U.S. Department of Education 

Institute of Education Sciences 

NCES 2006-312 

Revenues and 

Expenditures by 

Public School Districts: 

School Year 2002–03 

E.D. TAB 

U.S. Department of Education 

Institute of Education Sciences 

NCES 2006-312 

Revenues and 

Expenditures by 

Public School Districts: 

School Year 2002–03 

E.D. TAB 

November 2005 

Jason Hill 

Education Statistics 

Services Institute 

Frank Johnson 

National Center for 

Education Statistics 

Frank Johnson 

Project Officer 

National Center for 

Education Statistics
U.S. Department of Education

Margaret Spellings 

Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences 

Grover J. Whitehurst 

Director

National Center for Education Statistics

Mark Schneider 

Commissioner 

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Suggested Citation 

Hill, J.G. and Johnson, F. (2005). Revenues and Expenditures by Public School Districts: School Year 

2002–03 (NCES 2006-312). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for 

Education Statistics. 

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Frank Johnson 

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frank.johnson@ed.gov
iii 

Acknowledgments 

Many individuals made important contributions to this report. The authors would like to thank James R. 

Berry at the Census Bureau for data collection; and John Wirt, Catherine Freeman, Bruce Taylor, Lee 

Hoffman, and Jeffrey Owings at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Duc-Le To of the 

Institute of Education Sciences (IES), and Aparna Sundaram and Zack Mclain the Education Statistics 

Services Institute (ESSI) for review. Sincere gratitude is expressed to all individuals who provided the 

data that made this report possible and to Carol Rohr and Chris Stahnke of Pinkerton Computer 

Consultants, Inc. (PCCI) who were responsible for the final formatting of this report. 
iv 

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v 

Contents

Page

Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................................... iii 

List of Tables .............................................................................................................vi 

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................1 

Selected Findings .........................................................................................................................................1 

 Total Revenues per Student Received by Regular School Districts ......................................................1 

 Total Expenditures per Student by Regular School Districts ................................................................2 

 Current Expenditures per Student by Regular School Districts .............................................................3 

 Current Expenditures by Charter Schools ..............................................................................................3 

 Current Expenditures by Unified Districts ............................................................................................4 

References ....................................................................................................................................................5 

Methodology ..............................................................................................................................................11 

Glossary ......................................................................................................................................................12 

For More Information .................................................................................................................................13 
vi 

List of Tables 

Table ............................................................................................................................................. Page 

1. Revenues per student for public elementary and secondary school districts, by state: 

 School year 2002–03 ................................................................................................................6 

2. Expenditures per student for elementary and secondary education, by type of expenditure 

for regular districts and for independent charter school districts: School year 2002–03 ..........7 

3. School district expenditures per student, by type of expenditures and state: School year 

 2002–03 ....................................................................................................................................8 

4. Current expenditures per student for public elementary and secondary school districts, 

 by state: School year 2002–03 ..................................................................................................9 

5. Current expenditures per student for unified school districts, by state: School year 

 2002–03 ..................................................................................................................................10
1 

Introduction 

This report presents findings from the Common Core of Data (CCD), “School District Finance Survey (F33),” 2002–03. These data are collected annually from state education agencies through U.S. Census 

Bureau: “Survey of Local Government Finances: School Systems.” Data in the “School District Finance 

Survey” include revenues by source, expenditures by function and object, long-term and short-term debt, 

and student membership (fall enrollment) for each public school district in the United States. 

This short report on revenues and expenditures at the school district level is a companion to the state-level 

E.D. TAB, Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 

2002–03 (NCES 2005-353R), which presents total state and national spending on public elementary and 

secondary education. This report provides data on what the average district is receiving in total revenue 

per student and spending per student for certain activities. The range in revenues per student and 

expenditures by school districts for each state and for the nation is also reported. These data were 

collected and edited between March 2004 and December 2004. 

Only regular school districts (see Glossary) with student counts greater than zero, with current 

expenditures per student between $2,500 and $35,000 per annum, and that are on the CCD “Local 

Education Agency Universe Survey” file were included in these analyses. There were 14,031 such 

districts in school year 2002–03. National figures do not include independent charter school districts, i.e., 

those not affiliated with a noncharter school district. Charter schools that are affiliated with regular school 

districts are included in the national and state figures. For more information about how this study was 

conducted, see the Methodology section. 

Data on the number of students and districts within each state also show the variation in the organization 

of education across the country. For example, Florida, with over 2.5 million students, has 67 school 

districts, whereas Nebraska, with fewer than 300,000 students, has 503 school districts. The number and 

size of school districts may affect administrative and other overhead costs. 

The District of Columbia is a single urban school district. It is treated separately from the states in the 

analysis below because it is often an outlier with larger revenues and expenditures per student than most 

other school districts. The District of Columbia did not report any finance data for their charter schools. 

Similarly, Hawaii is a single school district and funds public education primarily through states taxes. 

The federal range ratio is used in this report as an indicator of the difference between districts with 

relatively high revenues (or expenditures) per student and districts with relatively low revenues (or 

expenditures) per student. As used by Berne and Stiefel (1984) and in previous NCES publications 

(Parish, Matsumoto, and Fowler 1995; Hussar and Sonnenberg 2000), the federal range ratio excludes the 

top and bottom 5 percent of districts in order to reduce the influence of extreme cases. It is the difference 

between the amount per student of the district at the 95th percentile and the district at the 5th percentile, 

divided by the amount for the district at the 5th percentile. 

