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 have been exacerbated even more due to the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Low-income students have suffered 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 $154 - $1,115 higher median weekly earnings than people with a high school diploma and no college experience, depending on the degree.
New Mexico has the 12th 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 89 districts in New Mexico 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 New Mexico
| Rank* | School District | Score | Expeditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Schools per Pupil | Income by School District |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jemez Mountain Public Schools | 0.02 | $20,462 | $31,406 |
| 2 | Texico Municipal Schools | 0.90 | $11,895 | $56,406 |
| 3 | Moriarty-Edgewood School District | 1.01 | $10,904 | $59,304 |
| 4 | Dora Municipal Schools | 1.08 | $14,934 | $46,786 |
| 5 | Zuni Public Schools | 3.08 | $16,862 | $43,125 |
| 6 | Lovington Municipal Schools | 4.65 | $10,113 | $63,216 |
| 7 | Cimarron Municipal Schools | 4.94 | $16,295 | $45,592 |
| 8 | Hobbs Municipal Schools | 5.90 | $9,350 | $60,651 |
| 9 | Melrose Public Schools | 6.19 | $12,795 | $50,625 |
| 10 | Artesia Public Schools | 6.84 | $10,236 | $57,682 |
| 11 | Hagerman Municipal Schools | 7.19 | $16,325 | $46,518 |
| 12 | Capitan Municipal Schools | 7.22 | $13,510 | $48,110 |
| 13 | Albuquerque Public Schools | 7.95 | $11,148 | $54,562 |
| 14 | Mesa Vista Consolidated Schools | 8.15 | $17,838 | $35,260 |
| 15 | Rio Rancho Public Schools | 10.08 | $9,763 | $66,670 |
| 16 | Cuba Independent Schools | 10.82 | $20,968 | $25,066 |
| 17 | Lordsburg Municipal Schools | 10.94 | $15,251 | $41,429 |
| 18 | Penasco Independent Schools | 10.96 | $15,969 | $39,360 |
| 19 | Santa Fe Public Schools | 11.83 | $11,382 | $62,808 |
| 20 | Springer Municipal Schools | 12.56 | $20,328 | $37,444 |
| 21 | Floyd Municipal Schools | 12.75 | $14,745 | $53,563 |
| 22 | Jal Public Schools | 12.84 | $10,431 | $54,417 |
| 23 | Bernalillo Public Schools | 13.56 | $14,103 | $55,774 |
| 24 | Carlsbad Municipal Schools | 13.74 | $9,487 | $69,114 |
| 25 | Grants-Cibola County Schools | 14.45 | $13,506 | $44,861 |
| 26 | Cloudcroft Municipal Schools | 15.56 | $12,840 | $46,273 |
| 27 | Loving Municipal Schools | 15.89 | $11,215 | $50,793 |
| 28 | Magdalena Municipal Schools | 15.98 | $20,511 | $24,049 |
| 29 | Farmington Municipal Schools | 16.67 | $9,648 | $54,942 |
| 30 | Tularosa Municipal Schools | 16.69 | $13,624 | $43,512 |
| 31 | Elida Municipal Schools | 18.24 | $18,589 | $45,000 |
| 32 | Dexter Consolidated Schools | 18.57 | $13,193 | $43,902 |
| 33 | Socorro Consolidated Schools | 18.94 | $13,089 | $44,034 |
| 34 | Fort Sumner Municipal Schools | 18.97 | $17,437 | $31,532 |
| 35 | Maxwell Municipal Schools | 19.68 | $18,652 | $45,469 |
| 36 | Mora Independent Schools | 19.92 | $18,959 | $26,731 |
| 37 | Los Lunas Public Schools | 20.25 | $9,809 | $52,865 |
| 38 | Bloomfield Schools | 20.40 | $11,420 | $48,170 |
| 39 | Grady Municipal Schools | 20.68 | $15,027 | $56,328 |
| 40 | Pojoaque Valley Public Schools | 20.93 | $10,570 | $50,372 |
