US states by public school current spending per pupil
New York had the highest public school current spending per pupil of 51 states in 2016, at $22,366. Utah had the lowest, at $6,953. The median was $11,348 and the figure for the United States was $11,763. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Map of states, 2016
- Under 9,000
- 9,000 to 9,900
- 9,900 to 11K
- 11K to 13K
- 13K to 16K
- 16K and over
All states, 2016
Full ranking
| Rank | States | 2016 | Change on 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | 22,366 | +5.5% |
| 2 | District of Columbia | 20,235 | +4.3% |
| 3 | Connecticut | 18,958 | +3.2% |
| 4 | New Jersey | 18,402 | +0.9% |
| 5 | Vermont | 17,873 | -0.9% |
| 6 | Alaska | 17,510 | -13.2% |
| 7 | Wyoming | 16,442 | +2.4% |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 15,593 | 0% |
| 9 | Rhode Island | 15,532 | +2.3% |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | 15,437 | +4.9% |
| 11 | New Hampshire | 15,340 | +4.4% |
| 12 | Delaware | 14,713 | +4.2% |
| 13 | Maryland | 14,206 | +0.1% |
| 14 | Illinois | 14,180 | +3.1% |
| 15 | Hawaii | 13,748 | +7% |
| 16 | North Dakota | 13,373 | +0.4% |
| 17 | Maine | 13,282 | +0.2% |
| 18 | Minnesota | 12,382 | +3.6% |
| 19 | Nebraska | 12,299 | +3% |
| 20 | Ohio | 12,102 | +4% |
| 21 | Michigan | 11,668 | +1.6% |
| 22 | Washington | 11,534 | +7.4% |
| 23 | California | 11,495 | +9.8% |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 11,456 | +0.7% |
| 25 | Virginia | 11,432 | +1.7% |
| 26 | Montana | 11,348 | +2.9% |
| 27 | West Virginia | 11,291 | -0.6% |
| 28 | Iowa | 11,150 | +1.9% |
| 29 | Louisiana | 11,038 | +0.3% |
| 30 | Oregon | 10,842 | +3.8% |
| 31 | Missouri | 10,313 | +1.6% |
| 32 | South Carolina | 10,249 | +3% |
| 33 | Kansas | 9,960 | -0.8% |
| 34 | Kentucky | 9,863 | +2.4% |
| 35 | Indiana | 9,856 | +1.7% |
| 36 | Arkansas | 9,846 | +1.6% |
| 37 | Georgia | 9,769 | +3.6% |
| 38 | New Mexico | 9,693 | -0.6% |
| 39 | Colorado | 9,575 | +3.6% |
| 40 | Alabama | 9,243 | +1.3% |
| 41 | South Dakota | 9,176 | +2.7% |
| 42 | Texas | 9,016 | +1.7% |
| 43 | Nevada | 8,960 | +4% |
| 44 | Florida | 8,920 | +0.4% |
| 45 | Tennessee | 8,810 | +1% |
| 46 | North Carolina | 8,792 | +1.2% |
| 47 | Mississippi | 8,702 | +2.9% |
| 48 | Oklahoma | 8,097 | +0.2% |
| 49 | Arizona | 7,613 | +1.6% |
| 50 | Idaho | 7,157 | +3.4% |
| 51 | Utah | 6,953 | +5.8% |
Other periods
About this ranking
Current spending of public elementary and secondary school systems divided by their fall enrollment, in US dollars, from the U.S. Census Bureau Annual Survey of School System Finances (Table 8).
More on how it is measured
- Current spending is instruction plus support services such as administration, transport and food services; it leaves out capital outlay, debt interest, payments to other school systems, and adult education and other programs outside kindergarten to grade 12.
- The year is the fiscal year, which ends on 30 June in most states (2024 means July 2023 to June 2024).
Current dollars, not adjusted for inflation or for price differences between states. NCES publishes a similar per pupil figure from its own finance survey with a different enrollment base, so the two differ slightly.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Census Bureau. Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 8: per pupil amounts for current spending of public elementary-secondary school systems by state, total. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances/data/tables.html. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Census Bureau. (2019). Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 8: per pupil amounts for current spending of public elementary-secondary school systems by state, total (US states by public school current spending per pupil, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances/data/tables.html
MLA 9
Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 8: per pupil amounts for current spending of public elementary-secondary school systems by state, total, US states by public school current spending per pupil, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 21 May 2019, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances/data/tables.html. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/public-school-spending-per-pupil/us-states?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 8: per pupil amounts for current spending of public elementary-secondary school systems by state, total. US states by public school current spending per pupil, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances/data/tables.html. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/public-school-spending-per-pupil/us-states?period=2016.
Harvard
U.S. Census Bureau (2019) Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 8: per pupil amounts for current spending of public elementary-secondary school systems by state, total, US states by public school current spending per pupil, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances/data/tables.html, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/public-school-spending-per-pupil/us-states?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_public_2016,
author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
title = {{Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 8: per pupil amounts for current spending of public elementary-secondary school systems by state, total: US states by public school current spending per pupil, 2016}},
year = {2019},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances/data/tables.html},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/public-school-spending-per-pupil/us-states?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 8: per pupil amounts for current spending of public elementary-secondary school systems by state, total. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances/data/tables.html. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Census Bureau
TI - Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 8: per pupil amounts for current spending of public elementary-secondary school systems by state, total: US states by public school current spending per pupil, 2016
PY - 2019
DA - 2019/05/21
PB - U.S. Census Bureau
DB - Invokely
UR - https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances/data/tables.html
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/public-school-spending-per-pupil/us-states?period=2016
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/public-school-spending-per-pupil/us-states?period=2016.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 8: per pupil amounts for current spending of public elementary-secondary school systems by state, total. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances/data/tables.html. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
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Rank US states by public school current spending per pupil using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"public_school_current_spending_per_pupil","level":"region","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=public_school_current_spending_per_pupil&level=region&within=United%20States&limit=10Questions
Which state has the highest public school current spending per pupil?
New York, with $22,366 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which state has the lowest public school current spending per pupil?
Utah, with $6,953 in 2016.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 8: per pupil amounts for current spending of public elementary-secondary school systems by state, total. Retrieved 2026-10-12.