Who it's forBuyer fit for Parkway School District
Parkway is for buyers who want a wide range of West County and central-corridor locations in one district. It fits move-up buyers, relocation buyers, and anyone who wants established neighborhoods and enough inventory variety to compare options.
What you're paying forValue breakdown
You are paying for scale and location. Parkway is a massive district with multiple high schools, and that means the buyer experience can vary a lot depending on which attendance area you are actually in. The premium buys mature suburbs, steady resale demand, and proximity to major employment corridors. The risk is assuming all Parkway homes are equal, because the neighborhood, high school boundary, commute, and price tier all change the market.
NeighborhoodsWhere buyers look inside this district
Chesterfield offers larger homes, subdivisions, and upper-middle to luxury price points with steady demand. Creve Coeur has a more central feel, with medical, corporate, and commuter convenience driving prices. Town and Country is higher-end and quieter, attracting buyers who want larger lots and privacy. Clarkson Valley is more secluded and estate-like, with buyers paying for space and seclusion. Des Peres is convenient and retail-heavy nearby, with strong demand from buyers who want location. Manchester is a more accessible Parkway entry point, with practical homes and strong everyday convenience. Maryland Heights gives buyers a more affordable way into parts of Parkway, but the housing and neighborhood feel can vary. Olivette has central-corridor appeal, with buyers drawn to location, commute, and long-term resale more than big lots.
High schoolsThe four Parkway high schools: which one does a home feed into?
Parkway School District is large enough that saying a home is "in Parkway" only tells you part of the story. For buyers with kids approaching high school, the next question is usually: which Parkway high school?
Parkway has four comprehensive high schools — Parkway Central, Parkway North, Parkway West and Parkway South — plus Fern Ridge, the district's alternative high school. The four comprehensive schools serve different portions of the district:
- Parkway Central High School is in Chesterfield on North Woods Mill Road. Established in 1954, Central is the original Parkway high school.
- Parkway North High School is on Fee Fee Road and serves portions of the northern Parkway area around Creve Coeur and nearby communities.
- Parkway West High School is on Clayton Road in the Ballwin/Chesterfield area and serves portions of the western and southwestern part of the district.
- Parkway South High School is on Hanna Road in Manchester and serves portions of the southern Parkway area.
The important word there is portions. I wouldn't try to determine a Parkway high school based on the city name alone.
Parkway serves eight municipalities in western St. Louis County, and school attendance boundaries do not simply follow municipal lines. Two homes with the same city or postal address can potentially have different school assignments depending on where they sit within the district's attendance boundaries.
This is especially important when searching for homes in Parkway School District because buyers sometimes see "Chesterfield," "Ballwin" or "Creve Coeur" and assume they know which schools come with the address. That's not a safe assumption.
Boundaries can also change through redistricting. If attending a particular Parkway high school matters to your purchase, use Parkway School District's official school and boundary locator for the exact property address. I'd verify it again before making a home-buying decision based on that assignment rather than relying solely on the schools automatically displayed on a real estate listing.
PerformanceHow does Parkway School District perform?
Parkway reports that its comprehensive high schools rank among the top 10% of high schools in Missouri. Check that claim, and every school tied to the address, against Missouri DESE.
That's useful context, but I wouldn't stop there.
If you're researching the Parkway School District rating, start with Missouri DESE — the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. That's where you can review official state-reported information rather than relying on a number from a real estate website or an article that may be several years old. Under the state's current MSIP 6 reporting, Parkway scored in the mid-80s on its baseline Annual Performance Report; confirm the district's current APR score directly with DESE, since these figures update annually and older MSIP 5 scores are not comparable.
GreatSchools can also be useful for researching individual Parkway schools and comparing information in one place. Just remember that a GreatSchools rating is a starting point, not my definition of whether a school is "good." Look at the underlying information and decide which factors actually matter to you.
The same applies to district-wide performance. Parkway has roughly 18,000 students across about 28 schools, so a district average can't tell you everything about an individual elementary, middle or high school.
That matters when buyers start comparing Parkway vs. Rockwood schools. Both are large West County districts, but I wouldn't choose between two homes based only on which district has the better overall number in a particular year. I'd compare the specific schools tied to each address, the programs important to you, the homes you can actually afford and the location that works for your daily life.
