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.
Madera, California - 28 schools
An equity score of 74/100 ranks Madera Unified #186 of 1526 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $18,553 per pupil, Madera Unified ranks #719 of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
Madera Unified operates 28 public schools serving 20,151 students, placing it in the mid-size range in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 18 elementary, 5 high, 3 middle, 2 combined schools, giving families a clear picture of grade-band coverage 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 Madera County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $18,553 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 13.4% local, 70.9% state, and 15.7% 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 74/100, ranked #186 of 1526 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 3 of 28 schools offering Advanced Placement (23 AP courses district-wide), a 445.6:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 52.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 91.3% Hispanic or Latino, 4.0% White, 1.3% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Lincoln Elementary, with a diversity index of 38.0/100.
Its largest campus is Matilda Torres High, enrolling 2,017 students (10% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Madera Unified Adult Transition Program, at 15 students, a 134x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Madera Unified school enrollment ranges from 15 students (lowest) to 2,017 students (highest), a spread of 2,002 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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
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.
This district scores well on funding equity, with balanced funding sources and good resource allocation.
Average demographic composition across 28 schools in Madera Unified.
Source: NCES CCD School Membership 2024-25.
Average Simpson diversity index across Madera Unified's schools, below the California average of 46.0.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
| School | Enrollment |
|---|---|
| Matilda Torres High | 2,017 |
| Madera High | 1,869 |
| Madera South High | 1,859 |
| Thomas Jefferson Middle | 948 |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Middle | 865 |
| Jack G. Desmond Middle | 838 |
| Lincoln Elementary | 816 |
| John J. Pershing Elementary | 788 |
| Sierra Vista Elementary | 740 |
| James Madison Elementary | 739 |
| John Adams Elementary | 736 |
| Alpha Elementary | 735 |
| Virginia Lee Rose Elementary | 714 |
| Berenda Elementary | 709 |
| Nishimoto Elementary | 704 |
| Cesar Chavez Elementary | 659 |
| Parkwood Elementary | 635 |
| James Monroe Elementary | 624 |
| Millview Elementary | 594 |
| George Washington Elementary | 578 |
| Howard Elementary | 487 |
| Duane E. Furman Independent Study | 348 |
| Dixieland Elementary | 266 |
| Eastin Arcola Elementary | 225 |
| La Vina Elementary | 203 |
| Mountain Vista High | 162 |
| Ripperdan Community Day | 49 |
| Madera Unified Adult Transition Program | 15 |
The California districts closest to this one in total enrollment.
| District | Enrollment | Spending | Funding Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montebello Unified | Similar size | Higher spending | Similar funding mix |
| Redlands Unified | Similar size | Similar spending | More locally funded |
| Folsom-Cordova Unified | Similar size | Lower spending | More locally funded |
| Fairfield-Suisun Unified | Similar size | Lower spending | More locally funded |
| San Marcos Unified | Similar size | Lower spending | More locally funded |
Comparisons are relative to Madera Unified'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 Los Angeles Unified →Madera Unified has 28 schools, including 5 high, 3 middle, 18 elementary, 2 combined. Total enrollment is 20,151 students.
Madera Unified spends $18,553 per student. The district has an equity score of 74/100, ranking #186 in California.
Madera Unified students are 91.3% Hispanic or Latino, 4.0% White, 1.3% African American, 1.1% Asian, averaged across 28 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
Madera Unified has an equity score of 74/100, ranking #186 out of 1526 districts in California.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.