An equity score of 58/100 ranks Mcfarland Unified #553 of 1526 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $16,989 per pupil, Mcfarland Unified ranks #1005 of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
3,408
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$16,989
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Mcfarland Unified operates 7 public schools serving 3,408 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 elementary, 2 high, 1 middle, 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 Kern County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $16,989 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 18.1% local, 63.9% state, and 18.0% 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 58/100, ranked #553 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 1 of 7 schools offering Advanced Placement (8 AP courses district-wide), a 368.3:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 19.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 96.8% Hispanic or Latino, 1.2% Asian, 1.1% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Mcfarland Independent, with a diversity index of 16.3/100.
Its largest campus is Mcfarland High School Early College, enrolling 1,027 students (31% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Mcfarland Independent, at 23 students, a 45x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Mcfarland High School Early College accounts for 30.1% of all Mcfarland Unified student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Mcfarland Unified-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade band: high. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how the district allocates programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.
Mcfarland Unified school enrollment varies 45× across entities
Mcfarland Unified school enrollment ranges from 23 students (lowest) to 1,027 students (highest), a spread of 1,004 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme enrollment heterogeneity, the district operates both small specialty programs and large comprehensive campuses inside a single budgeting unit. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
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.
Mcfarland Unified student-counselor ratio is 368:1 — 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.
Mcfarland Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 19.2% — 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 Mcfarland Unified is typically wider than the Mcfarland Unified-aggregate figure suggests.