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Palos Verdes Estates, California - 17 schools
An equity score of 31/100 ranks Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified #1214 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,775 per pupil, Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified ranks #1015 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
10,457
Total Enrollment
17
Schools
$14,775
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified operates 17 public schools serving 10,457 students, placing it among the smaller districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 10 elementary, 3 high, 3 middle, 1 combined schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly 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 Los Angeles County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,775 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 55.2% local, 39.0% state, and 5.7% 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 31/100, ranked #1214 of 1517 in California against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 3 of 17 schools offering Advanced Placement (69 AP courses district-wide), a 272.7:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 12.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 36.4% White, 30.7% Asian, 17.3% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Palos Verdes Distance Learning Academy, with a diversity index of 75.5/100.
Palos Verdes Peninsula High accounts for 19.8% of all Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified student enrollment
That concentration means Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified-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.
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified school enrollment varies 63× across entities
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified school enrollment ranges from 33 students (lowest) to 2,075 students (highest), a spread of 2,042 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.
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified student-counselor ratio is 273:1 — 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified is typically wider than the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified-aggregate figure suggests.
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 12.9% — 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.
Comparisons are relative to Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
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