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.
Garden Grove, California - 64 schools
An equity score of 56/100 ranks Garden Grove Unified #597 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $16,783 per pupil, Garden Grove Unified ranks #569 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
38,164
Total Enrollment
64
Schools
$16,783
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Garden Grove Unified operates 64 public schools serving 38,164 students, placing it among the larger districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 44 elementary, 10 middle, 8 high, 2 combined schools, giving families a clear picture of grade-band coverage across a sizeable 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 Orange County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $16,783 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 30.3% local, 56.8% state, and 12.9% 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 56/100, ranked #597 of 1517 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 7 of 64 schools offering Advanced Placement (146 AP courses district-wide), a 432.5:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 27.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 55.3% Hispanic or Latino, 34.7% Asian, 5.8% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Loyal Barker Elementary, with a diversity index of 73.5/100.
Its largest campus is Garden Grove High, enrolling 2,148 students (6% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Jordan Secondary Learning Center, at 97 students, a 22x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Garden Grove Unified school enrollment varies 22× across entities
Garden Grove Unified school enrollment ranges from 97 students (lowest) to 2,148 students (highest), a spread of 2,051 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.
Garden Grove Unified has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 70.6% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch
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.
Garden Grove Unified student-counselor ratio is 433:1 — 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.
Garden Grove Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 27.0% — 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 Garden Grove Unified is typically wider than the Garden Grove Unified-aggregate figure suggests.
Garden Grove Unified has 64 schools, including 8 high, 44 elementary, 10 middle, 2 combined. Total enrollment is 38,164 students.
How much does Garden Grove Unified spend per student?
Garden Grove Unified spends $16,783 per student. The district has an equity score of 56/100, ranking #597 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Garden Grove Unified?
Garden Grove Unified students are 55.3% Hispanic or Latino, 34.7% Asian, 5.8% White, 0.5% African American, averaged across 64 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Garden Grove Unified?
Garden Grove Unified has an equity score of 56/100, ranking #597 out of 1517 districts in California.