Now do it again showing the standard deviation district-to-district per state.
Sorry to make you read all this, but it’s back-to-school season:
Public schools in the US are funded through a mix of state, local, and federal sources, with state and local governments providing the bulk of the money. In the 2021–22 school year, about 44.1% of public school funding came from states, often through income or sales taxes, while 42.2% came from local sources such as property taxes. Federal funding made up the remaining 13.7%, primarily through targeted programs like Title I for schools serving low-income students or IDEA for special education services. Altogether, public schools received $909.2 billion, which works out to about $18,500 per student.
While those national averages offer a big-picture view, funding levels vary widely by state. In 2021–22, per-student funding ranged from roughly $11,500 in Idaho to $34,000 in New York. These differences reflect a mix of cost of living, the balance between state and local contributions, and the strength of local tax bases. For example, Vermont relies heavily on state funding, while New Hampshire leans more on local sources. In states like Mississippi, where local revenues are lower, federal funds make up a larger share of total funding.
All of the states with the most federal are red states. Surprise surprise
Great map and topic. With a average of 20 kids per class New York has almost $680,000 per classroom. A average teacher makes 80k. Where in the hell is the rest of the 600k going? Bloated beurocracy?
Edit: Why does spending more per student get better grades? Some of the highest have some of the worst ranked students.
Damn, no wonder New Mexico students are struggling.
The lowest state still gets more funding than in Canada … Ontario is $13 364 CAD/student (or $9676 USD). This is probably an unequal comparison but I’ve been told that U.S. schools are a usually lot nicer than ours.
Can you normalize to funding per student in the source breakdown rather than percent?
Say what you what but NY has high standards. My grandson graduated this year and his class of about 390 kids had about 60% high honors. High honors mean that achieved 90% or better on ALL Regents exam. Regent exams are very tough, just below AP exams.
Illinois taxes are ridiculous especially property taxes. I’m glad they are at least good at something.
I would love to see this plotted against educational outcomes. State rankings, SAT scores, likelihood of graduating college with an associates degree, BA BS, MS, PHD.
![Public school funding per student in the US [OC]](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/k5kezjnep7jf1-1920x1024.png)
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Source: [National Center for Education Statistics](https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/data/data-file/fy-2022-school-district-finance-survey-data-school-year-2021-22-nces-2024-311)
Tools: Datawrapper, Illustrator
More charts [here](https://usafacts.org/answers/how-are-public-schools-in-the-us-funded/country/united-states/)
Now do it again showing the standard deviation district-to-district per state.
Sorry to make you read all this, but it’s back-to-school season:
Public schools in the US are funded through a mix of state, local, and federal sources, with state and local governments providing the bulk of the money. In the 2021–22 school year, about 44.1% of public school funding came from states, often through income or sales taxes, while 42.2% came from local sources such as property taxes. Federal funding made up the remaining 13.7%, primarily through targeted programs like Title I for schools serving low-income students or IDEA for special education services. Altogether, public schools received $909.2 billion, which works out to about $18,500 per student.
While those national averages offer a big-picture view, funding levels vary widely by state. In 2021–22, per-student funding ranged from roughly $11,500 in Idaho to $34,000 in New York. These differences reflect a mix of cost of living, the balance between state and local contributions, and the strength of local tax bases. For example, Vermont relies heavily on state funding, while New Hampshire leans more on local sources. In states like Mississippi, where local revenues are lower, federal funds make up a larger share of total funding.
More data [here](https://usafacts.org/answers/how-are-public-schools-in-the-us-funded/country/united-states/) if you’re curious.
All of the states with the most federal are red states. Surprise surprise
Great map and topic. With a average of 20 kids per class New York has almost $680,000 per classroom. A average teacher makes 80k. Where in the hell is the rest of the 600k going? Bloated beurocracy?
Edit: Why does spending more per student get better grades? Some of the highest have some of the worst ranked students.
Damn, no wonder New Mexico students are struggling.
The lowest state still gets more funding than in Canada … Ontario is $13 364 CAD/student (or $9676 USD). This is probably an unequal comparison but I’ve been told that U.S. schools are a usually lot nicer than ours.
Can you normalize to funding per student in the source breakdown rather than percent?
Say what you what but NY has high standards. My grandson graduated this year and his class of about 390 kids had about 60% high honors. High honors mean that achieved 90% or better on ALL Regents exam. Regent exams are very tough, just below AP exams.
Illinois taxes are ridiculous especially property taxes. I’m glad they are at least good at something.
I would love to see this plotted against educational outcomes. State rankings, SAT scores, likelihood of graduating college with an associates degree, BA BS, MS, PHD.
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