Data guide
Most searched Houston private schools
Which Houston-area independent schools do families actually look up? The chart below ranks private schools by estimated monthly Google search volume in the U.S. Use the search box to find a specific school, grade band, or neighborhood.
Top 15 by monthly searches
Estimated U.S. Google searches per month — click a bar for details
Search the full list
Each row also shows the grade span the school serves and the grade(s) families typically enter at — the natural transition points where a school change is easiest to plan.
Showing 40 of 40 private schools · tick up to 6 rows to compare them side by side
| Compare | # | Type | Area | Grades served | Entry grade(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strake Jesuit College Preparatory | High school | Southwest Houston | 9–12 | 9 | 12,100 | |
| 2 | St. Agnes Academy | High school | Sharpstown | 9–12 | 9 | 8,100 | |
| 3 | St. Thomas High School | High school | Montrose | 9–12 | 9 | 5,400 | |
| 4 | Houston Christian High School | High school | West Houston | 9–12 | 9 | 5,400 | |
| 5 | The Awty International School | All-through | Spring Branch | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 5,400 | |
| 6 | The Kinkaid School | All-through | Piney Point | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 4,400 | |
| 7 | Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart | All-through | Memorial | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 4,400 | |
| 8 | Fort Bend Christian Academy | All-through | Sugar Land | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 4,400 | |
| 9 | British International School of Houston | All-through | Katy | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 2,900 | |
| 10 | Second Baptist School | All-through | Tanglewood | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 2,900 | |
| 11 | The Woodlands Christian Academy | All-through | The Woodlands | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 2,900 | |
| 12 | Lutheran South Academy | All-through | Clear Lake | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 2,900 | |
| 13 | River Oaks Baptist School | K–8 | River Oaks | PK–8 | PK, K, 5 | 2,900 | |
| 14 | St. John's School | All-through | River Oaks | K–12 | K, 7, 9 | 2,400 | |
| 15 | Legacy Preparatory Christian Academy | All-through | Tomball | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 2,400 | |
| 16 | The Village School | All-through | Katy | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 1,900 | |
| 17 | The John Cooper School | All-through | The Woodlands | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 1,900 | |
| 18 | The Joy School | K–8 | Upper Kirby | 1–8 | 1 | 1,600 | |
| 19 | The Branch School | K–8 | Spring Branch | PK–8 | PK, K | 1,300 | |
| 20 | Annunciation Orthodox School | K–8 | Museum District | PK–8 | PK, K, 6 | 880 | |
| 21 | Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory | High school | East End | 9–12 | 9 | 880 | |
| 22 | The Parish School | Elementary | Spring Branch | PK–6 | PK | 720 | |
| 23 | Episcopal High School | High school | Bellaire | 9–12 | 9 | 590 | |
| 24 | The Post Oak School | All-through | Bissonnet | PK–12 | PK, K, 7, 9 | 590 | |
| 25 | St. Francis Episcopal School | K–8 | Memorial | PK–8 | PK, K, 6 | 590 | |
| 26 | Frassati Catholic High School | High school | Spring | 9–12 | 9 | 590 | |
| 27 | Yellowstone Academy | K–8 | Third Ward | PK–8 | PK, K | 590 | |
| 28 | Holy Spirit Episcopal School | K–8 | Memorial | PK–8 | PK, K, 6 | 480 | |
| 29 | Northland Christian School | All-through | North Houston | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 480 | |
| 30 | Robert M. Beren Academy | All-through | Meyerland | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 480 | |
| 31 | Incarnate Word Academy | High school | Downtown | 9–12 | 9 | 390 | |
| 32 | The Shlenker School | Elementary | Meyerland | PK–5 | PK, K | 390 | |
| 33 | The Briarwood School | All-through | Briar Forest | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 390 | |
| 34 | St. Thomas' Episcopal School | All-through | Meyerland | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 330 | |
| 35 | Westbury Christian School | All-through | Southwest Houston | PK–12 | PK, K, 6, 9 | 320 | |
| 36 | Presbyterian School | K–8 | Museum District | PK–8 | PK, K, 6 | 320 | |
| 37 | The Tenney School | All-through | Westchase | 5–12 | 5, 9 | 110 | |
| 38 | The Emery/Weiner School | All-through | Meyerland | 6–12 | 6, 9 | 90 | |
| 39 | Alexander Smith Academy | High school | Galleria | 9–12 | 9 | 40 | |
| 40 | The Regis School of the Sacred Heart | Elementary | Piney Point | PK–8 | PK, K | 10 |
What the numbers tell you
The large single-sex Catholic high schools lead by a wide margin — Strake Jesuit draws roughly 12,100 searches a month and St. Agnes Academy about 8,100, more than any PK–12 independent school in the region. Athletics coverage and big graduating classes keep those names in front of families year-round.
Among all-through schools, Awty International, Kinkaid, Duchesne, Fort Bend Christian, and St. John's cluster at the top. Smaller specialized and learning-difference schools (The Joy School, The Parish School, The Briarwood School) rank higher than their enrollment suggests — a sign that families search deliberately for fit, not size.
Search interest is a proxy for attention, not quality or selectivity. Use it to see where Houston families are looking, then compare academics, program, tuition, and fit yourself.
Methodology
Every number on this page is a search-demand estimate, not a school metric. Here is exactly where it comes from and how to read it.
Where the data comes from
Volumes come from Semrush, an SEO data service that models Google search demand from clickstream panels, its own crawl of search results, and Google Ads signals. We query the U.S. (us) database for the official name of each school, so the figure reflects nationwide searches for that exact name — not Houston-only traffic.
How each school was picked
We started from the accredited private and independent schools in the greater Houston area (Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, and Galveston counties), pulled volume for each name, and kept the highest-demand results. Schools are labeled by division type, since a PK–12 campus and a 9–12 campus draw very different search patterns.
How often it updates
Semrush recalculates volume monthly using a rolling 12-month average, which smooths out seasonal spikes around enrollment windows and football season. This page is refreshed periodically rather than live; the snapshot date is in the source note below. Expect single-school numbers to move 10–20% between refreshes without anything real changing.
How to interpret it
- Rankings are more reliable than exact counts — compare positions, not decimals.
- Volume tracks attention: enrollment size, suburban growth, athletics and news coverage. It is not a measure of academic quality or admissions selectivity.
- Name ambiguity inflates some results (school names shared with campuses in other states), while newly renamed or newly opened schools can be undercounted.
- Anything under ~100 searches/month is inside the noise band; treat those rows as “low demand” rather than a precise figure.
Grade spans, entry grades, and admissions windows are compiled from each school’s own admissions pages, not from Semrush. Always confirm deadlines directly with the school.
Applying to more than one of these?
PSAM keeps every private school deadline, tour, test, and document in one place — so you can weigh your options without losing track of an application.
Source: Semrush, estimated average monthly U.S. Google search volume for each school name (US database, 2026). Figures are estimates and may differ from actual traffic. Grade spans and entry grades reflect each school’s typical division structure; every school listed is application-based. Grade spans, program availability, and admissions dates should be confirmed with each school.