# GreatSchools Scraper - School Ratings & Data (`lulzasaur/greatschools-scraper`) Actor

Scrape school ratings, test scores, and demographics from GreatSchools.org. Extract school names, 1-10 ratings, student counts, grade levels, and reviews for any US city. Ideal for education research and real estate analysis.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/greatschools-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [lulz bot](https://apify.com/lulzasaur) (community)
- **Categories:** Other
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 18 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## GreatSchools Scraper

Scrape school ratings, demographics, and contact data from [GreatSchools.org](https://www.greatschools.org/) for any US city. Returns structured data including the 1-10 GreatSchools rating, enrollment, student-teacher ratio, test scores, reviews, phone numbers, and websites.

### What data can you get?

| Field | Source | Details required? |
|---|---|---|
| School name | Search | No |
| GreatSchools rating (1-10) | Search | No |
| Address, city, state, ZIP | Search | No |
| School type (public/private/charter) | Search | No |
| Grade range | Search | No |
| Enrollment | Search | No |
| Student-teacher ratio | Search | No |
| District name | Search | No |
| Test score sub-ratings | Search | No |
| Parent rating & review count | Search | No |
| Phone number | Detail | Yes |
| Website | Detail | Yes |

### Input

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `searchQueries` | string\[] | `["Los Angeles, CA"]` | City/state to search. Use "City, ST" format. |
| `maxListings` | integer | `50` | Max schools per query (1-1000). |
| `scrapeDetails` | boolean | `false` | Fetch detail pages for phone/website. Slower. |
| `schoolType` | string | `""` | Filter: `public`, `private`, `charter`, or blank for all. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | - | Optional proxy settings. |

#### Example input

```json
{
    "searchQueries": ["Los Angeles, CA", "New York, NY"],
    "maxListings": 100,
    "scrapeDetails": true,
    "schoolType": "public"
}
```

### Output

Each result contains:

```json
{
    "schoolName": "L.A. County High School For The Arts",
    "gsRating": 10,
    "address": "5151 State University Drive",
    "city": "Los Angeles",
    "state": "CA",
    "zip": "90032",
    "schoolType": "public",
    "gradeRange": "9-12",
    "enrollment": 551,
    "studentTeacherRatio": 27,
    "district": "Los Angeles County Office Of Education School District",
    "phone": "(323) 343-2550",
    "website": "http://www.lachsa.net",
    "testScores": {
        "Test Scores Rating": 9,
        "College Readiness Rating": 10
    },
    "reviews": 32,
    "parentRating": 3.47,
    "sourceUrl": "https://www.greatschools.org/california/los-angeles/10927-L.A.-County-High-School-For-The-Arts/",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-04-26T12:00:00.000Z"
}
```

### Use cases

- **Real estate analysis** - Compare school quality across neighborhoods
- **Education research** - Aggregate school metrics by district, city, or state
- **Relocation planning** - Find top-rated schools in target cities
- **Policy analysis** - Track school performance and demographics at scale
- **Lead generation** - Build lists of schools with contact info

### Tips

- Without `scrapeDetails`, the scraper runs fast using search-page JSON data.
- Enable `scrapeDetails` when you need phone numbers and school websites.
- GreatSchools shows 25 schools per page. Setting `maxListings: 1000` will fetch up to 40 pages.
- Use the `schoolType` filter to narrow results before scraping.

### Cost

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing. You are charged per school result returned. Use `maxListings` to control costs.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

City/state searches (e.g. 'Los Angeles, CA', 'New York, NY', 'Houston, TX'). Each query scrapes all matching schools.

## `maxListings` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of schools to scrape per query. GreatSchools shows 25 per page.

## `scrapeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch each school's detail page for phone, website, test scores, and full reviews. Slower but richer data.

## `schoolType` (type: `string`):

Filter by school type. Leave blank for all types.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings for avoiding rate limits on large runs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "Los Angeles, CA"
  ],
  "maxListings": 50,
  "scrapeDetails": false,
  "schoolType": ""
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "Los Angeles, CA"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/greatschools-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "searchQueries": ["Los Angeles, CA"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lulzasaur/greatschools-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQueries": [
    "Los Angeles, CA"
  ]
}' |
apify call lulzasaur/greatschools-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,lulzasaur/greatschools-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/TmZ8JhhQyH6csnJzK/builds/aLJsh0Rf9q0NqLaIl/openapi.json