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Anniston, Alabama - 5 schools
An equity score of 62/100 ranks Anniston City #39 of 146 districts in Alabama (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,896 per pupil, Anniston City ranks #26 of 146 Alabama districts by per-pupil spending (Alabama districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,892
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$13,896
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Anniston City operates 5 public schools serving 1,892 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Alabama. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle, 1 combined schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Calhoun County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,896 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 146 Alabama districts by per-pupil spending. See how Alabama compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 28.0% local, 44.5% state, and 27.5% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 62/100, ranked #39 of 146 in Alabama against a state average of 51, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 5 schools offering Advanced Placement (3 AP courses district-wide), a 351.8:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 27.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 85.0% African American, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 4.9% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Golden Springs Elementary School, with a diversity index of 37.8/100.
Its largest campus is Anniston High School, enrolling 498 students (27% of the district's total enrollment).
Anniston High School accounts for 26.3% of all Anniston City student enrollment
That concentration means Anniston City-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Anniston City has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 77.0% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Areas above 75% eligibility — including this one — receive concentration grants on top of the basic Title I formula. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Anniston City student-counselor ratio is 352:1 — high (typically associated with staffing constraints that limit per-student counselor time; CRDC data shows higher ratios cluster in larger urban systems)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Anniston City chronic absenteeism rate is 27.7% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Variation between sub-units within Anniston City is typically wider than the Anniston City-aggregate figure suggests.
Anniston City has 5 schools, including 1 high, 2 elementary, 1 middle, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 1,892 students.
How much does Anniston City spend per student?
Anniston City spends $13,896 per student. The district has an equity score of 62/100, ranking #39 in Alabama.
What is the demographic composition of Anniston City?
Anniston City students are 85.0% African American, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 4.9% White, 0.2% Asian, averaged across 5 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Anniston City?
Anniston City has an equity score of 62/100, ranking #39 out of 146 districts in Alabama.