Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. District totals are aggregated directly from the schools reporting under this district in the source records. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
West Palm Beach, Florida - 230 schools
An equity score of 60/100 ranks Palm Beach #21 of 67 districts in Florida (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,727 per pupil, Palm Beach ranks #8 of 67 Florida districts by per-pupil spending (Florida districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
Palm Beach operates 230 public schools serving 188,843 students, placing it among the largest districts in Florida. The school portfolio breaks down into 130 combined, 36 middle, 34 high, 30 elementary schools, giving families in a major system a clear picture of grade-band coverage across a large portfolio before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Palm Beach County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,727 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 67 Florida districts by per-pupil spending. See how Florida compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 63.0% local, 21.7% state, and 15.3% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers. The district's equity score is 60/100, ranked #21 of 67 in Florida against a state average of 51, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 30 of 230 schools offering Advanced Placement (356 AP courses district-wide), a 487.4:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 27.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 36.3% Hispanic or Latino, 33.7% African American, 24.2% White across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Suncoast Community High School, with a diversity index of 76.8/100.
Its largest campus is John I. Leonard High School, enrolling 3,262 students (2% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Educational Services Program-West, at 5 students, a 652x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Palm Beach school enrollment ranges from 5 students (lowest) to 3,262 students (highest), a spread of 3,257 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.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data NCES Common Core of Data
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Areas above 75% eligibility receive concentration grants on top of the basic Title I formula. 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.
Source: ESSA Title I Part A; ED EDFacts file system ESSA Title I Part A; ED EDFacts file system
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.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection NCES Civil Rights Data Collection
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 Palm Beach is typically wider than the Palm Beach-aggregate figure suggests.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22 NCES Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22
This district has moderate funding equity. There may be room to improve funding diversity or resource allocation.
Average demographic composition across 230 schools in Palm Beach.
Source: NCES CCD School Membership 2024-25.
Average Simpson diversity index across Palm Beach's schools, above the Florida average of 52.3.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
The Florida districts closest to this one in total enrollment.
| District | Enrollment | Spending | Funding Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | Similar size | Similar spending | Similar funding mix |
| Hillsborough | Similar size | Lower spending | Less locally funded |
| Duval | Smaller | Lower spending | Less locally funded |
| Broward | Larger | Similar spending | Less locally funded |
| Polk | Smaller | Similar spending | Less locally funded |
Comparisons are relative to Palm Beach's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
See how this district compares to others in enrollment, spending, demographics, and academic resources.
Compare vs Miami-Dade →Palm Beach has 230 schools, including 34 high, 130 combined, 36 middle, 30 elementary. Total enrollment is 188,843 students.
Palm Beach spends $12,727 per student. The district has an equity score of 60/100, ranking #21 in Florida.
Palm Beach students are 36.3% Hispanic or Latino, 33.7% African American, 24.2% White, 2.5% Asian, averaged across 230 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
Palm Beach has an equity score of 60/100, ranking #21 out of 67 districts in Florida.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.