Ed 
Both A Rated, Same District, Two Very Different Price Points
Cactus Ranch Elementary and Fern Bluff Elementary both earned A ratings from the Texas Education Agency. Both sit inside Round Rock ISD. Both feed eventually into Westwood High School. On paper they look interchangeable, which is exactly why buyers keep asking me to compare them.
The honest answer is that the schools are very close. The neighborhoods are not. Cactus Ranch sits inside the master-planned Brushy Creek corridor with a 12-month median sale price around $565,000 in the surrounding subdivisions. Fern Bluff sits in older, more compact Round Rock West with a 12-month median closer to $450,000. Same district, same letter grade, different houses, different price tags.
I have been helping buyers sort through Round Rock ISD school zones for 19 years as a broker, and this is one of the more common comparisons I get. Lets walk through what the data actually says.
Cactus Ranch vs Fern Bluff: Quick Comparison
| Cactus Ranch Elementary | Fern Bluff Elementary | |
|---|---|---|
| TEA Rating | A | A |
| District | Round Rock ISD | Round Rock ISD |
| Enrollment | 684 students | 605 students |
| Grades | EE through 5th | PK through 5th |
| Feeder Pattern | Walsh MS, Westwood HS | Cedar Valley MS, Westwood HS |
| Zone Median Sale (12mo) | ~$565,000 | ~$450,000 |
| County | Williamson | Williamson |
Source for TEA grades: Texas Tribune Schools Explorer. Source for sale data: VOW MLS data, 12-month rolling window of closed Residential transactions.
TEA School Performance Comparison
The Texas Education Agency grades every public school across three domains: Student Achievement, School Progress, and Closing the Gaps. Here is how both campuses landed.
| Domain | Cactus Ranch | Fern Bluff |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | A | A |
| Student Achievement | A | A |
| School Progress | A | A |
| Closing the Gaps | A | A |
This is where buyers sometimes overcomplicate things. Both schools earned A across every TEA domain. There is no meaningful academic gap between them based on state accountability data. If your decision is being driven by school rating alone, you can stop overthinking it.
For the full Tribune breakdowns, see the Cactus Ranch grade page and the Fern Bluff grade page.
Why TEA Letter Grades Matter (And Where They Mislead)
The Texas Education Agency assigns letter grades using three accountability domains: Student Achievement (mostly STAAR performance and college readiness), School Progress (year-over-year growth and how the campus stacks up against schools with similar demographics), and Closing the Gaps (how well the campus serves every student subgroup). You will see other sources reference a fourth “Academic Growth” domain. That is not how TEA structures the rating. There are three domains, full stop.
Letter grades range from A (exemplary) down to F (unacceptable). An A means the state views the campus as performing at a high level across the board. Two elementary campuses both earning A is the right kind of problem to have as a buyer. You are not picking between strong and weak. You are picking between strong and strong, which means the school question gets to step aside and the neighborhood question takes over.
That is exactly the situation with Cactus Ranch and Fern Bluff.
About Cactus Ranch Elementary
Cactus Ranch is in the Brushy Creek master-planned community on the southwest edge of Round Rock, technically inside Williamson County but right on the Travis County line. The campus serves 684 students from early education through 5th grade. The student body skews heavily Asian (around 51.8 percent according to Tribune enrollment data) and only 3.2 percent are classified as economically disadvantaged, which is one of the lowest rates in the metro.
The campus feeds into Walsh Middle School and then Westwood High School. Westwood is one of the strongest high schools in Round Rock ISD, with a long history of high college placement and competitive academics. That feeder pattern is a big part of why buyers pay a premium to land inside this zone.
Browse homes zoned to Cactus Ranch.
About Fern Bluff Elementary
Fern Bluff is in Round Rock West, an older neighborhood closer to the Round Rock city core. The campus enrolls 605 students from PK through 5th grade. Demographics here are different: about 46 percent white students and a 9.6 percent economically disadvantaged rate. Still well below the district average, but a different mix than Cactus Ranch.
Fern Bluff feeds into Cedar Valley Middle School and then Westwood High School. So the eventual high school destination is the same. The middle school path is different.
Browse homes zoned to Fern Bluff.
