New study links single-family rental housing to improved student achievement

Single-family rental homes open up opportunities for students of all backgrounds to gain access to better schools.

When a family moves across a school district boundary, the impact can extend far beyond a change of address. A new neighborhood often means a new school and new opportunities, factors that can shape a child’s academic trajectory and future economic mobility.

New research from Virginia Tech found that following the 2009 Great Recession, which yielded a boom in new single-family rental homes from a surge of investors, also yielded academic achievements for the kids who moved to these newly available homes, particularly those from economically disadvantaged households.

“Expanding rental opportunities for these households presents an opportunity for kids across the socioeconomic spectrum to perform better academically,” said Tom Mayock, associate professor and Michael G. Miller Professor of Real Estate in the Blackwood Department of Real Estate in the Pamplin College of Business and author of the article published in the Journal of Housing Economics.

The supply of single-family rental homes increased by approximately 30 percent between 2007-16, which created new housing pathways for families seeking access to stronger school systems without ever purchasing a home.

These findings underscore the important connection between housing and educational opportunity. Housing is not only a place to live, but also a gateway to schools, communities, and future economic mobility. As the single-family rental market continues to grow, it is likely to play an increasingly important role in expanding access to high-quality education for families across a wide range of income levels.

The outcome shows that students whose families moved into single-family rentals in neighborhoods zoned for better schools experienced significant gains in academic achievement as measured by standardized test scores. These improvements highlight the powerful role that school environment plays in shaping student success. Access to higher-quality schools often brings stronger academic support systems, more educational resources, and environments that foster learning and achievement.

This suggests that the expansion of single-family rental housing is helping reduce long-standing barriers that have historically limited access to high-performing schools. By increasing the availability of rental homes in stronger school districts, the evolving housing market is providing families with greater flexibility and expanding access to educational opportunity.

Mayock and his co-author, Kelly Vosters of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, created a dataset that tracked nearly 44,000 student-move observations. Using a unique dataset that links student education record from the North Carolina Education Research Data Center with real estate records from Zillow’s real property repository, the study tracks student performance before and after families move into single-family rental homes located in higher-performing school zones. 

“The housing policy conversation in the U.S. always seems to focus on expanding homeownership. I think we need to recognize that many families cannot afford to, or do not want to, be homeowners,” said Mayock. 

Mayock’s research demonstrates how changes in housing availability can create meaningful impacts beyond the housing market itself. By expanding access to higher-performing schools, the growth of single-family rental housing is helping create new opportunities for students and contributing to greater educational equity and long-term upward mobility.