NCES CCD 2024-25 8 schools UT

Best-Resourced Schools in Payson, UT

Compiled from official source data by .

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

PlainSchools home → About this data
8
Schools
6,049
Students
18.8/100
Avg Resource Index
23.9:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Lean reported-resource profile

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Payson has more public-school enrollment than 64% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Payson's average Resource Investment Index falls in the lower portion of the 4,487-city comparison set. The index is a resource snapshot, not an academic grade: it reflects the federal staffing, counselor, gifted-program, and attendance fields available for local campuses. The most useful next step is to open the individual schools below and identify which component is pulling each score down, because the same city average can hide very different campus-level constraints.

Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio

7 of Payson's 8 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.

Campus spread matters more than the city mean

The 18-point gap between Payson High and Barnett School shows the range hidden by Payson's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.

City enrollment
Top 36%
School count
Top 54%
Resource Index average
1st percentile
Teacher staffing
4th percentile

Payson High accounts for 27.2% of all Payson public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Payson-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: Combined. 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

Payson school enrollment varies 4.6× across entities

Payson school enrollment ranges from 356 students (lowest) to 1,648 students (highest), a spread of 1,292 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

Payson operates one school district — a single-district system

Payson's listed schools share one district boundary, budget authority, and reporting chain. That makes citywide and districtwide governance easier to compare, but it does not make individual campuses uniform: grade configuration, staffing, programs, and student need can still vary materially within the same school district.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Payson student-teacher ratio is 23.9:1 — high (typically associated with larger urban scale or staffing constraints that have widened the headcount gap)

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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

# School Score
1. Payson High 28
2. Payson Jr High 28
3. Wilson School 20
4. Mt. Nebo Middle 18
5. Taylor School 17
6. Park View School 17
7. Spring Lake School 12
8. Barnett School 10

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Payson

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.

  1. 1 Taylor School 47.1/100
  2. 2 Barnett School 47.0/100
  3. 3 Wilson School 46.8/100
  4. 4 Payson Jr High 38.5/100
  5. 5 Spring Lake School 37.3/100

What do families ask about schools in Payson?

Which Payson school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Payson High has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Payson schools in this federal-data comparison at 28/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Payson, UT? ▼

Payson has 8 public schools with a total enrollment of 6,049 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 23.9:1.

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

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.