The Neighborhoods and Home Prices
This is where the two zones really diverge, and where I have to push back on what I see in a lot of comparison content online. Older posts on this site claimed Fern Bluff homes were running around $787,000. They are not. A fresh pull of closed sales over the last 12 months in the Fern Bluff and Round Rock West subdivisions shows a median around $450,000.
Cactus Ranch is a different story. The surrounding Brushy Creek subdivisions (Meadows at Brushy Creek, Ranch at Brushy Creek, Cat Hollow, Woods at Brushy Creek, Reserve at Brushy Creek) closed at a 12-month median around $565,000. The high end of Brushy Creek (Ranch at Brushy Creek and Concord) gets into the $700,000 to $850,000 range. The low end (older Cat Hollow condos) starts in the high $200,000s.
| Subdivision | 12mo Median Sale | Closed Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Meadows at Brushy Creek | $612,000 | 18 |
| Ranch at Brushy Creek | ~$842,000 | 4 (segment) |
| Cat Hollow (various sections) | $440,000 to $470,000 | 20+ |
| Fern Bluff Sec 02 | $437,500 | 6 |
| Fern Bluff (original) | $438,750 | 4 |
Net result: if your budget tops out around $450,000 to $475,000 and you want a Round Rock ISD A-rated elementary, Fern Bluff is the realistic answer. If you have $550,000 to $700,000+ and you want a newer, bigger house inside a master-planned community, Cactus Ranch is what you are buying.
What the Market Has Been Doing
Both zones have stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Round Rock ISD as a whole was one of the hardest-hit submarkets when Austin metro prices peaked in 2022. The Brushy Creek and Round Rock West corridors both saw 15 to 25 percent drops from peak before bottoming out in late 2024. Since then, both areas have been working sideways with single-digit movement either direction depending on the subdivision.
What that means for a buyer right now: you are not buying into a runaway market in either zone. Days on market in the Cactus Ranch zone has been running roughly 45 to 70 days for the 12-month window, with sellers regularly accepting 1 to 3 percent below list. Days on market in the Fern Bluff zone has been closer to 30 to 55 days, partly because the lower price point pulls more first-time buyers and investors. Neither zone is a bidding-war market, but Fern Bluff turns over slightly faster simply because there are more buyers active at $450,000 than at $600,000.
Inventory levels in both zones are above the 5-year average. That gives buyers leverage on price and inspection items that did not exist 36 months ago.
Commute, Lifestyle, and What You Actually Get for the Money
One factor people forget when comparing these two zones: what your day-to-day life looks like. Cactus Ranch homes are typically larger, on bigger lots, with more master-planned community amenities like neighborhood pools, parks, and trail systems through the Brushy Creek greenbelt corridor. If you have kids, this matters. If you do not, you are paying for amenities you may not use.
Fern Bluff homes are closer to downtown Round Rock, closer to the major employers in the I-35 corridor, and closer to retail, restaurants, and the medical district. Lots are smaller. Houses are smaller. Trees are bigger. The neighborhood feels more like an established Texas suburb than a master-planned community.
Neither one is objectively better. They serve different lives.
Which School Fits You?
You probably want Cactus Ranch if:
- Your budget is $550,000 and up
- You want newer construction, larger lots, and master-planned amenities
- You like the Walsh MS pathway
- The 78717 area (closer to the Travis County line and toll-road access) fits your commute
You probably want Fern Bluff if:
- Your budget tops out around $450,000 to $500,000
- You want established, mature trees and a more central Round Rock location
- The Cedar Valley MS pathway is fine with you
- You want to land an A-rated Round Rock ISD elementary without paying Brushy Creek prices
The school itself is not the deciding factor here. Both earned A across every TEA domain. The deciding factor is which neighborhood and price point fits how you actually live.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Look at Homes?
I have been working Round Rock ISD school zones for 19 years and I know these two neighborhoods at a level that only comes from doing this every single day. If you want to walk a few houses in both zones to see what your money buys, lets set it up.
Ed Neuhaus is the broker and owner of Neuhaus Realty Group. He has been licensed in Texas since 2007 and has been a broker since 2009, with 19+ years and $250M+ in production helping buyers navigate Austin-area school zones.
