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, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Riverside, California - 48 schools
An equity score of 50/100 ranks Riverside Unified #761 of 1526 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $16,986 per pupil, Riverside Unified ranks #1006 of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
Riverside Unified operates 48 public schools serving 39,425 students, placing it in the mid-size range in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 29 elementary, 7 high, 7 middle, 5 combined 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 Riverside County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $16,986 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 1880 California districts by per-pupil spending. See how California compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 24.1% local, 64.5% state, and 11.4% 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 50/100, ranked #761 of 1526 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 8 of 48 schools offering Advanced Placement (108 AP courses district-wide), a 924.4:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 30.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 70.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% White, 5.4% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Benjamin Franklin Elementary, with a diversity index of 69.8/100.
Its largest campus is Martin Luther King Jr. High, enrolling 2,699 students (7% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Opportunity Program, at 33 students, a 82x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Riverside Unified school enrollment ranges from 33 students (lowest) to 2,699 students (highest), a spread of 2,666 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
The reported share clears the 50% majority mark. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
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 above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
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.
This district has moderate funding equity. There may be room to improve funding diversity or resource allocation.
Average demographic composition across 48 schools in Riverside Unified.
Source: NCES CCD School Membership 2024-25.
Average Simpson diversity index across Riverside Unified's schools, about the same as the California average of 46.0.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
The California districts closest to this one in total enrollment.
| District | Enrollment | Spending | Funding Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Ana Unified | Similar size | Higher spending | Similar funding mix |
| Sacramento City Unified | Similar size | Similar spending | Similar funding mix |
| Garden Grove Unified | Similar size | Higher spending | Similar funding mix |
| San Juan Unified | Similar size | Similar spending | