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, with one estimate claiming that low-income districts are underfunded by around $6,700 per pupil.
Discrepancies between the rich and poor were exacerbated a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic. Low-income students suffered the greatest “learning loss” due to partial or total remote learning. One contributing factor was that people in low-income districts are less likely to have the technological resources they need. Now, less fortunate students must struggle to make up the educational ground that they lost due to this lack of resources.
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 $154 - $1,115 higher median weekly earnings than people with a high school diploma and no college experience, depending on the degree.
Idaho has the 9th least 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 113 districts in Idaho based on two metrics: average household income and expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools per pupil.
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 Idaho
| Rank* | School District | Score | Expeditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Schools per Pupil | Income by School District |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grace Joint District | 0.58 | $10,082 | $68,750 |
| 2 | South Lemhi District | 1.09 | $15,884 | $40,313 |
| 3 | Hagerman Joint District | 2.05 | $10,989 | $62,929 |
| 4 | Garden Valley District | 2.25 | $12,315 | $59,148 |
| 5 | Snake River District | 2.43 | $7,149 | $80,889 |
| 6 | Lewiston Independent District | 2.81 | $11,001 | $62,431 |
| 7 | Kimberly District | 3.18 | $8,464 | $74,229 |
| 8 | Kuna Joint District | 3.90 | $7,709 | $77,385 |
| 9 | Soda Springs Joint District | 4.91 | $10,088 | $65,533 |
| 10 | Bruneau-Grand View Joint School District | 5.42 | $15,928 | $43,883 |
| 11 | Orofino Joint District | 6.00 | $14,400 | $51,453 |
| 12 | Murtaugh Joint District | 6.18 | $10,990 | $60,526 |
| 13 | Joint School District No. 2 | 6.18 | $7,846 | $82,589 |
| 14 | Lakeland District | 6.25 | $9,584 | $74,402 |
| 15 | Boise Independent District | 6.63 | $11,068 | $67,593 |
| 16 | Lake Pend Oreille School District | 7.07 | $11,593 | $57,153 |
| 17 | MacKay Joint District | 7.34 | $12,009 | $63,553 |
| 18 | Moscow District | 9.14 | $12,365 | $52,294 |
| 19 | Wallace District | 10.17 | $13,465 | $46,493 |
| 20 | Wilder District | 10.79 | $10,561 | $59,878 |
| 21 | Cottonwood Joint District | 12.02 | $10,728 | $58,375 |
| 22 | Bonneville Joint District | 12.58 | $8,010 | $70,918 |
| 23 | Coeur D'Alene District | 12.71 | $9,828 | $62,232 |
| 24 | Cambridge Joint District | 13.02 | $12,085 | $51,369 |
| 25 | Potlatch District | 13.20 | $13,044 | $62,058 |
| 26 | West Bonner County District | 14.13 | $12,571 | $48,426 |
| 27 | West Jefferson District | 14.47 | $10,092 | $59,961 |
| 28 | Castleford District | 15.31 | $10,905 | $55,625 |
| 29 | Teton County District | 16.00 | $10,477 | $75,837 |
| 30 | Kendrick Joint District | 16.76 | $13,821 | $60,444 |
| 31 | Vallivue School District | 16.78 | $8,743 | $65,008 |
| 32 | Richfield District | 16.98 | $14,364 | $58,000 |
| 33 | New Plymouth District | 17.10 | $8,528 | $65,838 |
| 34 | Marsh Valley Joint District | 17.13 | $8,747 | $64,787 |
| 35 | Kamiah Joint District | 17.13 | $13,507 | $42,250 |
| 36 | Fremont County Joint District | 17.54 | $9,382 | $61,541 |
| 37 | Cascade District | 17.64 | $14,551 | $57,500 |
| 38 | Middleton District | 18.03 | $7,229 | $71,452 |
| 39 | McCall-Donnelly Joint School District | 18.20 | $12,252 | $68,710 |
| 40 | West Side Joint District | 18.35 | $7,584 | $69,583 |
| 41 | Basin School District | 18.52 | $12,195 | $69,167 |
| 42 | Shoshone Joint District | 18.56 | $10,534 | $55,496 |
| 43 | Marsing Joint District | 19.60 | $8,985 | $62,222 |
| 44 | Aberdeen District | 19.73 | $11,193 | $51,698 |
| 45 | American Falls Joint District | 20.05 | $11,083 | $52,029 |
| 46 | Shelley Joint District | 20.59 | $7,447 | $68,931 |
| 47 | Camas County District | 20.74 | $14,095 | $37,367 |
| 48 | Post Falls District | 20.92 | $8,223 | $65,068 |
