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. 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 $524 - $1,112 higher median weekly earnings than people with a high school diploma and no college experience, depending on the degree.
South Carolina has the 11th 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 81 districts in South Carolina 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.
Most & Least Equitable School Districts in South Carolina
| Rank* | School District | Score | Expeditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Schools per Pupil | Income by School District |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allendale 01 | 0.11 | $16,779 | $27,185 |
| 2 | Spartanburg 03 | 0.28 | $12,287 | $44,891 |
| 3 | Georgetown 01 | 0.82 | $11,443 | $48,456 |
| 4 | Florence 04 | 1.51 | $15,033 | $34,688 |
| 5 | Horry 01 | 1.52 | $10,953 | $50,704 |
| 6 | Kershaw 01 | 2.53 | $10,276 | $51,479 |
| 7 | Bamberg 02 | 3.00 | $15,760 | $29,738 |
| 8 | Orangeburg 03 | 3.16 | $14,290 | $35,432 |
| 9 | Florence 01 | 3.17 | $11,169 | $50,624 |
| 10 | Edgefield 01 | 3.98 | $11,646 | $49,127 |
| 11 | Lexington 02 | 4.30 | $11,003 | $47,802 |
| 12 | Orangeburg 05 | 4.44 | $13,807 | $36,731 |
| 13 | Florence 05 | 5.05 | $11,116 | $47,011 |
| 14 | Oconee 01 | 5.13 | $11,781 | $49,134 |
| 15 | Barnwell 19 | 5.41 | $13,724 | $41,636 |
| 16 | York 01 | 5.57 | $11,156 | $51,789 |
| 17 | Hampton 02 | 5.89 | $16,261 | $26,430 |
| 18 | Newberry 01 | 5.95 | $11,719 | $44,226 |
| 19 | Orangeburg 04 | 6.04 | $11,902 | $43,467 |
| 20 | Aiken 01 | 6.12 | $9,898 | $51,293 |
| 21 | Dorchester 04 | 6.58 | $14,420 | $39,450 |
| 22 | Greenwood 51 | 6.70 | $11,384 | $45,190 |
| 23 | Spartanburg 06 | 6.83 | $11,259 | $51,971 |
| 24 | Chester 01 | 7.11 | $12,036 | $42,442 |
| 25 | Spartanburg 01 | 8.34 | $10,396 | $56,061 |
| 26 | York 03 | 8.79 | $10,715 | $55,019 |
| 27 | Anderson 01 | 8.89 | $8,689 | $63,013 |
| 28 | Spartanburg 02 | 9.06 | $10,067 | $57,686 |
| 29 | Laurens 55 | 11.08 | $10,984 | $44,723 |
| 30 | Greenwood 52 | 11.95 | $9,592 | $49,781 |
| 31 | Anderson 05 | 12.86 | $10,109 | $47,333 |
| 32 | Saluda 01 | 13.22 | $10,236 | $46,663 |
| 33 | Greenville 01 | 13.27 | $9,966 | $60,038 |
| 34 | Lancaster 01 | 13.56 | $10,304 | $58,849 |
| 35 | Bamberg 01 | 13.61 | $12,711 | $36,771 |
| 36 | Calhoun 01 | 15.57 | $13,730 | $46,339 |
| 37 | Spartanburg 07 | 15.61 | $14,891 | $41,802 |
| 38 | Jasper 01 | 15.72 | $13,936 | $45,601 |
| 39 | Pickens 01 | 15.73 | $9,198 | $49,573 |
| 40 | Clarendon 02 | 16.17 | $11,354 | $40,908 |
| 41 | Chesterfield 01 | 17.12 | $11,089 | $41,505 |
| 42 | Sumter 01 | 17.15 | $10,026 | $45,661 |
| 43 | Barnwell 29 | 17.18 | $12,720 | $35,078 |
| 44 | Berkeley 01 | 17.23 | $9,602 | $63,309 |
| 45 | Hampton 01 | 17.23 | $12,339 | $36,547 |
| 46 | Florence 03 | 17.40 | $11,766 | $38,716 |
| 47 | Lee 01 | 17.59 | $13,361 | $32,371 |
| 48 | Clarendon 03 | 17.81 | $9,523 | $47,330 |
| 49 | Spartanburg 05 | 18.01 | $10,406 | $60,517 |
| 50 | Darlington 01 | 19.54 | $11,581 | $38,448 |
| 51 | Dorchester 02 | 20.01 | $9,198 | $66,188 |
| 52 | Anderson 03 | 20.03 | $10,736 | $41,538 |
| 53 | Spartanburg 04 | 20.53 | $9,796 | $44,995 |
| 54 | Greenwood 50 | 20.72 | $10,594 | $41,774 |
| 55 | Laurens 56 | 21.83 | $11,202 | $38,872 |
| 56 | Williamsburg 01 | 22.62 | $12,736 | $32,485 |
| 57 | Florence 02 | 22.77 | $11,437 | $37,512 |
| 58 | Abbeville 60 | 23.08 | $11,132 | $38,565 |
| 59 | Lexington 03 | 23.28 | $13,397 | $51,230 |
| 60 | Richland 01 | 23.74 | $15,270 | $44,091 |
| 61 | Anderson 02 | 23.85 | $10,052 | $42,444 |
| 62 | Clarendon 01 | 25.48 | $16,981 | $38,187 |
| 63 | Colleton 01 | 26.59 | $11,287 | $36,324 |
| 64 | Union 01 | 27.24 | $9,971 | $41,186 |
| 65 | Lexington 04 | 29.21 | $10,595 | $37,821 |
| 66 | Cherokee 01 | 30.28 | $10,817 | $36,452 |
| 67 | Marlboro 01 | 30.52 | $11,519 | $33,586 |
| 68 | Anderson 04 | 31.12 | $12,349 | $58,989 |
| 69 | Marion 10 | 31.86 | $11,749 | $32,063 |
| 70 | Barnwell 45 | 34.32 | $10,996 | $33,875 |
| 71 | Fairfield 01 | 36.66 | $18,299 | $38,213 |
| 72 | Charleston 01 | 38.28 | $11,914 | $64,022 |
| 73 | Richland 02 | 39.79 | $11,590 | $65,997 |
| 74 | Lexington 01 | 46.82 | $11,556 | $69,396 |
| 75 | Mccormick 01 | 50.56 | $18,565 | $43,633 |
| 76 | Beaufort 01 | 52.22 | $12,452 | $68,392 |
| 77 | Dillon 04 | 55.12 | $9,510 | $30,036 |
| 78 | Dillon 03 | 55.60 | $8,765 | $32,734 |
| 79 | York 02 | 59.49 | $12,171 | $72,874 |
| 80 | Lexington 05 | 72.46 | $12,977 | $75,741 |
| 81 | York 04 | 87.25 | $9,576 | $95,962 |
*1=Most Equitable
Methodology
In order to rank the states with the most and least equitable school districts, WalletHub first scored 12,927 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 the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics.