Which costs are required, optional, recurring, or one-time?

North Carolina districts spend a median of $11,634 per student a year against $14,543 nationally. Use this page to compare every school district in one state by spending per student and results, decide how one district's spending and results sit against the rest of its state, preserve each district's figure, the enrollment behind it, and how many of the state's districts the table reaches, and take this next step: find the district in the table, then look up a ZIP code to see which one serves a given street.

What North Carolina School Districts Spend Per Student

The median North Carolina school district spends $11,634 per student per year, $2,909 below the national median of $14,543, across all 326 districts the state reports. The 115 of them a ZIP code can reach are listed below, and their 1,391,967 students account for $17.1 billion of current spending in fiscal year 2022.

By Andrew Garber, founder of TheHomeschoolingCompany. Reviewed August 12, 2026.

North Carolina at a Glance

Median district, per student	$11,634
National median district	$14,543
Districts listed	115 of 326
Students listed	1,391,967
Median district, math	≈39%
Median district, reading	≈47%

Every North Carolina 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. 211 further North Carolina 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.

North Carolina school districts by enrollment, with spending per student for fiscal year 2022
District	Students	Per student	Math	Reading	Graduation
Wake County Schools	160,099	$11,859	50%	56%	90%
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	143,244	$11,853	48%	45%	85%
Guilford County Schools	69,173	$13,036	38%	44%	89%
Forsyth County Schools	52,681	$13,036	39%	44%	86%
Cumberland County Schools	48,860	$12,412	34%	42%	84%
Union County Public Schools	40,600	$11,010	63%	60%	93%
Johnston County Schools	37,823	$10,788	35%	40%	93%
Cabarrus County Schools	33,562	$10,831	50%	52%	89%
Durham Public Schools	31,754	$14,937	32%	37%	83%
Gaston County Schools	30,045	$11,409	40%	41%	85%
Onslow County Schools	27,264	$10,680	36%	44%	89%
New Hanover County Schools	24,933	$13,724	51%	53%	88%
Pitt County Schools	23,790	$11,733	41%	42%	83%
Alamance-Burlington Schools	22,158	$12,211	36%	38%	83%
Buncombe County Schools	22,079	$13,190	45%	48%	87%
Robeson County Schools	20,783	$12,594	23%	26%	84%
Iredell-Statesville Schools	20,686	$10,865	45%	48%	88%
Harnett County Schools	19,705	$11,026	33%	40%	87%
Rowan-Salisbury Schools	18,104	$11,832	24%	34%	85%
Davidson County Schools	17,894	$10,930	48%	48%	86%
Wayne County Public Schools	17,602	$11,752	32%	35%	83%
Catawba County Schools	15,494	$11,517	45%	48%	89%
Randolph County Schools	15,221	$11,621	42%	41%	90%
Nash-Rocky Mount Schools	14,397	$12,090	23%	31%	82%
Cleveland County Schools	14,324	$11,957	47%	45%	87%
Moore County Schools	12,828	$11,242	43%	49%	91%
Henderson County Schools	12,768	$11,469	50%	54%	92%
Craven County Schools	12,666	$11,737	35%	45%	87%
Brunswick County Schools	12,640	$12,819	41%	43%	85%
Burke County Schools	11,632	$11,845	45%	47%	90%
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools	11,563	$16,534	64%	67%	91%
Lincoln County Schools	11,314	$10,582	50%	54%	91%
Rockingham County Schools	11,083	$12,295	40%	39%	86%
Caldwell County Schools	10,906	$11,644	37%	47%	88%
Wilson County Schools	10,410	$12,063	36%	41%	77%
Pender County Schools	10,332	$11,305	46%	50%	93%
Duplin County Schools	9,725	$10,965	28%	33%	84%
Lee County Schools	9,241	$12,250	37%	39%	88%
Chatham County Schools	9,009	$13,461	46%	50%	88%
Hoke County Schools	8,874	$11,383	36%	39%	80%
Wilkes County Schools	8,643	$12,156	42%	45%	88%
Stanly County Schools	8,315	$11,496	39%	41%	91%
Lenoir County Schools	8,303	$12,373	28%	36%	85%
Franklin County Schools	8,021	$12,156	34%	41%	85%
Carteret County Schools	7,964	$13,086	54%	59%	84%
Sampson County Schools	7,853	$12,503	46%	47%	82%
Rutherford County Schools	7,572	$14,170	44%	46%	84%
Surry County Schools	7,300	$12,638	48%	50%	93%
Orange County Schools	7,200	$14,085	43%	46%	89%
Granville County Schools	6,835	$12,049	29%	36%	83%
Richmond County Schools	6,810	$12,389	42%	39%	81%
