El CerritoWest Contra Costa Unified | $1.29M |
Madera Elementary
K–6 · highest-rated elem in city · B+ Niche
Fairmont · Harding5/10
K–6 · most neighborhood elementaries
|
Fred T. Korematsu Middle4–5/10
7–8 · below average · #44 most diverse MS in CA
|
El Cerrito Senior High7/10
B+ Niche · 93% grad rate · SAT avg 1260
IT Academy · Media Academy · career pathways
|
| KensingtonUnincorporated · West Contra Costa Unified |
$1.80M |
Kensington Hilltop Elem.8/10
K–6 · only school in Kensington · CA Distinguished
Test score rating: 10/10 — overall pulled down by equity sub-score. Top-scoring school in all of WCCUSD. 96th percentile in CA.
|
Fred T. Korematsu Middle4–5/10
7–8 · zoned assignment
Many families pursue interdistrict transfers to Albany or Berkeley middle schools
|
El Cerrito Senior High7/10
9–12 · zoned HS for Kensington
Some families transfer to Berkeley High (9/10) via interdistrict permit
|
Every district on this map assigns students differently — and the differences matter more than the ratings do. A 9-rated school you can't get into is worth less than a 7 you're guaranteed. Here's how each one actually works.
Your address puts you in an attendance zone, and that zone gives you priority — but priority is not placement. Siblings of enrolled students are seated first, and popular schools fill. Families zoned to a lower-rated high school frequently pursue a lottery transfer, so the assigned school often isn't the destination. Buy the zone for the odds, not for the certainty.
Berkeley runs a controlled-choice system. Your address places you in one of three zones — Northwest, Central, or Southeast — and you rank your preferences among the schools in that zone. A lottery weighted for socioeconomic diversity makes the assignment. You cannot buy a specific Berkeley elementary school by buying a specific block; two identical houses across the street from each other can send their kids to different schools. Middle school follows the same three-zone logic. High school is the one certainty: every Berkeley public high school student attends Berkeley High.
Piedmont is geographically surrounded by Oakland but entirely separate from Oakland Unified — which regularly confuses buyers in both directions. Only elementary school depends on your address; Beach, Havens, and Wildwood each have their own boundary. After that, everyone attends Piedmont Middle and Piedmont High. There's no bad outcome to plan around, which is part of what the premium buys.
Alameda Unified uses neighborhood boundaries with district-wide choice programs layered on top. The part buyers miss: the island splits. Most of the main island feeds Alameda High, while the west end feeds Encinal Jr/Sr High, which serves grades 6–12. Which side of Alameda you buy on decides which pipeline you're in.
Three elementary schools — Cornell, Marin, and Ocean View — then everyone converges. Albany Middle is the district's only middle school and Albany High its only comprehensive high, so buying inside the city limits settles grades 6 through 12 entirely.
Elementary and middle assignments follow neighborhood boundaries, but there's a single comprehensive high school in the district. The 9–12 question is answered the moment you buy in the city.
Orinda, Lafayette, and Moraga each run their own K–8 elementary district. After eighth grade, students move into the Acalanes Union High School District — a separate district entirely. The mistake that costs people: assuming the city name determines the high school. Orinda addresses don't all feed Miramonte; depending on where you are, you may be assigned to Campolindo in Moraga. Walnut Creek splits further still, with part of the city feeding Las Lomas in the Acalanes district and part feeding Mt. Diablo Unified. If you're buying for a specific high school, verify the address before you write the offer.
Both are served by WCCUSD, which also covers Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole, and Hercules. Assignment is by neighborhood boundary with a transfer and choice process on top. Kensington is unincorporated — no city government — which surprises buyers who assume it's part of Berkeley or El Cerrito, and its school, service, and tax lines don't all follow the same boundaries.
The 1–10 scores on this page compare schools within California using test scores, college readiness, academic progress, and equity measures. They're useful for orientation and misleading in isolation — a school's score reflects its student population as much as its teaching, and small schools swing hard year to year. Read them alongside the assignment system above. A guaranteed 7 and a lottery 9 are not the same asset.
Patrick tracks neighborhood-level school data alongside pricing, inventory, and market dynamics across the entire East Bay.
