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.
West Virginia has the 6th 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 55 districts in West Virginia 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 West Virginia
| Rank* | School District | Score | Expeditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Schools per Pupil | Income by School District |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mason County Schools | 0.52 | $11,892 | $46,078 |
| 2 | Taylor County Schools | 0.92 | $11,159 | $48,578 |
| 3 | Kanawha County Schools | 1.30 | $11,963 | $46,639 |
| 4 | Preston County Schools | 1.71 | $10,157 | $51,888 |
| 5 | Jackson County Schools | 2.29 | $11,756 | $47,837 |
| 6 | Wood County Schools | 3.13 | $12,001 | $47,321 |
| 7 | Hancock County Schools | 3.20 | $11,650 | $45,763 |
| 8 | Hampshire County Schools | 3.59 | $11,029 | $47,857 |
| 9 | Ritchie County Schools | 3.70 | $13,095 | $43,577 |
| 10 | Wirt County Schools | 5.06 | $12,586 | $46,048 |
| 11 | Mineral County Schools | 5.76 | $11,609 | $49,936 |
| 12 | Lincoln County Schools | 6.07 | $12,232 | $42,345 |
| 13 | Gilmer County Schools | 6.27 | $13,668 | $42,636 |
| 14 | Tucker County Schools | 7.82 | $12,085 | $49,118 |
| 15 | Morgan County Schools | 8.30 | $11,425 | $51,745 |
| 16 | Raleigh County Schools | 9.05 | $11,482 | $43,748 |
| 17 | Monroe County Schools | 9.59 | $12,841 | $38,540 |
| 18 | Greenbrier County Schools | 10.04 | $12,331 | $40,200 |
| 19 | Boone County Schools | 10.23 | $12,161 | $40,739 |
| 20 | Pendleton County Schools | 10.97 | $14,334 | $42,312 |
| 21 | Fayette County Schools | 11.57 | $11,817 | $41,394 |
| 22 | Wyoming County Schools | 11.85 | $11,526 | $42,332 |
| 23 | Hardy County Schools | 12.09 | $10,100 | $47,438 |
| 24 | Cabell County Schools | 12.36 | $12,094 | $40,028 |
| 25 | Marion County Schools | 13.21 | $12,422 | $50,305 |
| 26 | Pocahontas County Schools | 14.57 | $14,894 | $41,882 |
| 27 | Calhoun County Schools | 14.67 | $12,260 | $38,382 |
| 28 | Monongalia County Schools | 14.84 | $12,034 | $52,455 |
| 29 | Nicholas County Schools | 16.39 | $11,583 | $40,086 |
| 30 | Randolph County Schools | 16.55 | $10,679 | $43,320 |
| 31 | Braxton County Schools | 16.79 | $11,156 | $41,466 |
| 32 | Harrison County Schools | 16.80 | $12,120 | $53,022 |
| 33 | Mercer County Schools | 17.78 | $11,221 | $40,784 |
| 34 | Clay County Schools | 19.34 | $12,605 | $35,024 |
| 35 | Logan County Schools | 20.55 | $12,144 | $36,168 |
| 36 | Lewis County Schools | 20.94 | $11,073 | $39,908 |
| 37 | Upshur County Schools | 22.23 | $10,801 | $40,322 |
| 38 | Wayne County Schools | 22.92 | $11,355 | $37,988 |
| 39 | Tyler County Schools | 22.93 | $15,591 | $43,087 |
| 40 | Grant County Schools | 23.04 | $10,183 | $42,216 |
| 41 | Brooke County Schools | 23.22 | $13,326 | $51,496 |
| 42 | Ohio County Schools | 25.18 | $13,816 | $50,584 |
| 43 | Webster County Schools | 25.89 | $11,827 | $34,927 |
| 44 | Marshall County Schools | 27.46 | $14,650 | $48,557 |
| 45 | Roane County Schools | 28.58 | $10,828 | $37,373 |
| 46 | Putnam County Schools | 28.72 | $11,648 | $60,097 |
| 47 | Summers County Schools | 29.23 | $10,526 | $38,187 |
| 48 | Barbour County Board Of Education | 30.39 | $10,309 | $38,459 |
| 49 | Berkeley County Schools | 30.55 | $11,212 | $62,515 |
| 50 | Mcdowell County Schools | 31.91 | $13,070 | $27,682 |
| 51 | Mingo County Schools | 34.55 | $11,356 | $32,764 |
| 52 | Wetzel County Schools | 37.94 | $17,429 | $43,107 |
| 53 | Pleasants County Schools | 43.83 | $14,396 | $56,838 |
| 54 | Doddridge County Schools | 65.27 | $20,118 | $45,545 |
| 55 | Jefferson County Schools | 75.40 | $11,819 | $80,430 |
*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.