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ND ยท 2024-25 school year

Public schools in North Dakota

North Dakota has 514 open public schools run by 225 districts and other education agencies, enrolling 119,656 students. Schools average 11.7 students per teacher, compared with 15.3 nationally.

State totals

Districts
225
Schools
514
Students
119,656
Teachers (FTE)
10,156
Students per teacher
11.7
US: 15.3
Charter schools
0
Total spending
$2.06 billion
2020 finance data
Spending per pupil
$18,090
2020 finance data. US: $16,826

In the 2020 finance data, districts in North Dakota spent $18,090 per pupil, which is above the US figure of $16,826. Dollars are nominal and not adjusted for regional costs or inflation.

Download all 514 North Dakota schools (CSV)

School districts in North Dakota

All 225 districts and agencies, largest first. Filter by name or city, or sort any column.
Bismarck 1 School DistrictBismarck2914,09814.5$16,034
West Fargo 6 School DistrictWest Fargo2613,19111.8$19,070
Fargo 1 School DistrictFargo2611,44411.6$19,183
Grand Forks 1 School DistrictGrand Forks187,82210.7$16,492
Minot 1 School DistrictMinot217,68313.9$15,863
Williston Basin 7 School DistrictWilliston115,41414.2
Mandan 1 School DistrictMandan124,45615.5$14,300
Dickinson 1 School DistrictDickinson124,18311.4$19,599
McKenzie Co 1 School DistrictWatford City72,35113.9$22,068
Jamestown 1 School DistrictJamestown72,0428.8$15,791
Devils Lake 1 School DistrictDevils Lake51,78913.4$16,029
Belcourt 7 School DistrictBelcourt41,5187.8$20,841
Wahpeton 37 School DistrictWahpeton41,22415.1$14,779
Central Cass 17 School DistrictCasselton31,02715.1$14,758
Grafton 18 School DistrictGrafton39539.7
Valley City 2 School DistrictValley City494314.1$14,760
New Town 1 School DistrictNew Town393110.6$29,175
Kindred 2 School DistrictKindred387711.7$14,266
Stanley 2 School DistrictStanley278410.2$17,686
Beulah 27 School DistrictBeulah374813.1$26,743
Northern Cass 97 School DistrictHunter372413.9$15,970
United 7 School DistrictDes Lacs271214.2$14,548
Thompson 61 School DistrictThompson267914.4$12,217
Bottineau 1 School DistrictBottineau267111.4$16,303
Killdeer 16 School DistrictKilldeer26079.6$28,528
Carrington 49 School DistrictCarrington260314.4$15,395
Lisbon 19 School DistrictLisbon360112.5$19,080
Rugby 5 School DistrictRugby258913.1$16,434
Hazen 3 School DistrictHazen358515.0$13,675
South Prairie 70 School DistrictMinot256614.5$19,290
Nedrose 4 School DistrictMinot256511.1$14,557
Tioga 15 School DistrictTioga254413.6$18,645
May-Port Cg 14 School DistrictMayville351711.5$14,471
Dunseith 1 School DistrictDunseith25159.0$23,182
Bowman Co 1 School DistrictBowman450810.6$16,318
Hillsboro 9 School DistrictHillsboro349410.3$13,427
Oakes 41 School DistrictOakes247612.9$13,957
Park River Area 8 School DistrictPark River247110.5$15,018
St John 3 School DistrictSaint John245810.7$21,693
Nesson 2 School DistrictRay244316.4$23,735
Langdon Area 23 School DistrictLangdon244011.3$15,827
Velva 1 School DistrictVelva244012.2$14,528
Surrey 41 School DistrictSurrey243912.2$13,287
South Heart 9 School DistrictSouth Heart243712.1$15,145
Larimore 44 School DistrictLarimore241710.7$15,517
Lewis and Clark 161 School DistrictBerthold641011.1$19,080
Garrison 51 School DistrictGarrison239612.0$20,123
Kidder County 1 School DistrictSteele238811.1$15,274
Cavalier 6 School DistrictCavalier438512.0$14,518
Divide County 1 School DistrictCrosby238210.3$19,088
Showing 1 to 50 of 225

North Dakota district rankings

Ratio and spending lists include only districts with 1,000 or more students, so very small districts do not dominate. These are factual sorts, not quality ratings.

