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Muscle Shoals, Alabama - 6 schools
An equity score of 29/100 ranks Muscle Shoals City #125 of 146 districts in Alabama (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,914 per pupil, Muscle Shoals City ranks #80 of 146 Alabama districts by per-pupil spending (Alabama districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,896
Total Enrollment
6
Schools
$11,914
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Muscle Shoals City operates 6 public schools serving 2,896 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Alabama. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 elementary, 1 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 Colbert County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,914 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 146 Alabama districts by per-pupil spending. See how Alabama compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 34.9% local, 53.6% state, and 11.5% 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 29/100, ranked #125 of 146 in Alabama against a state average of 51, 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 (8 AP courses district-wide), a 526.5:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 12.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 65.9% White, 15.7% African American, 8.3% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Muscle Shoals High School, with a diversity index of 55.7/100.
Its largest campus is Muscle Shoals High School, enrolling 864 students (29% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Webster Elementary School, at 234 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Muscle Shoals High School accounts for 29.0% of all Muscle Shoals City student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Muscle Shoals City-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.
Muscle Shoals City school enrollment varies 3.7× across entities
Muscle Shoals City school enrollment ranges from 234 students (lowest) to 864 students (highest), a spread of 630 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.
Muscle Shoals City student-counselor ratio is 527:1 — 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.
Muscle Shoals City chronic absenteeism rate is 12.6% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Muscle Shoals City has 6 schools, including 1 high, 3 elementary, 1 middle, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 2,896 students.
How much does Muscle Shoals City spend per student?
Muscle Shoals City spends $11,914 per student. The district has an equity score of 29/100, ranking #125 in Alabama.
What is the demographic composition of Muscle Shoals City?
Muscle Shoals City students are 65.9% White, 15.7% African American, 8.3% Hispanic or Latino, 3.0% Asian, averaged across 6 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Muscle Shoals City?
Muscle Shoals City has an equity score of 29/100, ranking #125 out of 146 districts in Alabama.