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Mcpherson, Kansas - 6 schools
An equity score of 62/100 ranks Mcpherson #76 of 250 districts in Kansas (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $17,683 per pupil, Mcpherson ranks #46 of 285 Kansas districts by per-pupil spending (Kansas districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,311
Total Enrollment
6
Schools
$17,683
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Mcpherson operates 6 public schools serving 2,311 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Kansas. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 combined, 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 Mcpherson County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $17,683 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 285 Kansas districts by per-pupil spending. See how Kansas compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 43.1% local, 45.2% state, and 11.7% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 62/100, ranked #76 of 250 in Kansas 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 6 schools offering Advanced Placement (10 AP courses district-wide), a 248.9:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 21.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 74.1% White, 16.9% Hispanic or Latino, 1.1% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Lincoln Elem, with a diversity index of 49.3/100.
Its largest campus is Mcpherson High, enrolling 658 students (31% of the district's total enrollment).
Mcpherson High accounts for 28.5% of all Mcpherson student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Mcpherson-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.
Mcpherson school enrollment varies 3.0× across entities
Mcpherson school enrollment ranges from 221 students (lowest) to 658 students (highest), a spread of 437 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.
Mcpherson student-counselor ratio is 249:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Mcpherson chronic absenteeism rate is 21.3% — 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 Mcpherson is typically wider than the Mcpherson-aggregate figure suggests.