# 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
- **Stats:** 14 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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# 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/FRj9jtqyW46GNcHIv/openapi.json