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Murray, Kentucky - 4 schools
An equity score of 64/100 ranks Murray Independent #51 of 171 districts in Kentucky (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,946 per pupil, Murray Independent ranks #20 of 171 Kentucky districts by per-pupil spending (Kentucky districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,849
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$14,946
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Murray Independent operates 4 public schools serving 1,849 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Kentucky. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined, 1 elementary, 1 high 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 Calloway County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,946 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 171 Kentucky districts by per-pupil spending. See how Kentucky compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 22.1% local, 45.7% state, and 32.2% 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 64/100, ranked #51 of 171 in Kentucky 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 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (17 AP courses district-wide), a 306.8:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 9.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 69.6% White, 10.1% Hispanic or Latino, 7.0% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Murray Preschool Head Start, with a diversity index of 64.3/100.
Its largest campus is Murray Middle School, enrolling 645 students (33% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Murray Preschool Head Start, at 105 students, a 6x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Murray Middle School accounts for 33.1% of all Murray Independent student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Murray Independent-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. 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.
Murray Independent school enrollment varies 6.1× across entities
Murray Independent school enrollment ranges from 105 students (lowest) to 645 students (highest), a spread of 540 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.
Murray Independent student-counselor ratio is 307:1 — near the typical range (US average ~408) — within the typical range for U.S. public districts
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 Variation between sub-units within Murray Independent is typically wider than the Murray Independent-aggregate figure suggests.
Murray Independent chronic absenteeism rate is 9.4% — 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.