The Best High Schools in DuPage County

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Author: Mark Ainely | Partner GC Realty & Development & Co-Host Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast

This is the next article in our DuPage County data series. Articles 1 through 3 covered the crime side of the picture: The 5 Safest DuPage County Suburbs for Real Estate Investors (FBI Data), Where DuPage Crime Is Falling Fastest: 5 Suburbs to Watch, and DuPage County Crime Data Table: Every Reporting Suburb, Ranked. This article moves to the schools side. Every DuPage County high school and unit (K-12) school district administered through the DuPage Regional Office of Education, with the most recent Illinois Report Card graduation rate data.

At GC Realty & Development, we manage roughly 1,500 units across Chicagoland.

A personal note before the data: I'm a fan of DuPage County. Born and raised here, I invest in the county myself and encourage our current and future clients to do the same. The school districts below are a big part of why DuPage rentals hold long-term value.

Investing in DuPage or Chicagoland? I put together a free ebook on Where to Invest that walks through how I evaluate submarkets like the ones below.

Illinois and DuPage County Reference Benchmarks

Per Illinois State Board of Education data:

• Illinois state 4-year graduation rate (2024-25): 89.0%

• Illinois state 4-year graduation rate (2023-24): 87.7%

• Illinois state K-12 enrollment (2024-25): approximately 1.85 million students

• Illinois state student-teacher ratio (2024-25): approximately 17 to 1

• DuPage County total K-12 enrollment: approximately 161,000 students across 42 public school districts (per DuPage Regional Office of Education)

The DuPage Regional Office of Education (ROE #19) administers 42 public school districts: 29 elementary K-8 districts, 6 high school 9-12 districts, and 7 unit (K-12) districts (counting from the official ROE roster). This article focuses on the 13 high school and unit districts that report a 4-year graduation rate, which is the districts most directly tied to property values in their attendance boundaries.

Methodology

Data source: All graduation rate figures are sourced from the Illinois Report Card (illinoisreportcard.com), the official Illinois State Board of Education accountability and performance reporting system. Most figures are 2024-25 (the most recent published year). Where the 2024-25 figure was not yet available in compiled secondary sources at time of publication, the most recent prior-year (2023-24) Illinois Report Card figure is used and noted in the table. Enrollment figures are 2024-25 from the Illinois State Board of Education official enrollment count, compiled by DuPage Policy Journal. Niche.com is used as a secondary aggregator for districts not yet covered in DuPage Policy Journal's 2024-25 graduation rate reporting series; Niche sources all data from the Illinois State Board of Education and the U.S. Department of Education.

Geographic scope: The table includes every high school and unit (K-12) school district administered by the DuPage Regional Office of Education. Multi-county districts (where some attendance boundary spills into Cook, Will, Kane, or Kendall counties) are included with a "DuPage Coverage" note, consistent with the methodology used in our DuPage crime data article. The crime article kept multi-county municipalities where DuPage represented a meaningful portion. The same logic applies here: the DuPage ROE administers all 13 of these districts, and excluding the multi-county ones would create gaps for major DuPage submarkets like Hinsdale, Naperville, Elmhurst, and the Naperville-Aurora corridor.

Ranking metric: Districts are ranked by 4-year cohort graduation rate, highest to lowest. The 4-year cohort graduation rate is the percentage of students who entered 9th grade four years prior and graduated by the end of the reporting year. It is the primary Illinois Report Card accountability metric for high school performance and the metric most directly correlated with college and career readiness.

Why graduation rate as the ranking metric? For high school and unit districts, the 4-year graduation rate is the cleanest single-metric comparison available across Illinois districts. Standardized test proficiency rates changed methodology in 2024-25 (the ACT replaced the SAT as the state high school assessment, and new performance levels were introduced for ELA, Math, and Science), which makes year-over-year comparison difficult and cross-district comparison less reliable for 2024-25 standardized test data. Graduation rate uses a consistent federal calculation methodology and is comparable across districts and across years.

The DuPage County HS and Unit Districts Table

Ranked by most recent Illinois Report Card 4-year graduation rate, highest to lowest.

Sources: 2024-25 graduation rates and Illinois State Board of Education enrollment data compiled by DuPage Policy Journal from Illinois Report Card (illinoisreportcard.com). Glenbard 87, Indian Prairie 204, Elmhurst 205, and Lisle 202 graduation rates sourced from Niche.com, which aggregates Illinois State Board of Education and U.S. Department of Education data. Lake Park 108 and Community HSD 94 graduation rates reflect the most recent year (2023-24) compiled in DuPage Policy Journal's reporting series at time of publication. DuPage HSD 88 graduation rate per district press release citing Illinois Report Card.

