If you are shopping for a home in one of the more affluent communities in the Bay Area, you can expect to pay well over a million dollars, and you’ll most likely find excellent public schools. But what if you can’t afford a home in cities like Hillsborough or Portola Valley? Can you still find good public schools in less costly areas? We think you can.

Where Can You Find the Best Public School Values?

To find the top 20 cities in the Bay Area which have both homes in the median home price range, and public and charter schools with above average test scores--what we call the “GreatSchools Best Public School Values”--we gathered information on home prices and school test scores for all cities in the nine Bay Area counties: San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin and Solano. Cities with a high Academic Performance Index (API) school rank (6.94 or above) and home prices in the Bay Area median home price range ($670,000) rose to the top of the list. We did not include cities with a population below 5,000 in our calculations.

Our calculations are based on current real estate data, provided by DataQuick, a real estate information service, and the California Academic Performance Index (API) school rank, based on test scores from the 2004-2005 school year, from the California Department of Education. Read more about the data we used.

What does the API Rank Mean?

The California Department of Education assigns an API rank to all public schools in California on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. A rank of 10 means that the school's API fell into the top 10% of all schools in the state at the same grade level. The most recent ranks are based on the results of standardized tests taken in grades 2 through 11 in spring 2005. An API of 7 indicates the school is above average for the Bay Area. An API of 5 is average for the state. The API is the cornerstone of the state’s accountability plan.

What the Top 20 Chart Tells You

The Top 20 Chart gives you the median home price for each city and the average API rank for schools in that city. The median home price was calculated by including all home sales in 2005: single-family-detached, condominiums and new construction. From the chart, if you click on the city, you can link to the specific city page on GreatSchools.net to see detailed information (test scores, class size, teacher experience, demographic and enrollment information) about all the schools in that city. The majority of the cities in the top 20 are in the East Bay.

From the chart you can link to a map of the top 20 cities. You can also link to a complete list of all Bay Area cities in alphabetical order, including their median home prices and average API rank. You can also see how many elementary, middle and high schools each city has.

What the Top 20 Chart Doesn’t Tell You

When you begin your search for homes in the Bay Area, you’ll undoubtedly find homes in each city with prices more or less than the median home price. You’ll also find specific schools with API ranks higher or lower than the average rank for that city.

In most cities, the neighborhood where you buy your home will determine what school you are assigned to, unless the city has magnet and/or charter school options to choose from or an “open enrollment” policy, allowing you to attend any school in the district. To avoid disappointment, check with the local school district to find out how the school assignment process works, and what school your child will be assigned to. Be aware that school districts sometimes change enrollment boundaries.

The GreatSchools Best Public School Values does not take into account neighborhood charm, safety or diversity; average lot size; age or condition of homes; city services; commuting distances; public transportation availability; or community involvement in the schools. These are all important considerations when choosing a home and a school. The GreatSchools Best Public School Values is, however, a good starting point for your own investigation.

More on GreatSchools.net: The API: 10 Things Parents Should Know The API: Where Does Your Child’s School Stand? Choosing a School: An Overview

What Parents Have To Say About Schools in the Top 20 Cities

We checked with parents active in the schools in three of the cities on our top 20 Best Public School Values list. They confirmed that the schools in these cities merit their top 20 designation.

Albany schools

Dianne McNenny, president of the Albany Education Foundation, and a longtime resident and parent in the community, is not surprised that Albany is at the top of the GreatSchools Best Public School Values list. “There’s a strong, cohesive community here, a longtime commitment to schools, and it’s a place, because of its smallness, where one parent can make a difference,” she says. McNenny has been involved in Albany schools for 32 years, serving on school PTAs, school site councils, the school board and now the education foundation. Her two children, now successful adults, attended Albany schools.

The community was one of the first in the state in 1989 to pass a parcel tax, which has been reauthorized with voter approval twice. Albany voters have passed two additional parcel taxes as well as a bond measure to build a new middle and high school. With a total population of around 17,000, Albany City Unified District has 3,000 students enrolled in its six schools (three elementary schools, one middle school, one high school and one continuation high school). McNenny says Albany is a dense community--the lot sizes and homes are small, and the school campuses are small as well. Where most high schools have 30 acres for their campuses, Albany High’s campus sits on five acres. “You won’t find a lot of parks here,” she notes, “but despite the small homes and small lots, people tend not to leave.”

Foster City schools

A mom in Foster City with children in both elementary and middle schools has been pleased with Foster City schools, which are part of the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District. "We’ve found lots of community involvement and high academic standards," she says. Looking toward the future, however, she notes the downside, "We knew when we moved here that there was no high school, but we thought that would change. It’s not great that our kids will have to be bussed to San Mateo to go to high school."

The San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District serves 10,000 students in grades K-8. While there are 17 schools in San Mateo, there are just three elementary schools and one middle school in Foster City. Average class sizes range from 20 for K-3 to 27 for grades 4-8. One of the Foster City elementary schools, Brewer Island, is a year-round school. All of the schools have neighborhood boundaries, but families in the Brewer attendance area may choose one of the other schools with a traditional school calendar, if they prefer, and families in other attendance areas may also apply to attend Brewer. This year-round school has become quite a popular option, and families moving into that attendance area are not guaranteed of assignment to Brewer. However, if they are assigned to another school they will be invited to return to Brewer if space becomes available.

Pleasanton schools

Donna McMahon, mother of a middle school-aged daughter and a fifth-grade son, moved to Pleasanton before her children were in school. "We didn’t know much about the schools then," she says, "but we liked the varied economic base and diversity in the neighborhood." Once her children began attending school, she became very involved in the school community and was pleased to discover other parents were quite active, too. "The schools have been good," she says. "We noticed that there has always been a concern for teaching about citizenship and learning about respect here long before it became popular in other areas."

Carrie Sciammas, mother of a fifth-grader, seventh-grader, eighth-grader and a soon-to-be kindergartner, moved to Pleasanton from Minnesota in 2000 and specifically chose Pleasanton for its “really solid” schools and affordability. "The longer we’re here, the more impressed we are with the schools," says Sciammas. "We’ve loved 80 % of the teachers our children have had. Pleasanton has a higher starting salary for teachers so they are able to attract and keep the good ones. The district does a good job of maintaining the buildings, too."

The Pleasanton Unified School District has 14,500 students enrolled in 15 schools. There are nine elementary schools, three middle schools and three high schools. The district has a supportive community, as evidenced by the passage of a school bond in 1997, with 77% voting "yes" on the $70-million measure.

May 2006