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Pell City, Alabama - 8 schools
An equity score of 27/100 ranks Pell City #131 of 146 districts in Alabama (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $10,747 per pupil, Pell City ranks #129 of 146 Alabama districts by per-pupil spending (Alabama districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
4,157
Total Enrollment
8
Schools
$10,747
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Pell City operates 8 public schools serving 4,157 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Alabama. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 combined, 2 middle, 2 elementary, 1 high 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 St. Clair County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $10,747 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 146 Alabama districts by per-pupil spending. See how Alabama compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 21.2% local, 62.5% state, and 16.2% 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 27/100, ranked #131 of 146 in Alabama against a state average of 51, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 8 schools offering Advanced Placement (8 AP courses district-wide), a 436.6:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 21.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 75.8% White, 14.2% African American, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Iola Roberts Elementary School, with a diversity index of 48.8/100.
Its largest campus is Pell City High School, enrolling 1,193 students (28% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Duran South, at 307 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Pell City High School accounts for 27.8% of all Pell City student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Pell City-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.
Pell City school enrollment varies 3.9× across entities
Pell City school enrollment ranges from 307 students (lowest) to 1,193 students (highest), a spread of 886 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Pell City has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 57.4% 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.
Pell City student-counselor ratio is 437:1 — 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.
Pell City chronic absenteeism rate is 21.8% — 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 Pell City is typically wider than the Pell City-aggregate figure suggests.
Pell City has 8 schools, including 1 high, 2 middle, 2 elementary, 3 combined. Total enrollment is 4,157 students.
How much does Pell City spend per student?
Pell City spends $10,747 per student. The district has an equity score of 27/100, ranking #131 in Alabama.
What is the demographic composition of Pell City?
Pell City students are 75.8% White, 14.2% African American, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 1.0% Asian, averaged across 8 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Pell City?
Pell City has an equity score of 27/100, ranking #131 out of 146 districts in Alabama.