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.
Pasadena, California - 23 schools
An equity score of 56/100 ranks Pasadena Unified #600 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $17,889 per pupil, Pasadena Unified ranks #402 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
14,152
Total Enrollment
23
Schools
$17,889
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Pasadena Unified operates 23 public schools serving 14,152 students, placing it in the mid-size range in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 14 elementary, 3 combined, 3 high, 3 middle schools, giving families a clear picture of grade-band coverage 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 $17,889 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 45.4% local, 40.3% state, and 14.3% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 56/100, ranked #600 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.
Academic infrastructure includes 4 of 23 schools offering Advanced Placement (47 AP courses district-wide), a 363.1:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 39.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 58.5% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% White, 9.4% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Sierra Madre Middle, with a diversity index of 74.3/100.
Its largest campus is Marshall Fundamental, enrolling 1,689 students (12% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Rose City High (Continuation), at 113 students, a 15x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Pasadena Unified school enrollment varies 15× across entities
Pasadena Unified school enrollment ranges from 113 students (lowest) to 1,689 students (highest), a spread of 1,576 students. That spread reflects typical mixed-portfolio variation between specialty programs and large neighbourhood schools. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Pasadena Unified has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 59.4% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch
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.
Pasadena Unified student-counselor ratio is 363:1 — 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.
Pasadena Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 39.0% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.