For most young families, proximity to a good school is a top priority when choosing a home, and a new report shows just how much Torontonians are willing to pay.
Real estate platform and brokerage Wahi analyzed average house prices in the third quarter of this year in neighborhoods with primary schools that achieved a score of nine or higher out of ten in the most recent year. Report card on Ontario’s elementary schools created by the Canadian think tank Fraser Institute.
About 60 public, Catholic and private elementary schools out of nearly 1,100 in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) achieved a grade of at least 9.0 in the 2022-2023 school year.
In the neighborhoods where these schools are located, Wahi found that home prices can vary significantly.
The most affordable option was the Church-Yonge Corridor, where homes near St. Michael’s Choir School (rated 10/10) had a median price of $570,000, largely due to the large number of apartments.
At the other end of the price range, the upscale Moore Park neighborhood, home to two top schools, saw a median home price of $3.2 million.
Although there were significant price differences in certain neighborhoods, of the 63 with top schools, 41 had an average price of at least $1 million. By comparison, the average price of a home in the GTA was $905,000 in the third quarter of 2025.
“It’s difficult to say exactly how much school zones influence local home prices in the GTA because there are so many factors at play,” said Wahi economist Ryan McLaughlin.
From current market conditions to the type of housing available in a neighborhood, local real estate can fluctuate significantly from place to place, he added.
“However, we did observe that in many neighborhoods with a top school, the average home price was well above the GTA-wide average home price,” he said.
The rankings are based on assessments from the Ontario provincial Crown Agency Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). The average score for all schools is six.
The top-rated elementary schools in Toronto and the cost of living nearby.
Proceed with caution
McLaughlin said parents should keep an important caveat in mind if schools are a major decision maker when purchasing a home.
“Living near a top-quality school does not guarantee that your child will be able to enroll,” he said. “The increased density and population growth will bring newcomers to some neighborhoods local schools are already full.”
#Heres #Toronto #families #pay #live #top #elementary #schools