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Hawthorne, California - 11 schools
An equity score of 62/100 ranks Hawthorne #445 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $17,073 per pupil, Hawthorne ranks #522 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
7,093
Total Enrollment
11
Schools
$17,073
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Hawthorne operates 11 public schools serving 7,093 students, placing it among the smaller districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 7 elementary, 3 middle, 1 high 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 Los Angeles County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $17,073 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 14.4% local, 71.7% state, and 13.9% 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 62/100, ranked #445 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 1 of 11 schools offering Advanced Placement (11 AP courses district-wide), a 567.3:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 40.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 71.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% African American, 3.4% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Hawthorne Math and Science Academy, with a diversity index of 53.9/100.
Its largest campus is Zela Davis, enrolling 843 students (12% of the district's total enrollment).
Hawthorne school enrollment varies 2.0× across entities
Hawthorne school enrollment ranges from 418 students (lowest) to 843 students (highest), a spread of 425 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.
Hawthorne has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 58.0% 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). Areas above 75% eligibility receive concentration grants on top of the basic Title I formula. 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.
Hawthorne student-counselor ratio is 567:1 — 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.
Hawthorne chronic absenteeism rate is 40.2% — 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.