Selected Findings 

Total Revenues per Student Received by Regular School Districts 

• In the 2002–03 school year, the median school district received $8,891 per student in revenues 

from state, local, and federal sources (table 1). The median revenue per student indicates that half 

of the districts received less than $8,891 per student and half of the districts received more than 

$8,891 per student. 

• Median school district revenues per student among the states ranged from $6,298 in Tennessee to 

$16,333 in Alaska. Revenues per student in the District of Columbia were $16,499. 
2 

• Ninety percent of the school districts in the country received between $6,340 and $17,078 per 

student. When school district revenues per student are ranked from the lowest to the highest, the 

value for the district at the 5th percentile was $6,340, and the value for the district at the 95th

percentile was $17,078. The federal range ratio indicates the difference, or “disparity,” between 

the 5th and 95th percentile. The federal range ratio for total revenues per student was 1.69, 

indicating that the district at the 95th percentile received 169 percent more revenue per student 

than the district at the 5th percentile.

• The federal range ratio varied from 0.28 in West Virginia to 3.52 in Alaska. In 25 states the 

federal range ratio was less than 1.0. That is, the revenues per student for districts at the 95th

percentile (in each of these 25 states) reported less than twice the amount of revenue per student 

as the district at the 5th percentile. On the other hand, the top 5 percent of the districts in 5 states 

received revenues per student of more than 3 times that for the districts at the bottom 5 percent. 

That is, their federal range ratios were greater than 2.0.

Total Expenditures per Student by Regular School Districts 

• In 2002–03, the median total expenditure by school districts in the nation was $8,724 per student 

(table 2). This included current operating expenditures, capital outlays (for school construction 

and equipment), expenditures for programs other than elementary/secondary education (such as 

adult education and community service programs), interest payments on debt, and payments to 

state and local governments. Total expenditures do not include payments to other school districts 

and payments to private schools. (Revenues received from other school districts are included in 

total revenues.) 

• Tables 2 and 3 include median expenditures across districts in all states for specific types of 

expenditures and for the total of these expenditures. The median district in total expenditures is 

not necessarily the median district in current expenditures or other types of expenditures. 

Therefore, the median expenditures for the components (e.g., current, instruction, support 

services, etc.) do not sum to the median for total expenditures. 

• Total expenditures per student ranged between $6,145 and $16,720 for 90 percent of the school 

districts in the country (i.e., those districts between the 5th and 95th percentiles, table 2). The 

federal range ratio for total expenditures per student was 1.72, indicating that the district at the 

95th percentile spent 172 percent more per student than the district at the 5th percentile. The 

federal range ratio was less for total current expenditures (1.40) and current expenditures on 

instruction (1.42) and more for current expenditures on support services (1.92). 

• Per-student spending on capital outlay (for school construction and equipment) in districts with 

expenditures per student at the 95th percentile was 13,494 percent more than that of districts at the 

5th percentile. School districts with stable student populations may not need to make large 

expenditures for school construction, whereas districts experiencing a growing population of 

children may need to spend more money on school construction. In addition, expenditures for 

construction do not appear regularly from one year to the next. Districts may build several 

schools at the same time. This could result in a large expenditure for capital outlays one year and 

small expenditures in subsequent years. 

• Spending per student for programs other than elementary/secondary education was approximately 

26 times greater in high-spending districts than the national median ($273 vs. $10). The adult 

education and community service programs that are included in other program spending do not 

exist in many school districts. Of all school districts, 41 percent had no other programs, 30 

percent of all districts had no interest payments, and 29 percent of all districts had no payments to 

other government agencies or payments to other school districts. 

• Median total expenditures per student ranged from $6,387 in Mississippi to $16,665 in Alaska 

(table 3). The median total expenditure per student in the District of Columbia was $16,344. The 

median total expenditure per student was over $10,000 in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, the 

District of Columbia, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, and Wyoming. 
3 

• Median expenditures per student for instruction (teacher salaries, classroom supplies, etc.) ranged 

from $3,194 in Arizona to $8,761 in Alaska. Among the 10 states with the highest median 

expenditures per student for instruction, seven were in the Northeast (Connecticut, Maine, 

Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont). Conversely, of the 10 states 

with the lowest median expenditures per student for instruction, seven were in the Southeast 

(Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee). Instruction 

expenditures per student in the District of Columbia were higher than any state’s median 

instruction expenditures per student, except in Alaska and New York. 

• Median expenditures per student for capital projects (primarily school construction) ranged from 

$97 in Massachusetts to $1,655 in Delaware among the 50 states. Capital expenditures per student 

were $2,877 in the District of Columbia. 

Current Expenditures per Student by Regular School Districts 

Because of the variation in the kinds of programs run by school districts and the large swings in school 

construction expenditures, researchers often use current rather than total expenditures when reporting and 

comparing school district expenditures. Current expenditures are expenditures for the day-to-day 

operations of schools and school districts. Current expenditures include salaries, benefits, supplies, and 

purchased services, but do not include expenditures for construction, equipment, debt financing, and 

programs outside of public elementary/secondary education. 

• The median current expenditure per student for the nation was $7,602 (table 4). 

• Current expenditures per student in districts at the 95th percentile were more than 140 percent 

more than current expenditures per student in districts at the 5th percentile (i.e., the federal range 

ratio was greater than 1.40). In 13 states, current expenditures per student in districts at the 95th

percentile were less than 1.50 times current expenditures per student in districts at the 5th

percentile (i.e., the federal range ratio was less than 0.50). 

• The median current expenditure per student in Alaska ($15,207) was larger than the current 

expenditure per student in 95 percent of all districts in the nation (in other words, greater than 

$13,541, the value at the 95th percentile for the United States). 

