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Linden, Alabama - 3 schools
An equity score of 79/100 ranks Marengo County #10 of 146 districts in Alabama (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,299 per pupil, Marengo County ranks #21 of 146 Alabama districts by per-pupil spending (Alabama districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
953
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$14,299
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Marengo County operates 3 public schools serving 953 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Alabama. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 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 Marengo County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,299 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 146 Alabama districts by per-pupil spending. See how Alabama compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 25.4% local, 51.4% state, and 23.2% 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 79/100, ranked #10 of 146 in Alabama against a state average of 51, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (1 AP courses district-wide), a 747.7:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 18.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 77.4% African American, 21.1% White, 0.6% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Sweet Water High School, with a diversity index of 51.1/100.
Its largest campus is Sweet Water High School, enrolling 600 students (62% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Amelia L Johnson High School, at 142 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Sweet Water High School accounts for 62.2% of all Marengo County student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Marengo County a distant remainder — means Marengo County-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.
Marengo County school enrollment varies 4.2× across entities
Marengo County school enrollment ranges from 142 students (lowest) to 600 students (highest), a spread of 458 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.
Marengo County has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 76.9% 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 — including this one — 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.
Marengo County student-counselor ratio is 748:1 — 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.
Marengo County chronic absenteeism rate is 18.3% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
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 Variation between sub-units within Marengo County is typically wider than the Marengo County-aggregate figure suggests.
Marengo County has 3 schools, including 3 combined. Total enrollment is 953 students.
How much does Marengo County spend per student?
Marengo County spends $14,299 per student. The district has an equity score of 79/100, ranking #10 in Alabama.
What is the demographic composition of Marengo County?
Marengo County students are 77.4% African American, 21.1% White, 0.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.1% Asian, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Marengo County?
Marengo County has an equity score of 79/100, ranking #10 out of 146 districts in Alabama.