If you're still deciding where in West County to focus, start with my West County guide and your actual buying power. School district preference matters, but so do the house, payment, commute and neighborhood you get for the money.
FAQParkway School District: common buyer questions
How many high schools does Parkway School District have?
Parkway has four comprehensive high schools: Parkway Central, Parkway North, Parkway West and Parkway South. The district also operates Fern Ridge as an alternative high school.
Which Parkway high school will my home feed into?
It depends on the exact property address. Parkway School District boundaries do not simply follow city lines, so don't assume a Chesterfield, Ballwin or Creve Coeur address automatically tells you the high school. Use Parkway's official school locator to verify the current assignment for a specific home.
Is Parkway School District a good district?
Parkway reports that its comprehensive high schools rank among the top 10% in Missouri. For current performance data, I recommend checking Missouri DESE and then researching the individual schools that would actually serve the home rather than relying on the district name alone.
Parkway vs. Rockwood — which is better for buyers?
I wouldn't give every buyer the same answer. Both are large West County districts, and the better choice depends on the specific schools, programs, home prices, commute and neighborhoods that fit you. If you're comparing homes in Parkway and Rockwood, research the exact school assignments for both addresses rather than making the decision from district-wide ratings alone.
From the fieldWhat I've seen on the ground
I have seen Parkway buyers get overwhelmed because the district is so big that two Parkway homes can feel like completely different markets. A buyer looking in Manchester is not having the same conversation as a buyer in Town and Country or Chesterfield. The smart move is to compare the specific high school, commute, neighborhood, and condition, not just the district name.
2026 sales dataWhat did your budget reach in Parkway School District?
From January 1 through October 5, 2026, 399 qualifying single-family homes sold in Parkway School District in this dataset.
| Max price | Sales at or below | Share of district market |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | 8 of 399 | 2.0% |
| $300,000 | 24 of 399 | 6.0% |
| $350,000 | 74 of 399 | 18.5% |
| $400,000 | 129 of 399 | 32.3% |
Median sold price in this dataset: $490,000. The middle half of these sales closed between $375,000 and $647,000.
Read it this way: a budget can “work” and still leave you shopping only a slice of the market. The share tells you how much of the closed-sale market was actually within reach—not whether a single house might exist at that price.
Same budget, nearby district
At $300,000, Parkway School District reached about 6.0% of its qualifying sales versus about 8.0% in Rockwood. That is a housing-market position, not a school-quality ranking.
Comparable house: a roughly 1,400 sq. ft. ranch
In this dataset, 6 ranches with exactly 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and 1,300–1,500 square feet sold in Parkway School District. The median sold price was $345,500, and the median days on market was 4. That is a small group, so read the price together with the sale count rather than as a prediction of the next sale.
Source: MARIS closed single-family sales, January 1–October 5, 2026 (QA-clean). Historical sales are not current inventory. Verify school assignment for the exact address with the district. Full 22-district tables and methodology: St. Louis County school districts: what can your budget buy?
Honest takeWhat to know before you decide
Parkway is not a simple one-size-fits-all district. Its strength is choice: price points, neighborhoods, commute patterns, and school options. Its weakness is complexity, because buyers can overpay if they lean on the Parkway name without understanding the exact pocket. If you want West County with more price flexibility than Clayton or Ladue, Parkway gives you a lot to work with.
Buying decisions · 2026Deciding on a house in the Parkway School District
Is Parkway too expensive for MHDC?
For a lot of it, First Place is. 150 of the 399 Parkway sales in 2026 were over the $566,354 limit. Next Step’s $692,211 limit covers more, and 85 sales were over that too.
When does a Parkway house stop drawing offers over asking?
Around the 30-day mark. Parkway homes that went under contract inside 30 days closed at a median 102.9% of asking in 2026; past 30 days, the 112 that were left sold at 96.0%. That second group is where you can ask for closing costs or repairs.
Property taxes · 2026What are property taxes in the Parkway School District?