• The four states with the highest federal range ratio in current expenditures per student were 

Alaska, Arizona, Montana, and Nevada. Expenditures per students were more than 4 times the 

district at the 95th percentile than the district at the 5th percentile in these states (i.e., their federal 

range ratio was greater than 2.0). The ratio was lowest in Alabama, Delaware, Maryland, and 

West Virginia. In the four lowest states, current expenditures per student at the 95th percentile 

were less than 135 percent of spending at the 5th percentile (i.e., their federal range ratio was less 

than 0.35). 

Current Expenditures by Charter Schools 

Independent charter schools are public schools that are exempt from significant state or local rules that 

normally govern the operation and management of public schools. A charter school may be affiliated with 

a regular school district, a university, or a private organization. In order to include all charter schools in 

its files, NCES created a separate school district record for each charter school (or charter school 

organization) that is not affiliated with a school district. In this report, data for charter schools that are 

associated with regular school districts are included with the data reported for the entire school district, 

and the data for those schools and the affiliated districts are indistinguishable from districts that do not 

have charter schools. 

Data for independent charter schools that are not affiliated with a regular school district were included in 

this report if they could be matched to the CCD “Local Education Agency Universe Survey,” if they had a 

student membership count greater than zero, and if they had both total revenues and total expenditures 

greater than zero. Data for independent charter school districts are reported at the bottom of each table in 

this report and are not included in the national totals or averages. Certain charter school districts in 
4 

Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North 

Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas fell into this category. These data are kept separate because in 

many cases the data are not complete or fail to meet NCES editing standards. In some cases a charter 

school district may operate more than one charter school. 

• The median revenue per student for independent charter schools (not affiliated with a public 

school district) was $7,593. The median revenue for 90 percent of these districts ranged from 

$4,973 to $14,912 (table 1). 

• The median total expenditure per student for independent charter schools was $7,201 (table 2). 

• Current expenditures per student in charter schools ranged from $4,109 to $12,815 for 90 percent 

of the charter school districts. 

Current Expenditures by Unified Districts 

District-level analyses and comparisons can be complicated by the variety of administrative structures 

that exist across the nation in regular school districts. States such as Florida, Maryland, Nevada, and West 

Virginia have large districts that are coterminous with counties and encompass all levels and types of 

public schools. School districts in other states may exist in small communities with only one school, or in 

larger communities where all elementary schools are in one school district and all secondary schools are 

in another. In some states, all special education schools are administered by a few specific districts; in 

other states, each district may have all kinds of different schools and programs.*

 This variety in the types 

of school districts makes comparison of expenditures across school districts difficult. 

The information presented in tables 1 through 4 is based on all regular education school districts reporting 

student counts that are reported on the CCD “Local Education Agency Universe Survey” regardless of 

grades served. Table 5 presents current expenditures per student in regular unified districts only. Unified 

districts are school districts with both elementary and secondary education programs. 

In eight states (Arizona, California, Illinois, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and 

Vermont), fewer than half of the school districts were unified. In two states, Montana and Vermont, fewer 

than half of the students attended schools in unified districts. The federal range ratio for the United States 

was reduced from 1.40 to 1.18 when only unified school districts were analyzed (tables 4 and 5). 

• Unified school districts serve students in all grades. The median current expenditure for unified 

school districts in the nation was $7,456 per student, with 90 percent of all districts ranging 

between $5,683 and $12,377 (table 5). The federal range ratio was 1.18, indicating a slight 

reduction in variation of spending per student compared with all regular school districts (1.40) 

reported in table 4. 

 

*

 Special education districts were not included in regular districts. 
5 

References 

Berne, R. and Stiefel, L. (1984). The Measurement of Equity in School Finance. Baltimore, MD: Johns 

Hopkins University Press. 

Hussar, W. and Sonnenberg, W. (2000). Trends in Disparities in School District Level Expenditures per 

Pupil (NCES 2000-020). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 

Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 

Parish, T.B., Matsumoto, C.S., and Fowler, W.J. (1995). Disparities in Public School District Spending 

(NCES 95-300).U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 

Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 
6 

Table 1.—Revenues per student for public elementary and secondary school districts, by state: School year 2002–03

