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Harrodsburg, Kentucky - 6 schools
An equity score of 39/100 ranks Mercer County #108 of 171 districts in Kentucky (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,578 per pupil, Mercer County ranks #103 of 171 Kentucky districts by per-pupil spending (Kentucky districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,723
Total Enrollment
6
Schools
$12,578
Per-Pupil Spending
High, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Mercer County operates 6 public schools serving 2,723 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Kentucky. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 high, 2 combined, 1 middle, 1 elementary 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 Mercer County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,578 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 171 Kentucky districts by per-pupil spending. See how Kentucky compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 31.5% local, 52.8% state, and 15.8% 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 39/100, ranked #108 of 171 in Kentucky against a state average of 50, notably less 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 (12 AP courses district-wide), a 468:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 25.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 77.4% White, 11.5% Hispanic or Latino, 3.9% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Mercer County Day Treatment, with a diversity index of 54.6/100.
Its largest campus is Mercer County Senior High School, enrolling 748 students (28% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Mercer County Day Treatment, at 11 students, a 68x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Mercer County Senior High School accounts for 27.5% of all Mercer County student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Mercer County-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.
Mercer County school enrollment varies 68× across entities
Mercer County school enrollment ranges from 11 students (lowest) to 748 students (highest), a spread of 737 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.
Mercer County has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 64.1% 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). Eligibility here is approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. 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.
Mercer County student-counselor ratio is 468:1 — 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.
Mercer County chronic absenteeism rate is 25.4% — 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 Mercer County is typically wider than the Mercer County-aggregate figure suggests.
Mercer County has 6 schools, including 2 high, 2 combined, 1 middle, 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 2,723 students.
How much does Mercer County spend per student?
Mercer County spends $12,578 per student. The district has an equity score of 39/100, ranking #108 in Kentucky.
What is the demographic composition of Mercer County?
Mercer County students are 77.4% White, 11.5% Hispanic or Latino, 3.9% African American, 0.5% Asian, averaged across 6 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Mercer County?
Mercer County has an equity score of 39/100, ranking #108 out of 171 districts in Kentucky.