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Mars, Pennsylvania - 5 schools
An equity score of 10/100 ranks Mars Area Sd #639 of 648 districts in Pennsylvania (state average 49). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,202 per pupil, Mars Area Sd ranks #666 of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending (Pennsylvania districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,533
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$12,202
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Mars Area Sd operates 5 public schools serving 3,533 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Pennsylvania. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle 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 Butler County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,202 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 68 of 671 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending. See how Pennsylvania compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 70.2% local, 26.0% state, and 3.8% 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 10/100, ranked #639 of 648 in Pennsylvania against a state average of 49, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 5 schools offering Advanced Placement (14 AP courses district-wide), a 852.1:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 9.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 92.0% White, 4.2% Asian, 1.8% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Mars Area Primary Ctr, with a diversity index of 18.8/100.
Its largest campus is Mars Area Shs, enrolling 1,044 students (29% of the district's total enrollment).
Mars Area Shs accounts for 28.8% of all Mars Area Sd student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Mars Area Sd-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.
Mars Area Sd school enrollment varies 2.1× across entities
Mars Area Sd school enrollment ranges from 506 students (lowest) to 1,044 students (highest), a spread of 538 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.
Mars Area Sd student-counselor ratio is 852:1 — 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.
Mars Area Sd chronic absenteeism rate is 9.3% — 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.
Mars Area Sd has 5 schools, including 1 high, 3 elementary, 1 middle. Total enrollment is 3,533 students.
How much does Mars Area Sd spend per student?
Mars Area Sd spends $12,202 per student. The district has an equity score of 10/100, ranking #639 in Pennsylvania.
What is the demographic composition of Mars Area Sd?
Mars Area Sd students are 92.0% White, 4.2% Asian, 1.8% Hispanic or Latino, 0.6% African American, averaged across 5 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Mars Area Sd?
Mars Area Sd has an equity score of 10/100, ranking #639 out of 648 districts in Pennsylvania.