Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal
records, no number is typed in by an editor. District totals are aggregated directly from the schools reporting under this district in the source records. See our
editorial standards & corrections policy, the
methodology behind these numbers, or
report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
Benton, Pennsylvania - 3 schools
An equity score of 73/100 ranks Benton Area Sd #93 of 648 districts in Pennsylvania (state average 49). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $19,746 per pupil, Benton Area Sd ranks #149 of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending (Pennsylvania districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
621
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$19,746
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Benton Area Sd operates 3 public schools serving 621 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Pennsylvania. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle 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 Columbia County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $19,746 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending. See how Pennsylvania compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 48.5% local, 42.4% state, and 9.1% 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 73/100, ranked #93 of 648 in Pennsylvania against a state average of 49, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (1 AP courses district-wide), a 352.7:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 23.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 95.1% White, 2.3% African American, 2.2% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Appleman El Sch, with a diversity index of 10.0/100.
Its largest campus is Appleman El Sch, enrolling 308 students (51% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Benton Area Ms, at 100 students, a 3x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Appleman El Sch accounts for 49.6% of all Benton Area Sd student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Benton Area Sd a distant remainder — means Benton Area Sd-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. 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.
Benton Area Sd school enrollment varies 3.1× across entities
Benton Area Sd school enrollment ranges from 100 students (lowest) to 308 students (highest), a spread of 208 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Benton Area Sd student-counselor ratio is 353:1 — 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.
Benton Area Sd chronic absenteeism rate is 23.1% — 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 Benton Area Sd is typically wider than the Benton Area Sd-aggregate figure suggests.
Benton Area Sd has 3 schools, including 1 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 621 students.
How much does Benton Area Sd spend per student?
Benton Area Sd spends $19,746 per student. The district has an equity score of 73/100, ranking #93 in Pennsylvania.
What is the demographic composition of Benton Area Sd?
Benton Area Sd students are 95.1% White, 2.3% African American, 2.2% Hispanic or Latino, 0.1% Asian, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Benton Area Sd?
Benton Area Sd has an equity score of 73/100, ranking #93 out of 648 districts in Pennsylvania.