PICK YOUR PARENTS WISELY

A study by the Brookings Institution of the largest 100 metropolitan areas quantifies what Realtors have intuitively known forever: housing costs an average of 2.4x more near a high scoring public school than a low scoring school (about $11,000 more per year). In addition, home values are $205,000 higher on average in the neighborhoods of high scoring versus low scoring schools and those homes have 1.5 more rooms. Finally, the study found 60% of high school dropouts came from the bottom 20% of families by income and 70% of students enrolled at the most competitive universities in the country came from the top quintile of parental socio-economic status. The moral: pick your parents wisely!