NCES CCD 2024-25 9 schools NC

Best-Resourced Schools in Clinton, NC

Compiled from official source data by PlainSchools. · Updated August 2026

9 public K-12 schools in Clinton from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

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Schools

4,480

Students

40.3/100

Avg Resource Index

15.8:1

Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Middle-of-corpus city profile

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Clinton has more public-school enrollment than 50% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Clinton sits in the broad middle of the national city distribution rather than at a single obvious extreme. Its scale, average Resource Investment Index, and staffing position need to be read together: a middle placement on one measure does not cancel a stronger or weaker result on another. The percentile panel makes those dimensions explicit, and the school table shows where the city aggregate breaks into materially different campus profiles.

A full K–12 ladder sits inside the city boundary

Clinton's list includes 3 elementary, 2 middle, and 2 high-school campuses, plus 2 combined-grade records. The city average spans every major grade stage, so the ranked table is more informative when read within level than as one interchangeable queue.

Economic need crosses separate district systems

99.3% of enrollment in reporting Clinton schools is eligible for free lunch, while the city list spans 2 districts. That pairing makes a citywide average especially easy to misread: the need measure follows students, but staffing decisions, calendars, program rules, and federal allocations are administered through separate district structures. The 35-point gap between Sampson Early College High and Union Elementary shows how much reported resource capacity can vary inside the same municipal label. Compare schools within the same district first, then use the city view to see how those local systems differ.

City enrollment: Top 50%
School count: Top 46%
Resource Index average: 47th percentile
Teacher staffing: 45th percentile

Clinton High accounts for 18.5% of all Clinton public-school enrollment

That concentration means Clinton-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data Accessed 2026-08-26

Clinton school enrollment varies 3.6× across entities

Clinton school enrollment ranges from 229 students (lowest) to 828 students (highest), a spread of 599 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data Accessed 2026-08-26

Clinton reports 99.3% free-lunch eligibility

The reported share is above 87.5%, so economic need is widespread across the measured student population. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data Accessed 2026-08-26

Clinton student-teacher ratio is 15.8:1 — near the typical range (US average ~15.7) — citywide staffing is neither unusually lean nor unusually crowded by this measure

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Variation between sub-units within Clinton is typically wider than the Clinton-aggregate figure suggests.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe Accessed 2026-08-26

#	School	Score	Enrollment	Level	District
1.	Sampson Early College High	57	229	high	Sampson County Schools
2.	Sunset Avenue Elementary	54	649	elementary	Clinton City Schools
3.	Sampson Middle	43	703	middle	Clinton City Schools
4.	Clinton High	42	828	high	Clinton City Schools
5.	Langdon C Kerr Elementary	42	366	Combined	Clinton City Schools
6.	Butler Avenue Elementary	38	469	elementary	Clinton City Schools
7.	Union Middle	33	374	middle	Sampson County Schools
8.	Union Intermediate	32	396	elementary	Sampson County Schools
9.	Union Elementary	22	466	Combined	Sampson County Schools

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Clinton

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

What do families ask about schools in Clinton?

Which Clinton school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Sampson Early College High has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Clinton schools in this federal-data comparison at 57/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Clinton, NC? ▼

Clinton has 9 public schools with a total enrollment of 4,480 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 15.8:1.

Other Cities in North Carolina

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in North Carolina →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.