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Ranking ยท 2020 finance data

Spending per pupil by district

In the 2020 finance data, US districts spent $16,826 per pupil overall. These lists cover 7,354 districts with at least 1,000 students and reported finance data.

Highest spending per pupil (top 100)

#
1San Diego County Office of EducationCA1,089$447,301
2Riverside County Office of EducationCA1,481$244,035
3San Bernardino County Office of EducationCA2,367$237,643
4Los Angeles County Office of EducationCA1,541$209,069
5Santa Clara County Office of EducationCA1,217$195,426
6Tulare County Office of EducationCA1,656$170,363
7Kern County Office of EducationCA1,990$156,229
8San Joaquin County Office of EducationCA1,972$155,498
9Orange County Department of EducationCA2,290$121,333
10Orleans ParishLA2,322$120,035
11Specl. Sch. Dst. St. Louis Co.MO3,576$114,455
12Merced County Office of EducationCA1,894$97,892
13Lincoln School DistrictMA1,039$73,756
14Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISDTX2,919$62,937
15Santa Cruz County Office of EducationCA1,063$58,717
16Lawrence Union Free School DistrictNY2,192$57,895
17Beverly Hills UnifiedCA3,079$56,305
18Easthampton School DistrictMA1,368$56,190
19Cotulla ISDTX1,157$55,998
20Watertown School DistrictMA2,844$55,272
21Chester-Upland SDPA3,143$54,780
22Little Falls City School DistrictNY1,038$54,709
23Lakewood Township School DistrictNJ4,643$53,546
24Rye City School DistrictNY2,803$53,111
25Westport School DistrictMA1,515$53,075
26South Lewis Central School DistrictNY1,042$51,906
27Lower Kuskokwim School DistrictAK3,823$49,910
28Blind Brook-Rye Union Free School DistrictNY1,302$49,684
29Southampton Union Free School DistrictNY1,281$49,574
30Cameron ParishLA1,120$48,789
31Maine Township HSD 207 School DistrictIL6,272$47,986
32Wareham School DistrictMA1,916$47,195
33Camden City School DistrictNJ7,074$45,565
34Cambridge School DistrictMA7,027$45,462
35Onteora Central School DistrictNY1,089$45,057
36North Shore Central School DistrictNY2,568$44,981
37Northwest Arctic Borough School DistrictAK1,945$44,800
38Northern Valley Regional High School DistrictNJ2,181$44,404
39Wamego School DistrictKS1,640$44,399
40Paradise UnifiedCA1,733$44,260
41Karnes City ISDTX1,021$44,088
42Asbury Park School DistrictNJ1,482$44,002
43Hewlett-Woodmere Union Free School DistrictNY2,767$43,713
44Belmont School DistrictMA4,448$43,370
45Locust Valley Central School DistrictNY1,822$43,256
46Astoria SD 1OR1,745$43,062
47Bergen County Vocational Technical School DistrictNJ2,719$42,707
48Hinsdale Twp HSD 86 School DistrictIL3,815$42,378
49Salamanca City School DistrictNY1,401$42,303
50Somerville School DistrictMA4,952$42,295
Showing 1 to 50 of 100

Lowest spending per pupil (top 100)

#
1University of Texas at Austin High SchoolTX1,056$1,066
2Wickliffe City School DistrictOH1,228$2,869
3Harney County SD 4OR1,105$3,689
4Ohio Digital Learning SchoolOH1,198$4,604
5Oneida County DistrictID8,702$4,655
6Galena City School DistrictAK8,168$4,905
7Indiana Connections AcademyIN5,376$5,139
8Isucceed Virtual High School Inc.ID1,635$5,375
9Edkey Inc. - Sequoia Choice Schools (4329)AZ2,313$5,660
10Oklahoma Virtual Charter AcademyOK3,613$5,860
11TRECA Digital AcademyOH2,165$6,336
12Elkhart School DistrictKS1,580$6,362
13Oklahoma Connections Academy (Charter)OK1,400$6,374
14Insight School of Oklahoma (Charter)OK1,081$6,381
15State Specialty Schools I- Georgia Connections AcademyGA7,148$6,430
16Leadership Prep SchoolTX1,391$6,461
17Compass Academy Charter SchoolTX1,558$6,511
18Hendry County Public SchoolsFL13,698$6,567
19Inspire Academics Inc.ID1,373$6,589
20Ohio Virtual AcademyOH15,339$6,603
21Hoosier College and Career AcademyIN1,484$6,652
22Houston Gateway Academy IncTX2,157$6,729
23Nenana City School DistrictAK2,279$6,763
24Ombudsman Educational Services Ltd.a subsidiary (4323)AZ1,736$6,806
25Arkansas Connections AcademyAR4,575$6,814
26Arkansas Virtual AcademyAR5,269$6,821
27Idaho Virtual Academy Inc.ID2,063$6,884
28Arizona Education Solutions (90758)AZ1,688$6,938
29Christel House DORSIN1,062$6,950
30Alternative Education AcademyOH6,276$7,044
31BASIS Charter Schools Inc. (90841)AZ1,021$7,081
32California Virtual Academy at Maricopa DistrictCA1,286$7,161
33Legacy Preparatory AcademyUT1,016$7,166
34Epic Charter Virtual SchoolOK28,536$7,187
35American Virtual Academy (79461)AZ6,378$7,222
36Union School CorporationIN7,821$7,233
37Snake River DistrictID3,730$7,238
38Thomas EdisonUT1,189$7,253
39George Washington AcademyUT1,013$7,263
40Utah Virtual AcademyUT1,890$7,339
41John Adams Academy - Lincoln DistrictCA1,392$7,346
42Universal AcademyTX2,036$7,366
43Eduprize Schools LLC (89412)AZ3,052$7,370
44North Carolina Cyber AcademyNC2,461$7,374
45ASU Preparatory Academy Digital (522074)AZ3,850$7,375
46Juab DistrictUT2,758$7,386
47Borden-Henryville School CorporationIN1,733$7,409
48Wallace Stegner AcademyUT2,162$7,438
49Union Academy Charter SchoolNC2,186$7,450
50Imagine International Academy of North TexasTX1,445$7,450
Showing 1 to 50 of 100

Method

Spending per pupil is total expenditure divided by the enrollment reported in the F-33 School District Finance Survey for fiscal year 2020. Both values come from the same survey, so the figure can differ from a calculation using 2024-25 enrollment. Dollars are nominal: they are not adjusted for inflation or for differences in living costs between regions.

Total spending includes capital outlay and debt service, which can make one year look unusually high for a district that built a school. Higher spending is not a measure of quality. See School spending per pupil explained.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 and F-33 finance 2020, via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. Last reviewed October 2026. Finance figures are 2020 finance data in nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation. Blank values are not available, not applicable or suppressed in the source. See the methodology.