Haywood County Schools	6,658	$12,690	48%	51%	85%
Davie County Schools	6,107	$11,624	49%	50%	86%
Mooresville City Schools	5,982	$11,157	54%	55%	94%
Beaufort County Schools	5,926	$14,227	39%	39%	83%
McDowell County Schools	5,881	$12,857	38%	46%	83%
Stokes County Schools	5,519	$13,084	43%	45%	83%
Edgecombe County Schools	5,467	$13,224	23%	25%	79%
Scotland County Schools	5,450	$14,867	28%	31%	81%
Kannapolis City Schools	5,379	$12,268	23%	35%	82%
Vance County Schools	5,323	$12,944	27%	32%	87%
Dare County Schools	5,244	$13,375	48%	55%	91%
Columbus County Schools	5,212	$12,909	31%	38%	85%
Yadkin County Schools	5,198	$12,232	45%	45%	88%
Pasquotank County Schools	4,840	$13,245	28%	35%	81%
Watauga County Schools	4,673	$12,698	52%	59%	90%
Alexander County Schools	4,509	$12,879	47%	48%	83%
Macon County Schools	4,473	$13,154	40%	47%	94%
Asheboro City Schools	4,429	$12,643	36%	37%	88%
Currituck County Schools	4,414	$11,948	43%	46%	87%
Person County Schools	4,333	$13,423	39%	40%	82%
Asheville City Schools	4,218	$15,998	46%	59%	91%
Bladen County Schools	3,981	$13,797	29%	33%	92%
Hickory City Schools	3,869	$11,646	41%	45%	87%
Montgomery County Schools	3,587	$14,181	35%	36%	91%
Jackson County Schools	3,516	$13,534	35%	42%	89%
Transylvania County Schools	3,328	$13,904	45%	51%	85%
Lexington City Schools	3,012	$13,565	29%	32%	≈87%
Clinton City Schools	3,002	$11,956	39%	37%	78%
Cherokee County Schools	2,944	$15,950	41%	49%	93%
Anson County Schools	2,924	$14,107	27%	33%	83%
Newton-Conover City Schools	2,870	$11,901	38%	44%	94%
Ashe County Schools	2,768	$13,780	52%	55%	86%
Greene County Schools	2,734	$15,182	25%	30%	96%
Roanoke Rapids City Schools	2,710	$12,783	39%	36%	88%
Martin County Schools	2,659	$14,638	26%	33%	72%
Hertford County Schools	2,482	$14,364	17%	27%	79%
Thomasville City Schools	2,232	$13,257	23%	23%	≈87%
Caswell County Schools	2,229	$13,976	26%	34%	79%
Halifax County Schools	2,161	$16,759	17%	25%	≈77%
Madison County Schools	2,137	$14,773	48%	52%	≈87%
Polk County Schools	2,129	$15,096	58%	62%	≈92%
Whiteville City Schools	2,103	$14,263	42%	46%	≈87%
Yancey County Schools	1,962	$14,275	49%	47%	90%
Edenton-Chowan Schools	1,937	$14,768	39%	39%	≈92%
Swain County Schools	1,919	$14,269	42%	46%	≈77%
Avery County Schools	1,885	$15,311	49%	51%	≈92%
Camden County Schools	1,880	$12,277	48%	60%	≈92%
Bertie County Schools	1,832	$16,069	24%	33%	78%
Warren County Schools	1,783	$16,222	23%	28%	≈82%
Mount Airy City Schools	1,729	$12,873	43%	47%	≈87%
Mitchell County Schools	1,727	$13,939	41%	48%	≈87%
Perquimans County Schools	1,658	$13,955	38%	41%	≈87%
Gates County Schools	1,475	$16,417	39%	40%	≈82%
Alleghany County Schools	1,392	$15,572	44%	43%	≈87%
Northampton County Schools	1,343	$20,192	15%	20%	≈72%
Elkin City Schools	1,283	$12,606	53%	62%	≈77%
Clay County Schools	1,252	$14,506	42%	40%	≈92%
Pamlico County Schools	1,207	$17,355	37%	36%	≈98%
Graham County Schools	1,160	$16,563	34%	38%	≈82%
Washington County Schools	1,091	$17,233	20%	27%	≈77%
Jones County Schools	1,032	$17,274	38%	46%	≈92%
Weldon City Schools	709	$19,454	14%	24%	≈82%
Tyrrell County Schools	528	$21,536	18%	33%	≈95%
Hyde County Schools	489	$26,448	35%	43%	≈75%

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 North Carolina School Spending

How much does the average North Carolina school district spend per student?

The middle, or median, North Carolina district spent $11,634 per student in fiscal year 2022, $2,909 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 326 districts the state reports. Across the 115 a ZIP code can reach, which are the ones listed on this page, 1,391,967 students account for $17.1 billion of current spending.

Which North Carolina districts spend the most and least per student?

Hyde County Schools reports the highest figure in the table at $26,448 per student for 489 students, and Lincoln County Schools the lowest at $10,582 for 11,314 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 North Carolina districts missing from this table?

North Carolina has 326 districts with federal finance data and 115 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.

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