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What Alabama School Districts Spend Per Student

The median Alabama school district spends $12,050 per student per year, $2,493 below the national median of $14,543, across all 146 districts the state reports. The 138 of them a ZIP code can reach are listed below, and their 745,178 students account for $8.8 billion of current spending in fiscal year 2022.

By , founder of TheHomeschoolingCompany. Reviewed .

Alabama at a Glance

Median district, per student$12,050
National median district$14,543
Districts listed138 of 146
Students listed745,178
Median district, math≈45%
Median district, reading≈42%

Every Alabama District, by Enrollment

Spending is current spending divided by fall membership for fiscal year 2022. Proficiency and graduation rates are school year 2018-19, the last year before the pandemic interrupted state testing, so the money and the results are not from the same year. A figure marked ≈ is one the federal file published as a range rather than a value, so small groups of children stay unidentifiable; it is the middle of that range and within ten points of the real one. A dash means the federal files publish no value under that district's ID. 8 further Alabama districts are missing because the federal boundary file places them in no ZIP code, which is normal for charter and virtual districts with no attendance area.

Alabama school districts by enrollment, with spending per student for fiscal year 2022
DistrictStudentsPer studentMathReadingGraduation
Mobile County School District52,614$12,16343%39%86%
Jefferson County School District35,819$11,49733%37%93%
Baldwin County School District31,812$11,99959%56%90%
Montgomery County School District27,396$11,43030%32%87%
Huntsville City School District23,939$12,03344%46%91%
Birmingham City School District21,328$13,89021%24%82%
Shelby County School District21,102$11,25358%56%94%
Madison County School District19,873$10,54359%57%97%
Tuscaloosa County School District19,111$11,18645%43%89%
Limestone County School District15,506$8,02144%47%92%
Hoover City School District13,606$13,85470%65%95%
Madison City School District12,302$10,74476%73%97%
Elmore County School District11,919$10,38152%51%91%
Tuscaloosa City School District10,964$12,94743%41%91%
St. Clair County School District9,771$10,01555%52%93%
Cullman County School District9,704$11,51954%48%95%
Auburn City School District9,395$10,97772%64%95%
Lee County School District9,303$11,57850%47%89%
Autauga County School District9,008$10,27054%55%89%
Decatur City School District8,679$13,76449%41%92%
DeKalb County School District8,622$11,82937%35%93%
Etowah County School District8,612$10,73849%53%97%
Dothan City School District8,355$12,00442%42%86%
Lauderdale County School District8,175$10,89454%53%93%
Calhoun County School District8,118$11,66745%49%94%
Chilton County School District7,723$10,18141%39%88%
Blount County School District7,659$10,77945%46%96%
Morgan County School District7,582$11,15547%46%92%
Phenix City City School District7,310$11,81846%45%97%
Walker County School District7,201$12,31541%44%95%
Talladega County School District7,127$11,71239%41%96%
Vestavia Hills City School District7,095$14,06882%79%95%
Eufaula City School District6,780$7,67523%34%≈87%
Houston County School District6,662$10,53858%50%95%
Enterprise City School District6,589$11,04560%56%94%
Alabaster City School District6,354$12,37657%52%97%
Albertville City School District5,956$10,26646%38%94%
Marshall County School District5,898$12,20240%36%93%
Jackson County School District5,136$11,50449%46%92%
Opelika City School District4,977$11,40752%44%90%
Trussville City School District4,941$11,52876%71%98%
Gadsden City School District4,858$12,66942%41%89%
Athens City School District4,788$10,65550%51%91%
Lawrence County School District4,764$12,09239%42%91%
Florence City School District4,719$13,24856%48%95%
Mountain Brook City School District4,340$16,75689%83%98%
Homewood City School District4,236$14,31275%68%96%
Oxford City School District4,202$11,69452%50%96%
Escambia County School District4,150$13,19044%43%89%
Pell City City School District4,140$10,74747%48%92%
Cherokee County School District3,895$12,23546%41%92%
Russell County School District3,710$11,38846%44%≈87%
Hartselle City School District3,625$11,74466%65%97%
Franklin County School District3,618$12,54438%37%90%
Pelham City School District3,520$11,67850%53%94%
Fort Payne City School District3,498$10,43346%43%98%
Bessemer City School District3,409$13,58021%22%78%
Marion County School District3,373$11,12149%48%92%
Chambers County School District3,347$12,05336%38%85%
Saraland City School District3,261$12,15069%64%94%
Dale County School District3,241$11,47660%53%98%
Cullman City School District3,224$12,23670%66%95%
Monroe County School District3,163$12,66031%33%91%
Bibb County School District3,076$12,87634%37%92%
Covington County School District2,982$11,84348%50%94%
Alexander City City School District2,927$12,56643%38%≈92%
Butler County School District2,927$11,52026%28%≈92%
Muscle Shoals City School District2,840$11,91470%61%93%
Tallapoosa County School District2,808$12,24038%38%92%
Coffee County School District2,782$10,47748%47%≈98%
Geneva County School District2,760$11,71454%47%95%
Chickasaw City School District2,688$9,56419%22%≈85%
Pike Road City School District2,688$9,71748%53%—
Colbert County School District2,658$13,96137%38%≈92%
Dallas County School District2,648$15,35030%29%94%
Arab City School District2,645$10,68272%64%≈98%
Jasper City School District2,599$12,20050%52%≈92%
Washington County School District2,583$11,63936%43%≈92%
Russellville City School District2,547$12,69345%37%≈98%
Cleburne County School District2,517$11,30749%48%≈98%
Scottsboro City School District2,501$12,26753%57%≈92%
Henry County School District2,488$11,47736%42%≈98%
Selma City School District2,479$14,28926%25%≈92%
Boaz City School District2,448$11,48143%39%≈92%
Hale County School District2,344$11,90732%34%93%
Pickens County School District2,343$12,56026%38%≈98%
Gulf Shores City School District2,338$11,463———
Winston County School District2,317$13,66747%46%93%
Clarke County School District2,254$13,28339%37%91%
Crenshaw County School District2,250$11,35241%37%≈92%
Lamar County School District2,212$10,84049%43%≈92%
Leeds City School District2,169$11,42945%42%≈98%
Fayette County School District2,157$12,62242%45%≈92%
Pike County School District2,157$14,43344%39%≈92%
Demopolis City School District2,106$11,67339%40%≈92%
Ozark City School District2,104$12,47835%35%≈98%
Sylacauga City School District2,104$12,04745%41%≈92%
Randolph County School District2,052$12,60336%37%≈92%
Anniston City School District1,908$13,89622%27%≈77%
Guntersville City School District1,890$12,61656%54%≈98%
Andalusia City School District1,862$11,43648%49%≈98%
Macon County School District1,845$16,96320%25%≈87%
Clay County School District1,826$11,23243%37%≈87%
Talladega City School District1,792$13,64426%29%≈92%
Jacksonville City School District1,690$11,31160%59%≈92%
Troy City School District1,682$12,64747%39%≈92%
Haleyville City School District1,624$12,92347%37%≈92%
Tallassee City School District1,613$11,52945%41%≈92%
Fairfield City School District1,591$13,72520%19%≈87%
Attalla City School District1,523$11,02840%42%≈92%
Satsuma City School District1,520$11,62054%54%≈98%
Conecuh County School District1,513$14,89631%30%≈92%
Roanoke City School District1,454$11,25035%35%≈98%
Tuscumbia City School District1,454$12,17342%48%≈92%
Bullock County School District1,443$13,87118%17%≈92%
Oneonta City School District1,425$10,98461%54%≈92%
Wilcox County School District1,306$16,46615%17%≈87%
Tarrant City School District1,290$12,66818%19%≈77%
Opp City School District1,264$12,91445%45%≈98%
Winfield City School District1,255$11,96158%53%≈92%
Geneva City School District1,231$12,34153%50%≈98%
Brewton City School District1,212$13,03158%59%≈92%
Daleville City School District1,195$11,51027%36%≈87%
Lowndes County School District1,180$20,75322%21%≈98%
Piedmont City School District1,131$12,00854%51%≈98%
Perry County School District1,089$15,11623%24%≈98%
Thomasville City School District1,084$13,22629%39%≈92%
Sumter County School District1,083$16,04821%21%≈87%
Choctaw County School District1,067$15,39023%25%≈92%
Sheffield City School District1,035$14,22942%35%≈95%
Midfield City School District1,011$14,62520%19%≈87%
Lanett City School District970$11,50724%23%≈95%
Marengo County School District964$14,29950%44%≈92%
Greene County School District937$17,42820%17%≈87%
Coosa County School District788$15,28329%34%≈85%
Barbour County School District737$14,81810%16%≈77%
Elba City School District646$12,22942%35%≈95%
Linden City School District446$15,24221%19%≈85%

