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.
Utah has the 18th 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 41 districts in Utah 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 Utah
| Rank* | School District | Score | Expeditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Schools per Pupil | Income by School District |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emery District | 0.44 | $12,684 | $61,234 |
| 2 | Salt Lake District | 0.48 | $11,944 | $65,880 |
| 3 | Alpine District | 0.86 | $8,060 | $91,344 |
| 4 | Wayne District | 4.31 | $14,109 | $55,605 |
| 5 | Tooele District | 4.40 | $8,070 | $87,557 |
| 6 | Weber District | 4.96 | $8,601 | $83,804 |
| 7 | Millard District | 5.92 | $11,266 | $66,304 |
| 8 | Granite District | 6.12 | $9,989 | $74,228 |
| 9 | San Juan District | 6.16 | $14,905 | $51,890 |
| 10 | Beaver District | 8.04 | $11,523 | $74,569 |
| 11 | Davis District | 8.56 | $8,698 | $92,765 |
| 12 | Cache District | 8.93 | $8,710 | $80,306 |
| 13 | Grand District | 9.77 | $13,098 | $52,018 |
| 14 | Murray District | 10.85 | $9,832 | $71,866 |
| 15 | Kane District | 11.58 | $12,201 | $56,395 |
| 16 | Nebo District | 11.83 | $7,722 | $84,491 |
| 17 | Duchesne District | 13.01 | $10,446 | $66,463 |
| 18 | Piute District | 15.53 | $18,852 | $33,611 |
| 19 | Canyons District | 15.87 | $9,484 | $92,979 |
| 20 | Wasatch District | 17.27 | $9,473 | $94,044 |
| 21 | Box Elder District | 19.99 | $9,501 | $67,486 |
| 22 | Uintah District | 20.56 | $10,418 | $61,293 |
| 23 | South Summit District | 21.20 | $11,346 | $85,000 |
| 24 | Jordan District | 21.41 | $8,592 | $102,533 |
| 25 | Ogden City District | 21.63 | $10,778 | $58,261 |
| 26 | South Sanpete District | 22.63 | $10,406 | $59,906 |
| 27 | North Sanpete District | 22.63 | $10,337 | $60,339 |
| 28 | Garfield District | 25.03 | $12,383 | $45,724 |
| 29 | North Summit District | 26.54 | $12,518 | $81,389 |
| 30 | Carbon District | 26.86 | $11,227 | $51,725 |
| 31 | Morgan District | 29.07 | $7,838 | $112,721 |
| 32 | Provo District | 30.08 | $10,543 | $53,766 |
| 33 | Juab District | 31.55 | $6,445 | $78,588 |
| 34 | Sevier District | 32.55 | $9,236 | $60,262 |
| 35 | Washington District | 39.20 | $7,733 | $65,040 |
| 36 | Daggett District | 40.75 | $19,117 | $49,792 |
| 37 | Logan City District | 48.04 | $9,638 | $46,761 |
| 38 | Iron District | 49.67 | $7,942 | $56,308 |
| 39 | Rich District | 58.66 | $18,338 | $67,396 |
| 40 | Tintic District | 69.64 | $20,718 | $60,144 |
| 41 | Park City District | 134.84 | $15,192 | $141,187 |
*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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