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.
Fresno, California - 100 schools
An equity score of 84/100 ranks Fresno Unified #48 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,783 per pupil, Fresno Unified ranks #309 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
Fresno Unified operates 100 public schools serving 69,668 students, placing it among the largest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 71 elementary, 13 middle, 12 high, 4 combined schools, giving families in a major system a clear picture of grade-band coverage across a large portfolio 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 Fresno County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,783 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 12.0% local, 66.8% state, and 21.2% 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 84/100, ranked #48 of 1517 in California against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 9 of 100 schools offering Advanced Placement (118 AP courses district-wide), a 395.3:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 53.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 70.1% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 7.6% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is H. Roger Tatarian Elementary, with a diversity index of 68.7/100.
Its largest campus is Sunnyside High, enrolling 2,858 students (4% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Fulton, at 23 students, a 124x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Fresno Unified school enrollment ranges from 23 students (lowest) to 2,858 students (highest), a spread of 2,835 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.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data NCES Common Core of Data
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Eligibility here is approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Source: ESSA Title I Part A; ED EDFacts file system ESSA Title I Part A; ED EDFacts file system
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.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection NCES Civil Rights Data Collection
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 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.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22 NCES Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22
This district scores well on funding equity, with balanced funding sources and good resource allocation.
Average demographic composition across 100 schools in Fresno Unified.
Source: NCES CCD School Membership 2024-25.
Average Simpson diversity index across Fresno Unified's schools, about the same as the California average of 46.0.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
The California districts closest to this one in total enrollment.
| District | Enrollment | Spending | Funding Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach Unified | Similar size | Similar spending | More locally funded |
| Elk Grove Unified | Similar size | Lower spending | More locally funded |
| Corona-Norco Unified | Smaller | Lower spending | More locally funded |
| San Francisco Unified | Smaller | Higher spending | More locally funded |
| San Bernardino City Unified | Smaller | Similar spending | Similar funding mix |
Comparisons are relative to Fresno Unified's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
See how this district compares to others in enrollment, spending, demographics, and academic resources.
Compare vs Los Angeles Unified →Fresno Unified has 100 schools, including 12 high, 4 combined, 13 middle, 71 elementary. Total enrollment is 69,668 students.
Fresno Unified spends $18,783 per student. The district has an equity score of 84/100, ranking #48 in California.
Fresno Unified students are 70.1% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 7.6% White, 7.4% African American, averaged across 100 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
Fresno Unified has an equity score of 84/100, ranking #48 out of 1517 districts in California.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.