Updated October 2026 · MLS sales records
The median annual property tax on homes that sold in the Parkway School District in 2026 was $4,763, according to MLS sales records. The middle half of tax bills ran from $3,862 to $6,308, across 398 sales from January 1 to October 5, 2026.
The bill follows the county’s assessed value and the local tax rates, not the price the house sold for, so two similar homes on the same street can have different bills.
How much are property taxes in Parkway by number of bedrooms?
In Parkway, the median annual property tax was $3,834 for homes with 3 bedrooms, $5,316 with 4 and $6,538 with 5 or more, based on 2026 MLS sales records.
See tax by bedrooms
| Bedrooms | Sales | Median tax | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 bedrooms | 130 | $3,834 | $3,453– |
| 4 bedrooms | 212 | $5,316 | $4,387– |
| 5+ bedrooms | 52 | $6,538 | $5,442– |
Middle half: the middle 50% of tax bills, from the 25th to the 75th percentile.
How much are property taxes in Parkway by square footage?
In Parkway, the median annual property tax ranged from $3,297 for homes of 1,000–1,499 square feet to $7,556 for homes of 3,500 square feet or more, based on 2026 MLS sales records.
See tax by square footage
| Home size | Sales | Median tax | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000–1,499 sq ft | 32 | $3,297 | $2,948– |
| 1,500–1,999 sq ft | 74 | $3,772 | $3,500– |
| 2,000–2,499 sq ft | 60 | $4,500 | $3,934– |
| 2,500–3,499 sq ft | 133 | $5,247 | $4,574– |
| 3,500+ sq ft | 84 | $7,556 | $6,464– |
Rows with fewer than five sales are left out. Square footage is as listed in MLS.
Are property taxes different by high school area in Parkway?
Yes. Median annual property tax ran from $4,067 in the Parkway North area to $5,683 in the Parkway Central area, according to 2026 MLS sales records. Median sale prices in those areas were $430,000 and $596,838.
See tax by high school area
| High school area | Sales | Median price | Median tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parkway Central | 75 | $596,838 | $5,683 |
| Parkway North | 109 | $430,000 | $4,067 |
| Parkway South | 116 | $415,000 | $4,392 |
| Parkway West | 98 | $561,250 | $5,404 |
Are property taxes higher in Parkway or Rockwood R-VI?
Higher in Rockwood R-VI for same-size homes. For homes of 2,500–3,499 square feet, the size range with the most sales in both, the median annual property tax was $5,247 in Parkway (133 sales) and $5,848 in Rockwood R-VI (102 sales), according to MLS sales records for 2026.
See every home size
| Home size | Parkway | Rockwood R-VI |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000–1,499 sq ft | $3,297 (32) | $3,436 (28) |
| 1,500–1,999 sq ft | $3,772 (74) | $4,037 (56) |
| 2,000–2,499 sq ft | $4,500 (60) | $4,876 (52) |
| 2,500–3,499 sq ft | $5,247 (133) | $5,848 (102) |
| 3,500+ sq ft | $7,556 (84) | $8,935 (139) |
Median annual tax, with the number of sales in parentheses. Sizes with fewer than five sales in either area are left out.
Are property taxes higher in Parkway or Valley Park?
About the same for the most common home size; most other sizes ran higher in Valley Park. For homes of 1,000–1,499 square feet, the size range with the most sales in both, the median annual property tax was $3,297 in Parkway (32 sales) and $3,401 in Valley Park (11 sales), according to MLS sales records for 2026.
See every home size
| Home size | Parkway | Valley Park |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000–1,499 sq ft | $3,297 (32) | $3,401 (11) |
| 1,500–1,999 sq ft | $3,772 (74) | $4,037 (6) |
| 2,000–2,499 sq ft | $4,500 (60) | $4,693 (7) |
Median annual tax, with the number of sales in parentheses. Sizes with fewer than five sales in either area are left out.
Source: MLS sales records (MARIS), single-family homes closed January 1–October 5, 2026. The tax figure is the seller’s most recent annual bill as listed in MLS. Taxes can change after a sale, so confirm the current bill with the St. Louis County Collector of Revenue. Full sales data for all 22 districts: St. Louis County school districts.
Comparing areas? See all St. Louis neighborhoods → Prices, days on market and school districts side by side.
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