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La Canada, California - 4 schools
An equity score of 22/100 ranks La Canada Unified #1401 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,462 per pupil, La Canada Unified ranks #1099 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,877
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$14,462
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
La Canada Unified operates 4 public schools serving 3,877 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 elementary, 1 combined schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. 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 $14,462 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 58.5% local, 36.0% state, and 5.5% 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 22/100, ranked #1401 of 1517 in California 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 1 of 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (19 AP courses district-wide), a 476.7:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 7.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 41.3% White, 32.8% Asian, 12.6% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Palm Crest Elementary, with a diversity index of 69.9/100.
Its largest campus is La Canada High, enrolling 1,989 students (50% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is La Canada Elementary, at 633 students, a 3x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
La Canada High accounts for 50.0% of all La Canada Unified student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of La Canada Unified a distant remainder — means La Canada Unified-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
La Canada Unified school enrollment varies 3.1× across entities
La Canada Unified school enrollment ranges from 633 students (lowest) to 1,989 students (highest), a spread of 1,356 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.
La Canada Unified student-counselor ratio is 477:1 — 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.
La Canada Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 7.0% — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
La Canada Unified has 4 schools, including 1 combined, 3 elementary. Total enrollment is 3,877 students.
How much does La Canada Unified spend per student?
La Canada Unified spends $14,462 per student. The district has an equity score of 22/100, ranking #1401 in California.
What is the demographic composition of La Canada Unified?
La Canada Unified students are 41.3% White, 32.8% Asian, 12.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.3% African American, averaged across 4 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for La Canada Unified?
La Canada Unified has an equity score of 22/100, ranking #1401 out of 1517 districts in California.