 Revenues per student

Federal Number Number

5th 95th range of of

State percentile Median percentile ratio1 districts students

United States $6,340 $8,891 $17,078 1.69 14,031 47,439,756

Alabama 6,200 6,942 8,589 0.39 128 727,900

Alaska 7,684 16,333 34,753 3.52 53 133,303

Arizona 5,167 7,647 17,272 2.34 288 893,609

Arkansas 6,227 6,826 9,416 0.51 310 450,158

California 6,765 8,669 15,261 1.26 970 6,157,386

Colorado 7,003 8,890 15,521 1.22 178 751,049

Connecticut 9,872 11,729 17,203 0.74 166 548,466

Delaware 9,335 10,302 13,742 0.47 16 105,663

District of Columbia † 16,499 † † 1 67,522

Florida 6,684 7,515 10,268 0.54 67 2,536,699

Georgia 7,170 8,429 11,499 0.60 178 1,491,599

Hawaii † 11,309 † † 1 183,829

Idaho 5,710 7,527 14,641 1.56 114 248,515

Illinois 6,422 8,150 13,686 1.13 890 2,062,664

Indiana 6,355 7,439 10,287 0.62 292 999,713

Iowa 7,586 8,764 13,251 0.75 371 482,210

Kansas 7,417 9,102 12,388 0.67 302 470,264

Kentucky 6,424 7,224 8,888 0.38 176 660,782

Louisiana 6,522 7,499 9,987 0.53 66 723,252

Maine 8,603 11,261 23,824 1.77 223 203,476

Maryland 8,441 9,436 11,066 0.31 24 866,743

Massachusetts 9,130 11,253 18,613 1.04 301 942,736

Michigan 7,521 8,708 11,996 0.59 568 1,702,664

Minnesota 8,003 9,350 12,993 0.62 341 825,585

Mississippi 5,682 6,659 8,813 0.55 152 491,623

Missouri 6,184 7,551 11,255 0.82 522 921,625

Montana 5,632 8,869 19,985 2.55 438 149,780

Nebraska 5,792 9,151 19,000 2.28 503 283,934

Nevada 7,115 8,592 20,122 1.83 17 369,498

New Hampshire 8,150 11,234 23,636 1.90 162 203,702

New Jersey 10,557 13,458 22,705 1.15 551 1,329,992

New Mexico 7,066 10,602 23,687 2.35 89 320,264

New York 10,766 13,428 21,971 1.04 683 2,879,412

North Carolina 6,408 7,422 10,221 0.59 117 1,314,632

North Dakota 6,323 8,919 17,882 1.83 216 103,739

Ohio 7,017 8,135 13,357 0.90 611 1,803,963

Oklahoma 5,529 6,965 11,231 1.03 541 624,202

Oregon 6,725 7,968 18,313 1.72 196 552,131

Pennsylvania 8,075 9,688 13,185 0.63 499 1,757,066

Rhode Island 9,094 10,900 16,442 0.81 36 157,286

South Carolina 6,830 8,399 10,685 0.56 85 691,736

South Dakota 6,635 7,944 14,318 1.16 170 127,615

Tennessee 5,540 6,298 7,816 0.41 137 905,050

Texas 7,116 8,581 16,636 1.34 1,045 4,205,770

Utah 5,368 6,845 12,129 1.26 40 483,066

Vermont 8,970 15,470 26,040 1.90 240 94,901

Virginia 7,205 8,315 11,748 0.63 132 1,175,458

Washington 7,105 8,657 19,000 1.67 296 1,014,577

West Virginia 7,850 8,627 10,061 0.28 55 281,591

Wisconsin 8,800 10,104 12,872 0.46 426 875,390

Wyoming 9,562 12,463 22,442 1.35 48 85,966

Independent charter school districts 4,973 7,593 14,912 2.00 1,020 289,975

† Not applicable. The District of Columbia and Hawaii consist of one school district each.

1 The federal range ratio indicates the difference between the amount per student of the district at the 95th percentile and the district at the 5th percentile, 

divided by the amount for the district at the 5th percentile.

NOTE: National figures do not include independent charter school districts. National and state figures include charter schools that are affiliated with regular 

school districts. Only regular school districts matching the Common Core of Data (CCD), “Agency Universe”, with student membership greater than zero, 

and current expenditures per student between $2,500 and $35,000 were used in creating the national and state figures; 99.44 percent of the school districts 

met this criterion. Charter school districts with revenues greater than zero and expenditures greater than zero were included in the charter school analysis; 

100 percent of charter school districts met this criterion.

SOURCE: Data reported by states to U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "School

District Finance Survey" (F-33), FY 2003, version 1a.
7 

Table 2.—Expenditures per student for elementary and secondary education, by type of expenditure for regular districts and 

Table 2.—for independent charter school districts: School year 2002–03

 5th percentile Median 95th percentile Federal range ratio1

Regular Districts

Total expenditures $6,145 $8,724 $16,720 1.72

Total current 5,637 7,602 13,541 1.40

Instruction 3,398 4,671 8,226 1.42

Support services 1,725 2,609 5,040 1.92

Noninstruction services 20 330 662 32.10

Capital outlay 32 414 4,350 134.94

Other programs2 0 10 273 †

Payments to state and local governments 0 0 158 †

Interest on debt 0 128 682 †

Payments to other school districts and 

payprivate schools3 0 76 1,444 †

Independent charter school districts

Total 4,247 7,201 14,285 2.36

Current 4,109 6,812 12,815 2.12

Instruction 1,672 3,494 7,213 3.31

Support services 1,413 2,968 6,690 3.73

Non-instruction services 0 75 615 †

Capital outlay 0 0 2,060 †

Other programs2 0 0 321 †

Payments to state and local governments 0 0 0 †

Interest on long-term debt 0 0 251 †

Payments to other school districts and 

payprivate schools3 0 0 89 †

† Not applicable.

1 The federal range ratio indicates the difference between the amount per student of the district at the 95th percentile and the district at the 5th percentile, 

divided by the amount for the district at the 5th percentile. 2

Other programs include expenditures for community services, adult education, and community colleges. 3 Total expenditures, current expenditures, and instruction expenditures exclude payments to other school districts and payments to private schools.

NOTE: National figures do not include independent charter school districts. National and state figures include charter schools that are affiliated with regular 

school districts. Only regular school districts matching the Common Core of Data (CCD), “Agency Universe”, with student membership greater than zero, 

and current expenditures per student between $2,500 and $35,000 were used in creating the national and state figures; 99.44 percent of the school districts 

met this criterion. Charter school districts with revenues greater than zero and expenditures greater than zero were included in the charter school analysis; 

100 percent of charter school districts met this criterion.

SOURCE: Data reported by states to U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "School

District Finance Survey" (F-33), FY 2003, version 1a.

