An equity score of 49/100 ranks Palmer Public Schools #104 of 200 districts in Nebraska (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $15,096 per pupil, Palmer Public Schools ranks #179 of 244 Nebraska districts by per-pupil spending (Nebraska districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
322
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$15,096
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Palmer Public Schools operates 2 public schools serving 322 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Nebraska. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 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 Merrick County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $15,096 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 244 Nebraska districts by per-pupil spending. See how Nebraska compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 53.5% local, 33.8% state, and 12.7% 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 49/100, ranked #104 of 200 in Nebraska against a state average of 50, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 125.8:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 7.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 90.6% White, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Palmer Elementary School, enrolling 184 students (59% of the district's total enrollment).
Palmer Elementary School accounts for 57.1% of all Palmer Public Schools student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Palmer Public Schools a distant remainder — means Palmer Public Schools-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade band: combined. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how the district allocates programs, capital, or staff. Because it contains a majority of the affected population, enrollment-weighted aggregates will sit closer to this entity's reported fields than to those of smaller peers; an unweighted entity count answers a different question.
Palmer Public Schools student-counselor ratio is 126:1 — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 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.
Palmer Public Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 7.6% — 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.