Largest districts

  1. 1.Bismarck 1 School District14,098
  2. 2.West Fargo 6 School District13,191
  3. 3.Fargo 1 School District11,444
  4. 4.Grand Forks 1 School District7,822
  5. 5.Minot 1 School District7,683
  6. 6.Williston Basin 7 School District5,414
  7. 7.Mandan 1 School District4,456
  8. 8.Dickinson 1 School District4,183
  9. 9.McKenzie Co 1 School District2,351
  10. 10.Jamestown 1 School District2,042

Lowest student-teacher ratio

  1. 1.Belcourt 7 School District7.8
  2. 2.Jamestown 1 School District8.8
  3. 3.Grand Forks 1 School District10.7
  4. 4.Dickinson 1 School District11.4
  5. 5.Fargo 1 School District11.6
  6. 6.West Fargo 6 School District11.8
  7. 7.Devils Lake 1 School District13.4
  8. 8.Minot 1 School District13.9
  9. 9.McKenzie Co 1 School District13.9
  10. 10.Williston Basin 7 School District14.2

Highest student-teacher ratio

  1. 1.Mandan 1 School District15.5
  2. 2.Central Cass 17 School District15.1
  3. 3.Wahpeton 37 School District15.1
  4. 4.Bismarck 1 School District14.5
  5. 5.Williston Basin 7 School District14.2
  6. 6.McKenzie Co 1 School District13.9
  7. 7.Minot 1 School District13.9
  8. 8.Devils Lake 1 School District13.4
  9. 9.West Fargo 6 School District11.8
  10. 10.Fargo 1 School District11.6

Highest spending per pupil (2020)

  1. 1.McKenzie Co 1 School District$22,068
  2. 2.Belcourt 7 School District$20,841
  3. 3.Dickinson 1 School District$19,599
  4. 4.Fargo 1 School District$19,183
  5. 5.West Fargo 6 School District$19,070
  6. 6.Grand Forks 1 School District$16,492
  7. 7.Bismarck 1 School District$16,034
  8. 8.Devils Lake 1 School District$16,029
  9. 9.Minot 1 School District$15,863
  10. 10.Jamestown 1 School District$15,791

Lowest spending per pupil (2020)

  1. 1.Mandan 1 School District$14,300
  2. 2.Central Cass 17 School District$14,758
  3. 3.Wahpeton 37 School District$14,779
  4. 4.Jamestown 1 School District$15,791
  5. 5.Minot 1 School District$15,863
  6. 6.Devils Lake 1 School District$16,029
  7. 7.Bismarck 1 School District$16,034
  8. 8.Grand Forks 1 School District$16,492
  9. 9.West Fargo 6 School District$19,070
  10. 10.Fargo 1 School District$19,183

Schools by level

180 high schools, 44 middle schools and 280 elementary schools. The largest of each are listed below; use search or a district page for the rest.

High schools 180

  1. Legacy High School Bismarck, 1,419 students
  2. Century High School Bismarck, 1,406 students
  3. West Fargo Sheyenne High School West Fargo, 1,400 students
  4. West Fargo High School West Fargo, 1,380 students
  5. Williston High School Williston, 1,370 students
  6. Bismarck High School Bismarck, 1,367 students
  7. Fargo Davies High School Fargo, 1,277 students
  8. Red River High School Grand Forks, 1,190 students
  9. Mandan High School Mandan, 1,175 students
  10. Central High School Grand Forks, 1,115 students
  11. North High School Fargo, 1,110 students
  12. Minot High School Minot, 1,086 students
  13. Dickinson High School Dickinson, 1,022 students
  14. Minot North High School Minot, 1,021 students
  15. South High School Fargo, 898 students

Middle schools 44

  1. Williston Middle School Central Campus Williston, 1,536 students
  2. Horizon Middle School Bismarck, 1,124 students
  3. Liberty Middle School West Fargo, 1,103 students
  4. Simle Middle School Bismarck, 1,053 students
  5. Wachter Middle School Bismarck, 1,012 students
  6. Cheney Middle School West Fargo, 1,006 students
  7. Mandan Middle School Mandan, 1,003 students
  8. Discovery Middle School Fargo, 992 students
  9. Dickinson Middle School Dickinson, 944 students
  10. Ben Franklin Middle School Fargo, 873 students
  11. Heritage Middle School Horace, 799 students
  12. Carl Ben Eielson Middle School Fargo, 677 students
  13. Erik Ramstad Middle School Minot, 584 students
  14. Schroeder Middle School Grand Forks, 569 students
  15. South Middle School Grand Forks, 549 students

Elementary schools 280

  1. Fox Hills Elementary School Watford City, 663 students
  2. Centennial Elementary School Fargo, 639 students
  3. Bennett Elementary School Fargo, 622 students
  4. Lincoln Elementary School Lincoln, 605 students
  5. Turtle Mountain Community Elementary School Belcourt, 605 students
  6. Victor Solheim Elementary School Bismarck, 588 students
  7. Discovery Elementary School Grand Forks, 567 students
  8. Osgood Elementary School Fargo, 554 students
  9. Independence Elementary School Fargo, 553 students
  10. Horace Elementary School Horace, 548 students
  11. Edwin Loe Elementary School New Town, 546 students
  12. Badlands Elementary School Watford City, 538 students
  13. Brooks Harbor Elementary School West Fargo, 537 students
  14. Century Elementary School Grafton, 532 students
  15. Elk Ridge Elementary School Bismarck, 510 students

Cities with the most public schools

Neighbouring states

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.