Type of expenditure

Expenditures per student
8 

Table 3.—School district expenditures per student, by type of expenditure and state: School year 2002–03

 Median expenditures per student 

Other Payments

programs4 to other

and payments districts

Instruction Capital outlay to other govt. Interest and private

State Total1 Total2 expenditures expenditures3 agencies on debt schools1

United States $8,724 $7,602 $4,671 $414 $17 $128 $76

Alabama 6,942 6,312 3,842 319 131 79 2

Alaska 16,665 15,207 8,761 612 31 0 0

Arizona 6,933 5,983 3,194 467 0 0 0

Arkansas 6,774 6,153 3,832 285 0 130 0

California 8,262 7,133 4,520 644 24 57 63

Colorado 8,948 7,503 4,476 696 31 168 132

Connecticut 10,765 9,997 6,179 271 15 227 380

Delaware 10,874 9,087 5,751 1,655 20 116 353

District of Columbia5 16,344 13,328 6,976 2,877 139 0 35

Florida 7,571 6,407 3,673 775 105 85 0

Georgia 8,393 7,399 4,689 739 5 76 6

Hawaii5 8,632 8,016 4,749 343 273 0 84

Idaho 7,554 6,609 4,006 363 0 120 0

Illinois 8,465 7,358 4,480 509 1 123 301

Indiana 8,673 7,163 4,376 576 612 26 241

Iowa 7,789 6,956 4,274 453 0 92 745

Kansas 8,620 7,927 4,796 458 0 109 7

Kentucky 6,934 6,481 4,023 185 95 181 0

Louisiana 7,443 6,843 4,130 395 28 107 2

Maine 9,787 9,225 6,097 119 27 60 309

Maryland 9,298 8,491 5,107 724 31 91 106

Massachusetts 9,952 9,480 5,908 97 0 349 585

Michigan 8,651 7,485 4,631 442 78 340 10

Minnesota 9,133 7,411 4,779 635 304 328 287

Mississippi 6,387 5,856 3,504 369 12 98 0

Missouri 7,462 6,646 4,100 377 77 90 62

Montana 8,927 8,344 5,203 226 0 0 27

Nebraska 8,714 7,994 5,383 273 0 0 12

Nevada 8,458 7,810 4,814 469 44 255 0

New Hampshire 9,731 8,773 5,414 259 0 164 522

New Jersey 12,419 11,082 6,589 418 51 189 580

New Mexico 10,602 8,719 4,581 1,188 34 140 0

New York 13,989 11,659 7,628 884 51 300 134

North Carolina 7,469 6,730 4,214 318 24 129 0

North Dakota 8,552 7,996 4,600 456 0 0 429

Ohio 8,208 7,100 4,243 433 100 117 53

Oklahoma 6,817 6,421 3,743 182 4 17 0

Oregon 8,577 7,444 4,399 273 1 143 24

Pennsylvania 9,298 7,999 4,948 428 16 391 489

Rhode Island 10,189 9,365 5,908 109 91 173 536

South Carolina 8,226 6,963 4,124 690 85 184 10

South Dakota 8,001 6,964 4,104 555 0 70 44

Tennessee 6,460 5,690 3,746 337 71 148 0

Texas 8,826 7,486 4,574 453 6 185 45

Utah 6,859 5,663 3,480 888 153 165 0

Vermont 9,614 9,201 5,843 143 0 107 5,866

Virginia 8,087 7,317 4,505 426 15 172 71

Washington 8,454 7,293 4,463 411 0 246 9

West Virginia 8,845 8,148 4,999 488 46 0 8

Wisconsin 9,805 8,707 5,315 349 143 339 130

Wyoming 12,116 10,130 5,775 1,248 6 68 0

Independent charter school districts 7,201 6,812 3,494 0 0 0 0

1

 Total expenditures do not include payments to other school districts and payments to private schools. 2 Current expenditures includes instruction, support services and noninstruction services, but exclude payments to other school

districts and payments to private schools.

3

Capital outlay expenditures are those for school construction, property, and equipment. 4

Other programs include expenditures for community services, adult education, and community colleges. 5 The District of Columbia and Hawaii consist of only one school district each.

NOTE: National figures do not include independent charter school districts. National and state figures include charter schools that are affiliated with regular 

school districts. Only regular school districts matching the Common Core of Data (CCD), “Agency Universe”, with student membership greater than zero, 

and current expenditures per student between $2,500 and $35,000 were used in creating the national and state figures; 99.44 percent of the school districts 

met this criterion. Charter school districts with revenues greater than zero and expenditures greater than zero were included in the charter school analysis; 

100 percent of charter school districts met this criterion.

SOURCE: Data reported by states to U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "School

District Finance Survey" (F-33), FY 2003, version 1a.

Total expenditures

Current expenditures
9 

Table 4.—Current expenditures per student for public elementary and secondary school districts, by state: School year 2002–03

