While the U.S. is one of the most educated countries in the world, it doesn’t provide the same quality elementary school or secondary school education to all students. In many states, more affluent school districts receive a greater amount of funding per student than poorer districts.
Discrepancies between the rich and poor have been exacerbated even more this year by the COVID-19 pandemic. As states decide whether their school districts will have in-person learning this fall, studies show that low-income students will suffer the greatest “learning loss” due to partial or total remote learning. One contributing factor is that people in low-income districts are less likely to have the technological resources they need.
States that provide equitable funding to all school districts can help prevent poor students from having lower graduation rates, lower rates of pursuing higher education and smaller future incomes than their wealthy peers. The difference is dramatic: College graduates have $460 - $1,154 higher median weekly earnings than people with a high school diploma and no college experience, depending on the degree.
Florida has the 4th most equitable school districts in the U.S. overall, but some districts within the state are fairer than others. To find out where school funding is distributed most equitably, WalletHub scored 67 districts in Florida based on two metrics: average household income and expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools per pupil. Read on for the district ranking and a complete description of our methodology.
Main Findings
Note: For visual purposes, we included only the top 7 school districts by enrollment from each category. Rank 1 on the “Expenditures Ranking” means highest expenditures and Rank 1 on “Income Ranking” means lowest income.
Most & Least Equitable School Districts in Florida
Rank* | School District | Score | Expeditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Schools per Pupil | Income by School District |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Miami-Dade County Public School District | 0.02 | $9,542 | $48,982 |
2 | Polk County School District | 0.06 | $9,632 | $48,500 |
3 | Flagler County School District | 0.44 | $8,636 | $53,872 |
4 | Charlotte County School District | 1.00 | $9,592 | $49,225 |
5 | Leon County School District | 2.81 | $8,845 | $51,201 |
6 | Gilchrist County School District | 2.93 | $11,111 | $42,357 |
7 | Bay County School District | 3.16 | $8,690 | $51,829 |
8 | Alachua County School District | 3.50 | $9,192 | $49,078 |
9 | Brevard County School District | 3.59 | $8,841 | $54,359 |
10 | St. Lucie County School District | 3.65 | $9,120 | $49,373 |
11 | Gadsden County School District | 3.89 | $10,740 | $40,922 |
12 | Lake County School District | 4.30 | $8,570 | $51,884 |
13 | Escambia County School District | 4.47 | $9,059 | $49,286 |
14 | Gulf County School District | 5.13 | $10,945 | $44,291 |
15 | Duval County School District | 5.16 | $9,163 | $53,473 |
16 | Pinellas County School District | 5.85 | $9,621 | $51,454 |
17 | Pasco County School Board | 6.01 | $8,692 | $50,417 |
18 | Bradford County School District | 6.70 | $10,724 | $46,197 |
19 | Indian River County School District | 7.68 | $9,624 | $52,336 |
20 | Hillsborough County School District | 7.72 | $8,889 | $56,137 |
21 | Glades County School District | 8.76 | $10,478 | $39,879 |
22 | Osceola County School District | 9.75 | $8,405 | $50,063 |
23 | Jefferson County School District | 10.07 | $10,661 | $48,173 |
24 | Manatee County School District | 10.64 | $9,187 | $56,036 |
25 | Walton County School District | 10.94 | $9,653 | $53,785 |
26 | Franklin County School District | 11.06 | $11,789 | $42,855 |
27 | Orange County School District | 11.93 | $9,641 | $54,335 |
28 | Lee County School District | 13.07 | $9,680 | $54,691 |
29 | Clay County School District | 13.30 | $8,155 | $62,653 |
30 | Marion County School District | 13.76 | $9,325 | $43,361 |
31 | Liberty County School District | 14.08 | $10,460 | $37,363 |
32 | Martin County School District | 14.30 | $9,163 | $57,959 |
33 | Sumter County School District | 14.80 | $9,741 | $55,228 |
34 | Volusia County School District | 15.05 | $8,541 | $46,760 |
35 | Hernando County School District | 15.73 | $8,618 | $46,030 |
36 | Baker County School District | 15.80 | $8,565 | $61,769 |
37 | Broward County School District | 15.98 | $9,444 | $57,333 |
38 | Columbia County School District | 16.15 | $8,878 | $44,491 |
39 | Suwannee County School District | 16.87 | $9,160 | $42,686 |
40 | Seminole County School District | 18.05 | $8,393 | $63,760 |
41 | Okeechobee County School District | 18.09 | $9,494 | $40,367 |
42 | Calhoun County School District | 18.36 | $9,810 | $38,609 |
43 | Wakulla County School District | 19.01 | $8,675 | $62,778 |
44 | Citrus County School District | 19.39 | $9,165 | $41,424 |
45 | Washington County School District | 19.56 | $9,972 | $37,188 |
46 | Lafayette County School District | 19.69 | $9,502 | $39,543 |
47 | Hendry County School District | 19.80 | $9,261 | $40,728 |
48 | Union County School District | 20.16 | $9,024 | $41,770 |
49 | Hamilton County School District | 20.65 | $10,374 | $34,583 |
50 | Jackson County School District | 21.12 | $9,471 | $39,002 |
51 | Okaloosa County School District | 21.61 | $9,065 | $62,048 |
52 | Taylor County School District | 21.69 | $9,818 | $36,934 |
53 | Holmes County School District | 21.83 | $9,479 | $38,608 |
54 | Hardee County School District | 22.65 | $9,598 | $37,594 |
55 | De Soto County School District | 24.37 | $9,927 | $35,057 |
56 | Dixie County School District | 24.56 | $9,291 | $38,237 |
57 | Santa Rosa County School District | 25.10 | $8,582 | $66,242 |
58 | Levy County School District | 25.47 | $9,322 | $37,634 |
59 | Highlands County School District | 26.21 | $9,313 | $37,314 |
60 | Putnam County School District | 27.22 | $9,541 | $35,649 |
61 | Madison County School District | 27.87 | $9,506 | $35,509 |
62 | Palm Beach County School District | 28.82 | $10,161 | $59,943 |
63 | Nassau County School District | 30.04 | $9,042 | $66,297 |
64 | Sarasota County School District | 37.93 | $11,282 | $58,644 |
65 | St. John's County School District | 45.72 | $8,394 | $77,323 |
66 | Collier County School District | 49.30 | $10,999 | $65,675 |
67 | Monroe County School District | 77.07 | $13,384 | $67,023 |
*1=Most Equitable
Methodology
In order to rank the states with the most and least equitable school districts, WalletHub first scored 12,919 school districts throughout the U.S. based on two metrics: average household income and expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools per pupil.
For expenditures, for each 1 percent above the state's average we removed 1 point from a base score of 50 points for each district. For household income, for each 1 percent above the state's average we added 1 point to a base score of 50 points for each district. The inverse was true for each 1 percent below the state's average.
The final score for each district was calculated by taking the absolute difference between the score for expenditures and the score for household income. We then ranked the districts based on the total score, with the lowest value, representing the most equitable, being ranked 1.
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from of the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics.