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, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Houston, Texas - 273 schools
An equity score of 38/100 ranks Houston Isd #719 of 1047 districts in Texas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,072 per pupil, Houston Isd ranks #672 of 1207 Texas districts by per-pupil spending (Texas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
Houston Isd operates 273 public schools serving 189,934 students, placing it among the largest districts in Texas. The school portfolio breaks down into 181 combined, 42 high, 41 middle, 9 elementary 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 Harris County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,072 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1207 Texas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Texas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 68.8% local, 8.0% state, and 23.2% 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 38/100, ranked #719 of 1047 in Texas against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 43 of 273 schools offering Advanced Placement (533 AP courses district-wide), a 531.6:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 34.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 63.6% Hispanic or Latino, 24.2% African American, 6.7% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Bush El, with a diversity index of 77.0/100.
Its largest campus is Texas Connections Academy at Houston, enrolling 8,641 students (5% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Harris Co J J a E P, at 25 students, a 346x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Houston Isd school enrollment ranges from 25 students (lowest) to 8,641 students (highest), a spread of 8,616 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
The reported share is at least 75%, indicating a high concentration of measured economic need. 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.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
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.
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.
This district scores below average on funding equity. High reliance on local revenue or lower spending may contribute.
Average demographic composition across 273 schools in Houston Isd.
Source: NCES CCD School Membership 2024-25.
Average Simpson diversity index across Houston Isd's schools, below the Texas average of 44.7.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
The Texas districts closest to this one in total enrollment.
| District | Enrollment | Spending | Funding Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Isd | Smaller | Similar spending | Similar funding mix |
| Cypress-Fairbanks Isd | Smaller | Lower spending | Less locally funded |
| Northside Isd | Smaller | Lower spending | Similar funding mix |
| Katy Isd | Smaller | Similar spending | Less locally funded |
| Fort Bend Isd | Smaller | Lower spending | Less locally funded |
Comparisons are relative to Houston Isd'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.
Out-of-state peers matched by enrollment and by per-pupil expenditure, not the same-state lists above.
See how this district compares to others in enrollment, spending, demographics, and academic resources.
Compare vs Dallas Isd →Houston Isd has 273 schools, including 181 combined, 42 high, 41 middle, 9 elementary. Total enrollment is 189,934 students.
Houston Isd spends $13,072 per student. The district has an equity score of 38/100, ranking #719 in Texas.
Houston Isd students are 63.6% Hispanic or Latino, 24.2% African American, 6.7% White, 3.7% Asian, averaged across 273 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
Houston Isd has an equity score of 38/100, ranking #719 out of 1047 districts in Texas.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.