May 7, 2026 — Nationally, public school current spending per pupil rose 6.6% from $16,526 in fiscal year (FY) 2023 to $17,619 in FY 2024, according to new data from the 2024 Annual Survey of School System Finances released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics are not adjusted for inflation or cost-of-living differences between geographic areas.

The states with the highest current spending per pupil were New York ($31,918), the District of Columbia ($31,529), Vermont ($28,818), New Jersey ($27,234) and Connecticut ($26,316). The states spending the least per pupil were Idaho ($11,060), Utah ($11,347), Arizona ($12,003), Oklahoma ($12,162) and Mississippi ($12,324).

Other highlights:

• Eight out of nine states in the Northeast region ranked among the top 10 in current per-pupil spending in FY 2024; the remaining state in the region — Pennsylvania — ranked 12th. The South accounted for half of the 20 states with the lowest per-pupil spending. The other half consisted of five states from the Midwest and five states from the West.
• Among the 100 largest school systems (by enrollment), New York City School District in New York ($35,796) had the highest current expenditures per pupil in FY 2024, followed by the District of Columbia Public Schools ($31,529), Atlanta School District in Georgia ($26,117), Los Angeles Unified in California ($25,631) and San Francisco Unified in California ($25,173).
• Public school systems in Mississippi (22.7%), Alaska (21.0%), New Mexico (19.7%), South Dakota (19.4%) and Louisiana (19.2%) had the highest percentage of revenue from federal sources compared to their total revenue in FY 2024, while those in New Jersey (6.3%), Utah (7.9%), Minnesota (8.1%), Connecticut (8.1%) and Massachusetts (8.2%) had the lowest.

Elementary and secondary education revenue from all sources in FY 2024 amounted to $994.9 billion, up 5.1% from the prior year.

• Local sources provided $429.8 billion (43.2%) of elementary-secondary funding, while the federal government contributed $115.1 billion (11.6%).
  • Of the $429.8 billion that schools received from local sources, $357.9 billion was from taxes and parent government contributions, with property taxes accounting for 63.3% of revenue from local sources.
• State governments contributed the greatest share (45.2% or $450.0 billion) of all public school system funding.
• Revenue from federal sources was $115.1 billion, a 4.4% decrease from FY 2023 ($120.3 billion).

Total expenditures by public elementary-secondary school systems totaled $983.7 billion in FY 2024, up 7.1% from the prior year.

• Of the total expenditures for elementary and secondary education, current spending made up $842.3 billion (85.6%) and capital outlay made up $113.1 billion (11.4%).
• The largest expenditure category was instructional salaries with public elementary and secondary school systems spending $291.8 billion for salaries in FY 2024, which was 29.7% of total expenditures.
• Expenditures for instruction for all school systems amounted to $495.0 billion or 58.8% of total current spending, while expenditures for support services amounted to $305.2 billion (36.2%).

The Annual Survey of School System Finances provides data about public school spending — including per pupil (pre-K to grade 12) expenditures — debt and assets (cash and security holdings) for all states and the District of Columbia.

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