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.
Downingtown, Pennsylvania - 16 schools
An equity score of 27/100 ranks Downingtown Area Sd #546 of 648 districts in Pennsylvania (state average 49). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $16,432 per pupil, Downingtown Area Sd ranks #427 of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending (Pennsylvania districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
13,204
Total Enrollment
16
Schools
$16,432
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Downingtown Area Sd operates 16 public schools serving 13,204 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Pennsylvania. The school portfolio breaks down into 10 elementary, 3 high, 3 middle 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 Chester County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $16,432 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending. See how Pennsylvania compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 74.9% local, 21.1% state, and 4.0% 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 27/100, ranked #546 of 648 in Pennsylvania against a state average of 49, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 2 of 16 schools offering Advanced Placement (64 AP courses district-wide), a 449.9:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 13.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 63.4% White, 22.5% Asian, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is East Ward El Sch, with a diversity index of 64.5/100.
Its largest campus is Downingtown Hs West Campus, enrolling 1,796 students (14% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Pickering Valley El Sch, at 423 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Downingtown Area Sd school enrollment varies 4.2× across entities
Downingtown Area Sd school enrollment ranges from 423 students (lowest) to 1,796 students (highest), a spread of 1,373 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.
Downingtown Area Sd student-counselor ratio is 450:1 — 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.
Downingtown Area Sd chronic absenteeism rate is 13.7% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Downingtown Area Sd has 16 schools, including 3 high, 3 middle, 10 elementary. Total enrollment is 13,204 students.
How much does Downingtown Area Sd spend per student?
Downingtown Area Sd spends $16,432 per student. The district has an equity score of 27/100, ranking #546 in Pennsylvania.
What is the demographic composition of Downingtown Area Sd?
Downingtown Area Sd students are 63.4% White, 22.5% Asian, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 2.4% African American, averaged across 16 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Downingtown Area Sd?
Downingtown Area Sd has an equity score of 27/100, ranking #546 out of 648 districts in Pennsylvania.