Reading the Table

Each row in the table can be compared against the Illinois state benchmark: 89.0% for 2024-25 and 87.7% for 2023-24. A district's graduation rate above the corresponding state average is outperforming the state. Twelve of the 13 districts in the table outperform the Illinois state average in their respective reporting year. The remaining district (Community HSD 94) is below the 2024-25 state average but above the 2022-23 state average it was compared against in its most recent published Illinois Report Card data.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a "4-year cohort graduation rate"?

The 4-year cohort graduation rate is the percentage of students who entered 9th grade together four years earlier and earned a regular high school diploma by the end of the reporting school year. The Illinois State Board of Education calculates this rate using federal guidance and reports it annually as a primary Illinois Report Card accountability metric.

Why does the table only include high school and unit districts, not elementary?

DuPage County has 42 public school districts administered by the DuPage Regional Office of Education: approximately 29 elementary K-8 districts, 6 high school 9-12 districts, and 7 unit K-12 districts. This article focuses on the 13 high school and unit districts because the 4-year graduation rate is the primary Illinois Report Card metric for these districts. Elementary districts are evaluated on different Illinois Report Card metrics (primarily ELA and Math proficiency on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness for grades 3-8) and warrant a separate reference table.

Why are some districts shown as "Partly DuPage"?

Several DuPage Regional Office of Education districts have attendance boundaries that cross county lines. Hinsdale 86 includes a portion of Cook County (Darien). Naperville 203 includes a portion of Will County. Indian Prairie 204 includes portions of Will and Kane counties. Elmhurst 205 includes a portion of Cook County. Lake Park 108 and Fenton 100 include Cook County portions. The crime rate methodology in our DuPage crime article kept multi-county municipalities where DuPage represented a meaningful portion. The same logic applies here: all 13 districts are administered by the DuPage ROE, and excluding the multi-county ones would leave major DuPage submarkets unrepresented.

Why aren't ACT or SAT scores included?

Starting in the 2024-25 school year, the ACT became the official Illinois state high school accountability assessment, replacing the SAT. The Illinois State Board of Education also introduced new aligned performance levels for ELA, Math, and Science assessments in 2024-25. These changes make year-over-year comparison and cross-district comparison less reliable for 2024-25 standardized test data than the 4-year graduation rate, which uses a consistent federal calculation methodology.

Why do some rows show 2023-24 instead of 2024-25?

For two districts (Lake Park 108 and Community HSD 94), the 2024-25 4-year graduation rate had not been compiled in DuPage Policy Journal's 2024-25 reporting series at time of publication. The 2023-24 figures are used for those rows and clearly noted in the "School Year" column. The 2024-25 figures for those districts are publicly available on each district's Illinois Report Card profile page at illinoisreportcard.com and will be incorporated when this article is next updated.

What does "above 92%" mean for DuPage HSD 88?

DuPage HSD 88 (which operates Addison Trail High School in Addison and Willowbrook High School in Villa Park) published a press release describing its 2024-25 Illinois Report Card highlights stating that 4-year, 5-year, and 6-year graduation rates are above 92% and remain above the state level. The district did not publish a more precise single-figure 4-year rate in that press release. The exact 4-year rate can be looked up directly at illinoisreportcard.com.

How recent is the data?

This article reflects 2024-25 school year data where available, with two exceptions noted in the table. The 2024-25 Illinois Report Card was published by the Illinois State Board of Education in October 2025. This is the most recent full year of Illinois Report Card data available at time of publication. The Illinois Report Card publishes annually each fall.

Does the HUD ruling allow sharing this kind of table with clients?

The April 2026 HUD guidance clarified that real estate professionals can share neighborhood crime data and school performance data with clients, provided the data is presented factually, consistently across all clients, and without discriminatory intent. State laws and the National Association of REALTORS Code of Ethics also apply. A table built from public Illinois Report Card data and presented identically to every client fits within the cleared space.

Will this table be updated?

Yes. The Illinois Report Card publishes annually each fall. The 2025-26 release is expected in October 2026 and will reflect 2025-26 school year data. This article will be updated when the new release lands, and the two 2023-24 rows will be updated to 2024-25 when those compilations become available.

Don't Go At This Alone!

GC Realty & Development has been managing rental properties across Chicagoland since 2003. We oversee roughly 1,500 units across the city, the suburbs, and every market in between. Our team works with first-time landlords, seasoned investors, out-of-state buyers, and everyone in between.

Related resources:

• The 5 Safest DuPage County Suburbs for Real Estate Investors (FBI Data)

• Where DuPage Crime Is Falling Fastest: 5 Suburbs to Watch

• The Full DuPage County Crime Data Table: Every Reporting Suburb, Ranked

• What Real Estate Brokers Can Now Say About Crime and Schools: HUD Just Changed the Rules

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