Sources

Spending and enrollment come from the NCES School District Finance Survey (F-33) for fiscal year 2022. Proficiency and graduation rates come from EDFacts for school year 2018-19. Districts are matched to ZIP codes through the NCES EDGE geographic relationship file. Nothing on this page is estimated or modelled: a figure is read from a federal source file or it is left blank.

Questions About Alabama School Spending

How much does the average Alabama school district spend per student?
The middle, or median, Alabama district spent $12,050 per student in fiscal year 2022, $2,493 below the national median of $14,543. The median is the better summary here: a few very small districts spend several times what a large one does, and an average would follow them. That median covers all 146 districts the state reports. Across the 138 a ZIP code can reach, which are the ones listed on this page, 745,178 students account for $8.8 billion of current spending.
Which Alabama districts spend the most and least per student?
Lowndes County School District reports the highest figure in the table at $20,753 per student for 1,180 students, and Eufaula City School District the lowest at $7,675 for 6,780 students. Enrollment is the denominator, so a small district with one building and one bus route honestly produces a high figure; read the two columns together.
Why are some Alabama districts missing from this table?
Alabama has 146 districts with federal finance data and 138 of them appear here. The rest are placed in no ZIP code by the federal boundary file, which is normal for charter and virtual school districts that have no attendance area, so there is no ZIP code a reader could use to find them.
Does this money follow a child who is homeschooled?
No. The figure is what the district spends on a seat in its own schools, funded from local property tax, state formula aid and federal programs. Withdrawing a child removes the child from the count rather than sending the money home. TheHomeschoolingCompany is $1,788 for one student for a school year by comparison, less for each child after the first.

Look Up Your Own District

Enter a ZIP code and the calculator returns the district that serves it, what it spends per student, how its students score, and what the same school year costs at home.

School district cost per student by ZIP codeEstimate your own homeschool budgetHomeschooling in AlabamaPlans and pricing

Spending Per Student in Other States

AlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming