An equity score of 54/100 ranks Downey Unified #646 of 1526 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,148 per pupil, Downey Unified ranks #791 of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
22,359
Total Enrollment
22
Schools
$18,148
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Downey Unified operates 22 public schools serving 22,359 students, placing it in the mid-size range in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 13 elementary, 4 middle, 3 high, 2 combined schools, giving families a clear picture of grade-band coverage 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 Los Angeles County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,148 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 20.5% local, 67.1% state, and 12.4% 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 54/100, ranked #646 of 1526 in California 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 2 of 22 schools offering Advanced Placement (34 AP courses district-wide), a 375.5:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 38.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 88.2% Hispanic or Latino, 5.7% White, 2.6% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Lewis (Ed C.) Elementary, with a diversity index of 29.0/100.
Its largest campus is Downey High, enrolling 4,051 students (18% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Woodruff Academy, at 14 students, a 289x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Enrollment across the district's NCES-reporting campuses held roughly steady from 2022-23 to 2023-24 (22,328 to 22,358 students, +0.1%), per the NCES Common Core of Data annual universe files.
Of the district's $486,276,000 in reported FY2023 expenditures, 55.4% went to instruction, 24.7% to support services, and 6.5% to capital outlay, a fairly typical instruction/support/capital split for a public school district. Figures come from the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey's function-level breakdown, not the aggregate per-pupil figure above.
Downey High accounts for 17.8% of all Downey Unified student enrollment
That concentration means Downey Unified-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade band: high. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how the district allocates 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.
Downey Unified school enrollment varies 289× across entities
Downey Unified school enrollment ranges from 14 students (lowest) to 4,051 students (highest), a spread of 4,037 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
The reported share clears the 50% majority mark. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.
Downey Unified student-counselor ratio is 376:1 — 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.
Downey Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 38.8% — 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.