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Pacifica, California - 7 schools
An equity score of 51/100 ranks Pacifica #723 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,080 per pupil, Pacifica ranks #954 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,759
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$15,080
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Pacifica operates 7 public schools serving 2,759 students, placing it among the smallest districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 6 elementary, 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 San Mateo County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,080 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 27.0% local, 67.3% state, and 5.7% 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 51/100, ranked #723 of 1517 in California against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 360.3:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 22.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 37.3% White, 28.7% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Ocean Shore Elementary, with a diversity index of 75.2/100.
Its largest campus is Cabrillo Elementary, enrolling 524 students (20% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Pacifica Independent Home Study, at 12 students, a 44x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Cabrillo Elementary accounts for 19.0% of all Pacifica student enrollment
That concentration means Pacifica-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.
Pacifica school enrollment varies 44× across entities
Pacifica school enrollment ranges from 12 students (lowest) to 524 students (highest), a spread of 512 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.
Pacifica student-counselor ratio is 360:1 — 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.
Pacifica chronic absenteeism rate is 22.9% — 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 Pacifica is typically wider than the Pacifica-aggregate figure suggests.