| 41 | Cobre Consolidated Schools | 22.42 | $15,158 | $36,521 |
| 42 | Clayton Municipal Schools | 22.58 | $15,756 | $34,732 |
| 43 | Chama Valley Indep. Schools | 22.85 | $14,791 | $37,381 |
| 44 | Espanola Public Schools | 22.94 | $12,974 | $42,562 |
| 45 | Reserve Public Schools | 23.06 | $23,713 | $32,454 |
| 46 | Dulce Independent Schools | 23.78 | $18,884 | $46,648 |
| 47 | Carrizozo Municipal Schools | 26.05 | $21,624 | $39,803 |
| 48 | Eunice Municipal Schools | 26.44 | $10,743 | $71,232 |
| 49 | Questa Independent Schools | 26.93 | $20,536 | $43,322 |
| 50 | Central Consolidated Schools | 27.35 | $13,749 | $38,346 |
| 51 | Taos Municipal Schools | 27.61 | $12,354 | $42,236 |
| 52 | Las Cruces Public Schools | 28.44 | $10,626 | $46,826 |
| 53 | Alamogordo Public Schools | 29.08 | $10,444 | $47,061 |
| 54 | Clovis Municipal Schools | 29.37 | $10,011 | $48,171 |
| 55 | Estancia Municipal Schools | 29.57 | $15,480 | $32,372 |
| 56 | Mountainair Public Schools | 30.52 | $20,433 | $45,240 |
| 57 | Belen Consolidated Schools | 30.58 | $10,568 | $46,027 |
| 58 | San Jon Municipal Schools | 30.85 | $19,408 | $48,333 |
| 59 | Roswell Independent Schools | 30.95 | $10,436 | $46,240 |
| 60 | Mosquero Municipal Schools | 31.17 | $23,012 | $38,125 |
| 61 | Quemado Independent Schools | 31.29 | $23,019 | $38,160 |
| 62 | Gallup-Mckinley Cty Schools | 31.72 | $14,013 | $35,616 |
| 63 | Hondo Valley Public Schools | 32.68 | $21,000 | $44,583 |
| 64 | Portales Municipal Schools | 32.80 | $11,557 | $42,185 |
| 65 | Ruidoso Municipal Schools | 34.02 | $10,612 | $44,350 |
| 66 | Jemez Valley Public Schools | 35.56 | $18,213 | $53,889 |
| 67 | Santa Rosa Consolidated Schools | 37.15 | $14,724 | $31,126 |
| 68 | Las Vegas City Public Schools | 40.73 | $12,563 | $35,721 |
| 69 | West Las Vegas Public Schools | 41.52 | $14,325 | $30,303 |
| 70 | Aztec Municipal Schools | 41.64 | $10,167 | $42,192 |
| 71 | Silver Consolidated Schools | 42.99 | $11,461 | $37,866 |
| 72 | Animas Public Schools | 43.24 | $19,822 | $52,727 |
| 73 | Tatum Municipal Schools | 43.43 | $13,693 | $70,417 |
| 74 | T Or C Municipal Schools | 45.72 | $12,423 | $33,873 |
| 75 | Gadsden Independent Schools | 47.98 | $11,642 | $35,099 |
| 76 | Tucumcari Public Schools | 48.67 | $12,061 | $33,585 |
| 77 | Hatch Valley Public Schools | 51.95 | $12,069 | $32,083 |
| 78 | Deming Public Schools | 53.57 | $11,756 | $32,251 |
| 79 | Roy Municipal Schools | 54.19 | $29,067 | $31,111 |
| 80 | Pecos Independent Schools | 54.56 | $13,460 | $26,909 |
| 81 | Raton Public Schools | 57.57 | $10,170 | $35,000 |
| 82 | Des Moines Municipal Schools | 58.55 | $22,958 | $50,625 |
| 83 | Logan Municipal Schools | 58.64 | $12,070 | $29,063 |
| 84 | Lake Arthur Municipal Schools | 61.14 | $24,670 | $46,875 |
| 85 | House Municipal Schools | 86.70 | $34,000 | $31,597 |
| 86 | Vaughn Municipal Schools | 115.24 | $35,483 | $40,208 |
| 87 | Wagon Mound Public Schools | 115.41 | $36,456 | $37,487 |
| 88 | Los Alamos Public Schools | 137.88 | $11,511 | $119,266 |
| 89 | Corona Municipal Schools | 178.06 | $38,133 | $60,917 |
*1=Most Equitable
Methodology
In order to rank the states with the most and least equitable school districts, WalletHub first scored 12,876 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.