Which big school districts spend the most per student?
In the school year that ended in 2024, New York City, New York spent $35,796 per student, the most of the nation's 100 largest public school districts, followed by District of Columbia ($31,529) and Atlanta, Georgia ($26,117). Alpine, Utah spent the least, $10,044, against $17,619 for all U.S. public schools. This is day-to-day spending on teachers, staff, supplies and buses, not on buildings or debt, and it isn't adjusted for local prices, which differ widely.
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Bars are sorted from highest to lowest and start at zero; each one's value is at its end. The dashed line is “United States”, for comparison. It opens on the top and bottom 10; use “Show all” or the search box for the rest.
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Key facts
Measure: Spending per student, dollars a year. Written from the data below.
- New York City, New York has the highest figure, $35,796, followed by District of Columbia ($31,529) and Atlanta, Georgia ($26,117).
- Alpine, Utah has the lowest figure, $10,044, followed by St Johns County, Florida ($10,280) and Jordan, Utah ($10,309).
- The highest is 3.6 times the lowest.
- United States: $17,619. Of the 100 compared, 28 are above it and 72 below.
Each of the 100 largest school districts has its own page: find your school district to see its spending per student and students next to its state's and the U.S. figures.
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Source and date
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Chartly. “Which big school districts spend the most per student?” Chart. Data: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances/data/tables.html (data as of June 30, 2024). https://chart.ly/charts/school-spending-per-student-largest-districts (accessed November 4, 2026).
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The data
Download data (CSV)The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly. Developers can also get them as JSON (how).
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