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Los Banos, California - 16 schools
An equity score of 54/100 ranks Los Banos Unified #653 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,682 per pupil, Los Banos Unified ranks #811 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
11,020
Total Enrollment
16
Schools
$15,682
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Los Banos Unified operates 16 public schools serving 11,020 students, placing it among the smaller districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 10 elementary, 3 high, 2 middle, 1 combined 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 Merced County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,682 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 17.4% local, 67.9% state, and 14.7% 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 54/100, ranked #653 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 2 of 16 schools offering Advanced Placement (24 AP courses district-wide), a 336.3:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 48.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 86.8% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% White, 1.4% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Charleston Elementary, with a diversity index of 44.7/100.
Its largest campus is Pacheco High, enrolling 1,725 students (16% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is San Luis High (Continuation), at 82 students, a 21x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Pacheco High accounts for 15.7% of all Los Banos Unified student enrollment
That concentration means Los Banos Unified-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. 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.
Los Banos Unified school enrollment varies 21× across entities
Los Banos Unified school enrollment ranges from 82 students (lowest) to 1,725 students (highest), a spread of 1,643 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.
Los Banos Unified has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 62.6% 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.
Los Banos Unified student-counselor ratio is 336:1 — near the typical range (US average ~408) — within the typical range for U.S. public districts
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 Variation between sub-units within Los Banos Unified is typically wider than the Los Banos Unified-aggregate figure suggests.
Los Banos Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 48.6% — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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.
Los Banos Unified has 16 schools, including 3 high, 2 middle, 10 elementary, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 11,020 students.
How much does Los Banos Unified spend per student?
Los Banos Unified spends $15,682 per student. The district has an equity score of 54/100, ranking #653 in California.
What is the demographic composition of Los Banos Unified?
Los Banos Unified students are 86.8% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% White, 1.4% Asian, 1.1% African American, averaged across 16 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Los Banos Unified?
Los Banos Unified has an equity score of 54/100, ranking #653 out of 1517 districts in California.