5th 95th Federal range Number of Number of

State percentile Median percentile ratio1 districts students

United States $5,637 $7,602 $13,541 1.40 14,031 47,439,756

Alabama 5,605 6,312 7,499 0.34 128 727,900

Alaska 7,782 15,207 23,818 2.06 53 133,303

Arizona 4,285 5,983 14,216 2.32 288 893,609

Arkansas 5,404 6,153 8,739 0.62 310 450,158

California 6,019 7,133 12,045 1.00 970 6,157,386

Colorado 5,828 7,503 12,896 1.21 178 751,049

Connecticut 8,675 9,997 13,271 0.53 166 548,466

Delaware 7,919 9,087 10,532 0.33 16 105,663

District of Columbia † 13,328 † † 1 67,522

Florida 5,782 6,407 7,858 0.36 67 2,536,699

Georgia 6,382 7,399 9,700 0.52 178 1,491,599

Hawaii † 8,016 † † 1 183,829

Idaho 5,066 6,609 11,582 1.29 114 248,515

Illinois 5,686 7,358 11,704 1.06 890 2,062,664

Indiana 6,317 7,163 9,330 0.48 292 999,713

Iowa 6,086 6,956 8,817 0.45 371 482,210

Kansas 6,332 7,927 10,474 0.65 302 470,264

Kentucky 5,560 6,481 8,008 0.44 176 660,782

Louisiana 6,125 6,843 8,600 0.40 66 723,252

Maine 7,577 9,225 15,072 0.99 223 203,476

Maryland 7,769 8,491 10,189 0.31 24 866,743

Massachusetts 7,713 9,480 14,169 0.84 301 942,736

Michigan 6,446 7,485 10,209 0.58 568 1,702,664

Minnesota 6,310 7,411 10,047 0.59 341 825,585

Mississippi 4,985 5,856 8,078 0.62 152 491,623

Missouri 5,469 6,646 9,421 0.72 522 921,625

Montana 5,330 8,344 18,500 2.47 438 149,780

Nebraska 5,236 7,994 15,600 1.98 503 283,934

Nevada 5,774 7,810 19,703 2.41 17 369,498

New Hampshire 7,011 8,773 12,637 0.80 162 203,702

New Jersey 9,058 11,082 15,702 0.73 551 1,329,992

New Mexico 5,938 8,719 14,526 1.45 89 320,264

New York 9,419 11,659 18,267 0.94 683 2,879,412

North Carolina 5,905 6,730 8,553 0.45 117 1,314,632

North Dakota 5,333 7,996 15,667 1.94 216 103,739

Ohio 6,209 7,100 9,787 0.58 611 1,803,963

Oklahoma 5,017 6,421 9,966 0.99 541 624,202

Oregon 6,261 7,444 16,206 1.59 196 552,131

Pennsylvania 6,641 7,999 10,652 0.60 499 1,757,066

Rhode Island 7,869 9,365 12,138 0.54 36 157,286

South Carolina 6,105 6,963 8,647 0.42 85 691,736

South Dakota 5,605 6,964 10,949 0.95 170 127,615

Tennessee 4,918 5,690 7,331 0.49 137 905,050

Texas 6,129 7,486 12,373 1.02 1,045 4,205,770

Utah 4,393 5,663 10,358 1.36 40 483,066

Vermont 7,096 9,201 12,553 0.77 240 94,901

Virginia 6,425 7,317 10,330 0.61 132 1,175,458

Washington 6,237 7,293 17,212 1.76 296 1,014,577

West Virginia 7,415 8,148 9,223 0.24 55 281,591

Wisconsin 7,363 8,707 10,673 0.45 426 875,390

Wyoming 8,137 10,130 19,123 1.35 48 85,966

Independent charter school districts 4,109 6,812 12,815 2.12 1,020 289,975

† Not applicable. The District of Columbia and Hawaii consist of one school district each.

1 The federal range ratio indicates the difference between the amount per student of the district at the 95th percentile and the district at the 5th percentile, 

divided by the amount for the district at the 5th percentile.

NOTE: Current expenditures includes instruction, support services and noninstruction services, but exclude payments to other school districts and payments

 to private schools. National figures do not include independent charter school districts. National and state figures include charter schools that are affiliated 

with regular school districts. Only regular school districts matching the Common Core of Data (CCD), “Agency Universe”, with student membership greater

 than zero, and current expenditures per student between $2,500 and $35,000 were used in creating the national and state figures; 99.44 percent of the school 

districts met this criterion. Charter school districts with revenues greater than zero and expenditures greater than zero were included in the charter school 

analysis; 100 percent of charter school districts met this criterion. 

SOURCE: Data reported by states to U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "School

District Finance Survey" (F-33), FY 2003, version 1a.

Expenditures per student
10 

Table 5.—Current expenditures per student for unified school districts, by state: School year 2002–03

Federal Number of Percent of Percent of

5th 95th range districts districts Number of of students in 

State percentile Median percentile ratio1 unified unified students unified districts

