Students in the area are served by the Austin Independent School District with 12 high schools, 18 middle and junior high schools and 74 elementary schools that serve the needs of approximately 76,000 students. AISD Schools recently earned 14 National Blue Ribbons and five Texas State Blue Ribbon Awards.

The district works with Austin area communities, businesses, organizations, the University of Texas and individuals everyday to make sure that students get the best education possible. The Austin Partners in Education helps to create and foster effective community partnerships that support and enrich student learning and success. Austin Community College is located in the area.

Numerous greenbelts and parks are located in the area including Big Walnut Creek Greenbelt, Wells Creek Park, Yett Creek Park, Steck Valley Greenbelt, Bull Creek Greenbelt, West Bull Creek Park and Quail Creek Park to name a few. The area is also home to numerous golf courses including Balcones Country Club and Great Hills Golf Course.

North Austin is roughly defined as the area north Highway 290 and State Road 2222. Numerous communities are located in the area including Jollyville, Dessau, Coxville and McNeil. Many have long histories, but have seen rapid growth in recent years.

Jollyville is on Rattan Creek and U.S. Highway 183 eighteen miles north of downtown in southwestern Williamson County. It was founded in 1866 and named for John Grey Jolly, who set up a blacksmith shop and a store and provided land for an early school. In 1878 residents built a school that enrolled thirty-five pupils in 1903. In 1940, the community had 40 inhabitants and two businesses. From 1949 to the 1960s Jollyville reported a population of 150. In 1990 its population was 15,206, and the town had expanded into Travis County.

Dessau, named for a town in Germany, is 11 miles northeast of Austin and two miles southwest of Pflugerville in northeastern Travis County. A post office was in operation there from 1886 to 1890 and from 1897 to 1901, at which time service was discontinued and mail rerouted to Austin. Dessau had a one-teacher school with 40 students in 1907; the school was consolidated with the Pflugerville district in 1920. The population of Dessau was estimated at thirty in the late 1890s. It fell to 10 by the early 1930s, but by the late 1940s had risen to 50, where it remained through the mid-1960s, after which population estimates were not available. Dessau was still listed as a community in 1990.