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.
Brighton, Michigan - 8 schools
An equity score of 45/100 ranks Brighton Area Schools #415 of 707 districts in Michigan (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,269 per pupil, Brighton Area Schools ranks #127 of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending (Michigan districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
5,804
Total Enrollment
8
Schools
$15,269
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Brighton Area Schools operates 8 public schools serving 5,804 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Michigan. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 elementary, 2 high, 1 middle, 1 combined schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Livingston County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,269 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 821 Michigan districts by per-pupil spending. See how Michigan compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 34.3% local, 62.3% state, and 3.4% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 45/100, ranked #415 of 707 in Michigan against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 8 schools offering Advanced Placement (19 AP courses district-wide), a 737.4:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 15.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 90.8% White, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 1.2% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Bridge Alternative High School, with a diversity index of 27.7/100.
Its largest campus is Brighton High School, enrolling 1,887 students (33% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Bridge Alternative High School, at 70 students, a 27x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Brighton High School accounts for 32.5% of all Brighton Area Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Brighton Area Schools-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.
Brighton Area Schools school enrollment varies 27× across entities
Brighton Area Schools school enrollment ranges from 70 students (lowest) to 1,887 students (highest), a spread of 1,817 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Brighton Area Schools student-counselor ratio is 737:1 — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 Values this far above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
Brighton Area Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 15.3% — 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 Brighton Area Schools is typically wider than the Brighton Area Schools-aggregate figure suggests.
Brighton Area Schools has 8 schools, including 2 high, 4 elementary, 1 middle, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 5,804 students.
How much does Brighton Area Schools spend per student?
Brighton Area Schools spends $15,269 per student. The district has an equity score of 45/100, ranking #415 in Michigan.
What is the demographic composition of Brighton Area Schools?
Brighton Area Schools students are 90.8% White, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 1.2% Asian, 0.4% African American, averaged across 8 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Brighton Area Schools?
Brighton Area Schools has an equity score of 45/100, ranking #415 out of 707 districts in Michigan.