 United States $5,683 $7,456 $12,377 1.18 10,621 75.7 43,749,990 92.2

Alabama 5,605 6,312 7,499 0.34 128 100.0 727,900 100.0

Alaska 7,782 15,207 23,818 2.06 53 100.0 133,303 100.0

Arizona 4,261 5,781 10,546 1.48 127 44.1 592,667 66.3

Arkansas 5,404 6,153 8,739 0.62 310 100.0 450,158 100.0

California 6,273 7,075 11,164 0.78 334 34.4 4,427,878 71.9

Colorado 5,828 7,503 12,896 1.21 178 100.0 751,049 100.0

Connecticut 8,711 9,831 12,902 0.48 113 68.1 515,315 94.0

Delaware 7,919 9,087 10,532 0.33 16 100.0 105,663 100.0

District of Columbia † 13,328 † † 1 100.0 67,522 100.0

Florida 5,782 6,407 7,858 0.36 67 100.0 2,536,699 100.0

Georgia 6,382 7,373 9,455 0.48 173 97.2 1,489,683 99.9

Hawaii † 8,016 † † 1 100.0 183,829 100.0

Idaho 5,066 6,428 11,011 1.17 108 94.7 248,386 99.9

Illinois 5,791 7,125 9,029 0.56 403 45.3 1,296,970 62.9

Indiana 6,332 7,169 9,330 0.47 291 99.7 999,476 100.0

Iowa 6,109 6,936 8,403 0.38 348 93.8 478,477 99.2

Kansas 6,298 7,925 10,487 0.67 300 99.3 470,052 100.0

Kentucky 5,595 6,432 7,847 0.40 171 97.2 658,956 99.7

Louisiana 6,125 6,843 8,600 0.40 66 100.0 723,252 100.0

Maine 7,514 8,979 11,832 0.57 112 50.2 176,931 87.0

Maryland 7,769 8,491 10,189 0.31 24 100.0 866,743 100.0

Massachusetts 7,738 9,234 13,177 0.70 210 69.8 875,932 92.9

Michigan 6,523 7,482 10,131 0.55 536 94.4 1,700,184 99.9

Minnesota 6,310 7,402 9,768 0.55 327 95.9 823,724 99.8

Mississippi 4,985 5,823 7,199 0.44 148 97.4 490,270 99.7

Missouri 5,469 6,548 9,036 0.65 447 85.6 909,846 98.7

Montana 5,860 9,395 23,714 3.05 54 12.3 18,050 12.1

Nebraska 6,593 7,962 11,153 0.69 243 48.3 271,846 95.7

Nevada 5,774 7,618 18,197 2.15 16 94.1 369,424 100.0

New Hampshire 6,871 8,576 11,396 0.66 67 41.4 158,392 77.8

New Jersey 9,365 11,191 14,926 0.59 218 39.6 997,058 75.0

New Mexico 5,938 8,719 14,526 1.45 89 100.0 320,264 100.0

New York 9,409 11,561 17,308 0.84 637 93.3 2,828,342 98.2

North Carolina 5,905 6,730 8,553 0.45 117 100.0 1,314,632 100.0

North Dakota 5,379 7,559 12,949 1.41 165 76.4 100,795 97.2

Ohio 6,211 7,101 9,787 0.58 610 99.8 1,803,901 100.0

Oklahoma 5,025 6,385 9,694 0.93 430 79.5 601,798 96.4

Oregon 6,247 7,363 13,564 1.17 178 90.8 551,664 99.9

Pennsylvania 6,653 7,999 10,652 0.60 497 99.6 1,756,198 100.0

Rhode Island 7,869 9,327 12,138 0.54 32 88.9 155,219 98.7

South Carolina 6,105 6,963 8,647 0.42 85 100.0 691,736 100.0

South Dakota 5,605 6,903 10,172 0.81 163 95.9 126,457 99.1

Tennessee 4,958 5,690 7,276 0.47 123 89.8 883,491 97.6

Texas 6,121 7,434 11,914 0.95 982 94.0 4,195,732 99.8

Utah 4,393 5,663 10,358 1.36 40 100.0 483,066 100.0

Vermont 7,509 9,256 11,554 0.54 36 15.0 33,521 35.3

Virginia 6,425 7,317 10,330 0.61 132 100.0 1,175,458 100.0

Washington 6,283 7,221 14,147 1.25 246 83.1 1,005,915 99.1

West Virginia 7,415 8,148 9,223 0.24 55 100.0 281,591 100.0

Wisconsin 7,508 8,705 10,533 0.40 368 86.4 839,162 95.9

Wyoming 8,137 9,916 16,817 1.07 46 95.8 85,413 99.4

Independent charter school districts 3,963 6,580 16,078 3.06 271 26.6 95,062 32.8

† Not applicable. The District of Columbia and Hawaii consist of one school district each.

1 The federal range ratio indicates the difference between the amount per student of the district at the 95th percentile and the district at the 5th percentile, 

divided by the amount for the district at the 5th percentile.

NOTE: Current expenditures includes instruction, support services and noninstruction services, but exclude payments to other school districts and payments

 to private schools. National figures do not include independent charter school districts. National and state figures include charter schools that are affiliated 

with regular school districts. Only regular school districts matching the Common Core of Data (CCD), “Agency Universe”, with student membership greater

 than zero, and current expenditures per student between $2,500 and $35,000 were used in creating the national and state figures; 99.44 percent of the school 

districts met this criterion. Charter school districts with revenues greater than zero and expenditures greater than zero were included in the charter school 

analysis; 100 percent of charter school districts met this criterion. 

SOURCE: Data reported by states to U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "School

District Finance Survey" (F-33), FY 2003, version 1a.

Expenditures per student
11 

Methodology 

The “School District Finance Survey (F-33)” is an annual local education agency-level collection of 

revenue and expenditure data for public education in grades prekindergarten through 12. It is part of the 

Common Core of Data (CCD) collection of surveys of administrative records data relating to public 

elementary and secondary education. This survey is also part of the U.S. Census Bureau: “Annual Survey 

of Local Government Finances: School Systems.” The Census Bureau acts as the collection agent for the 

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for this survey. 

Local education agencies (LEAs) send revenue and expenditure data to their state education agency, 

which may review and edit the data before sending them on to the Census Bureau. The NCES and Census 

Bureau review and edit the data before they are published. These edits include the addition of NCES 

district identification codes and nonfiscal variables, as well as the resolution of inconsistent or unusual 

data in collaboration with state data coordinators. Every state and the District of Columbia reported data 

on all school districts with financial activity. 

Median revenue per student or median expenditure per student data, and data for the school district at the 

5th and 95th percentiles are shown in tables 1 through 5. These percentile points were chosen to exclude 

any outlier data. 

There are many different types of LEAs. In addition to the types discussed earlier, there are districts 

whose only function is to collect and allocate funds, or to provide certain administrative services for a 

group of LEAs. Only regular education districts with students greater than zero were considered in the 

analyses resulting in tables 1 through 5. 