| 49 | Emmett Independent District | 21.03 | $9,288 | $59,957 |
| 50 | Jefferson County Joint District | 21.42 | $7,168 | $69,773 |
| 51 | Notus District | 21.60 | $12,387 | $44,957 |
| 52 | Dietrich District | 21.79 | $11,694 | $48,125 |
| 53 | Melba Joint District | 21.97 | $7,290 | $68,875 |
| 54 | Fruitland District | 23.54 | $7,415 | $67,368 |
| 55 | Buhl Joint District | 23.61 | $9,642 | $56,784 |
| 56 | Horseshoe Bend School District | 24.03 | $13,129 | $67,940 |
| 57 | Hansen District | 25.09 | $11,250 | $48,315 |
| 58 | Firth District | 25.38 | $8,210 | $62,535 |
| 59 | Ririe Joint District | 25.40 | $9,310 | $57,316 |
| 60 | Plummer-Worley Joint District | 25.56 | $16,974 | $50,625 |
| 61 | Jerome Joint District | 25.65 | $8,145 | $62,688 |
| 62 | St. Maries Joint District | 25.66 | $11,128 | $48,559 |
| 63 | Rockland District | 26.07 | $13,737 | $66,250 |
| 64 | Challis Joint District | 26.82 | $13,472 | $36,786 |
| 65 | Nampa School District | 27.05 | $8,595 | $59,745 |
| 66 | Idaho Falls District | 27.43 | $8,014 | $62,272 |
| 67 | Salmon District | 27.83 | $11,305 | $46,462 |
| 68 | Boundary County District | 30.32 | $9,986 | $51,261 |
| 69 | Bear Lake County District | 30.36 | $8,084 | $60,240 |
| 70 | Meadows Valley District | 30.53 | $15,481 | $60,583 |
| 71 | Wendell District | 30.99 | $8,530 | $57,763 |
| 72 | Blackfoot District | 31.32 | $8,748 | $56,542 |
| 73 | Kellogg Joint District | 31.45 | $12,063 | $40,773 |
| 74 | North Gem District | 31.49 | $14,642 | $65,109 |
| 75 | Cassia County Joint District | 31.74 | $8,539 | $57,286 |
| 76 | Nezperce Joint District | 31.77 | $16,119 | $58,284 |
| 77 | Payette Joint District | 32.43 | $9,535 | $52,170 |
| 78 | Homedale Joint District | 32.88 | $7,993 | $59,211 |
| 79 | Mountain View School District | 33.17 | $11,636 | $41,791 |
| 80 | Swan Valley Elementary District | 33.28 | $14,819 | $65,313 |
| 81 | Minidoka County Joint District | 33.38 | $8,522 | $56,413 |
| 82 | Twin Falls District | 33.70 | $8,630 | $55,717 |
| 83 | Valley District | 33.94 | $10,057 | $48,819 |
| 84 | Parma District | 34.08 | $9,129 | $53,135 |
| 85 | Council District | 35.38 | $10,287 | $46,894 |
| 86 | Glenns Ferry Joint District | 35.83 | $10,985 | $43,333 |
| 87 | Pocatello District | 36.20 | $8,317 | $55,745 |
| 88 | Filer District | 37.06 | $8,380 | $54,948 |
| 89 | Gooding Joint District | 38.03 | $9,418 | $49,472 |
| 90 | Caldwell District | 38.99 | $9,259 | $49,666 |
| 91 | Sugar-Salem Joint District | 39.32 | $7,275 | $58,867 |
| 92 | Preston Joint District | 41.12 | $7,933 | $54,710 |
| 93 | Genesee Joint District | 41.29 | $12,828 | $79,391 |
| 94 | Butte County Joint District | 42.41 | $10,605 | $41,310 |
| 95 | Madison District | 45.60 | $7,724 | $53,098 |
| 96 | Highland Joint District | 46.46 | $18,716 | $54,514 |
| 97 | Clark County District | 46.84 | $20,120 | $48,088 |
| 98 | Mountain Home District | 47.28 | $8,321 | $49,293 |
| 99 | Oneida County District | 50.73 | $4,630 | $64,766 |
| 100 | Troy School District | 51.15 | $14,833 | $75,625 |
| 101 | Bliss Joint District | 51.77 | $19,324 | $54,722 |
| 102 | Lapwai District | 52.09 | $18,696 | $57,879 |
| 103 | Salmon River Joint School District | 52.92 | $19,802 | $53,125 |
| 104 | Midvale District | 54.14 | $15,926 | $72,188 |
| 105 | Whitepine Joint School District | 58.45 | $17,422 | $67,608 |
| 106 | Pleasant Valley Elementary District | 60.88 | $22,818 | $43,472 |
| 107 | Weiser District | 61.24 | $8,101 | $42,228 |
| 108 | Culdesac Joint District | 62.47 | $20,578 | $55,000 |
| 109 | Blaine County District | 67.62 | $17,672 | $71,749 |
| 110 | Prairie Elementary District | 78.69 | $26,000 | $38,750 |
| 111 | Kootenai District | 105.05 | $20,921 | $78,103 |
| 112 | Mullan District | 111.25 | $29,148 | $42,750 |
| 113 | Three Creek Joint Elementary District | 478.69 | $75,667 | $35,893 |
*1=Most Equitable
Methodology
In order to rank the states with the most and least equitable school districts, WalletHub first scored 12,870 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.
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