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Bigfork, Montana - 2 schools
An equity score of 6/100 ranks Bigfork Elem #140 of 141 districts in Montana (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $10,150 per pupil, Bigfork Elem ranks #370 of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending (Montana districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
610
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$10,150
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Bigfork Elem operates 2 public schools serving 610 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Montana. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 combined, 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 Flathead County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $10,150 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 40 of 394 Montana districts by per-pupil spending. See how Montana compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 53.4% local, 34.7% state, and 11.9% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers. The district's equity score is 6/100, ranked #140 of 141 in Montana against a state average of 38, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 346.6:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 40.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 92.1% White, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0.5% Asian across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Bigfork Elementary, enrolling 343 students (59% of the district's total enrollment).
Bigfork Elementary accounts for 56.2% of all Bigfork Elem student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Bigfork Elem a distant remainder — means Bigfork Elem-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. 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.
Bigfork Elem student-counselor ratio is 347:1 — near the typical range (US average ~408) — within the typical range for U.S. public districts
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 Variation between sub-units within Bigfork Elem is typically wider than the Bigfork Elem-aggregate figure suggests.
Bigfork Elem chronic absenteeism rate is 40.6% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.