In order to have comparable LEAs for analysis, those districts that did not have schools reporting students 

or that were not recognized in the CCD “Local Education Agency Universe Survey,” were removed from 

consideration. School districts whose primary function was providing special education or vocational 

education services were also removed from consideration in this report. Charter schools that are not 

affiliated with a school district were treated separately from regular districts. Furthermore, districts with 

current expenditures per student less than $2,500 or greater than $35,000 (.56 percent of regular districts) 

were removed because they are outliers representing extraordinary school districts. Thus, regular school 

districts with students, school districts with current expenditures per student greater than $2,500 and less 

than $35,000, and school districts that have charter as well as noncharter schools were included in the 

national and state analyses. 

Independent charter schools are not affiliated with school districts. Data for these schools were reported 

separately at the bottom of the tables. To be included, these schools must have been in the CCD Local 

Education Agency Universe, have students, and report revenues and expenditures greater than zero. Some 

education agencies may be providing services to students who are counted in another agency. For some 

charter schools, only revenue data were reported. 

Total expenditures in this report do not include payments to other school districts. Payments to other 

school districts are primarily for services to students attending schools in other school districts. These 

children are not included in the student count of the district making this payment. Total expenditures on 

the F-33 data file include payments to other districts. Total revenues include funds received from other 

school districts. The student counts reflect all of the students enrolled in the school district on October 1, 

2002 (or nearest school day to October 1). 

A number of factors affecting expenditures per student are beyond the scope of this report. These include 

differences in student needs, regional costs, and urbanicity. Student membership counts used in this report 

are those reported on the F-33 survey. 
12 

The F-33 file can be matched to the CCD “Local Education Agency Universe Survey” and “Public 

Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey” files using a common identification code. This makes it 

possible to match nonfiscal data on students, staff, schools, and districts to the finance data. 

Glossary 

Capital outlay expenditures are those for school construction, property, and equipment. They do not 

include interest payments or other financing costs that may be attributable to capital outlay expenditures. 

Charter schools are public schools that are exempt from significant state or local rules that normally 

govern the operation and management of public schools. They usually operate in pursuit of a specific set 

of education objectives determined by the school’s developer and agreed to by the public chartering 

agency. Charter schools may be affiliated with a regular school district, or they may be self-governing 

entities. 

Current expenditures are those for the day-to-day operation of schools. They include all expenditures 

except those associated with repaying debts, capital outlays (e.g., purchases of land, school construction 

and repair, and equipment). Programs outside the scope of preschool to grade 12, transfer payments, and 

expenditures for items lasting more than 1 year (e.g., school buses and computers) are not included in 

current expenditures. 

Independent charter school districts include only charter schools. 

Instructional expenditures are current expenditures for activities directly associated with the interaction 

between teachers and students. These include teacher salaries and benefits, supplies (e.g., textbooks), and 

purchased instructional services. Tuition payments for special needs students to attend private schools and 

payments to public charter schools are not included here. 

Interest on debt expenditures are interest expenditures on long-term and short-term debt. 

Local education agencies (LEAs), often called school districts, are those agencies at the local level 

whose primary responsibility is to operate public schools or to contract for public school services. 

Noninstructional expenditures are composed predominantly of food services, as well as enterprise 

operations, such as bookstores and interscholastic athletics. 

Other program expenditures include expenditures for community services, adult education, community 

colleges, and other programs that are not part of public elementary and secondary education. 

Payments to state and local governments are expenditures to other governments (except school 

districts) for services and loans. 

Payments to other school districts and private schools are expenditures made to private schools and 

other LEAs. These expenditures include tuition, transportation, and computer and purchasing services. 

Regular school districts are public elementary and/or secondary school districts that provide instruction 

and other education services and that do not focus primarily on special education or vocational education. 

Education service agencies are also excluded from this category. 

Revenues are the total revenues for local, state, and federal sources. They include revenues from student 

fees and the sale of property, but exclude revenues raised through bond sales. 
13 

Students are the count of students enrolled on or about October 1, 2002. 

Support services expenditures are current expenditures for activities that support instruction. These 

services include operation and maintenance of buildings, school administration, student support services 

(e.g., nurses, therapists, and guidance counselors), student transportation, instructional staff support (e.g., 

librarians, instructional specialists), school district administration, business services, research, and data 

processing. 

Total expenditures for public elementary and secondary education and other programs include 

current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education, capital outlays, other programs, 

interest on debt, and payments to state and local governments. Payments to other school districts and 

private schools are excluded from total expenditures. 

Unified school districts provide both elementary and secondary education services and instruction. 

For More Information 

This report used information from the Common Core of Data (CCD), “School District Finance Survey,” 

2002–03, version 1a. The complete data file, survey form, and documentation may be accessed from the 

NCES website at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/f33agency.asp. 

For more information on CCD nonfiscal data, readers may want to read the Overview of Public 

Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 2001–02 (NCES 2003-411). For data on 

and analysis of state-level education finance data, readers should use the CCD “National Public Education 

Financial Survey.” The Ed Tab report with the state-level school year 2002–03 data is Revenues and 

Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2002–03 (NCES 2005-353). 

The Census Bureau provides demographic data from the Census 2000 that have been mapped to school 

districts. These data can be found on the NCES website (http://nces.ed.gov) when they become available. 

For more information about this report or the data set, contact Frank Johnson, National Center for 

Education Statistics, 1990 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006-5651; call 202-502-7362; fax 202-502-

7475; or e-mail frank.johnson@ed.gov.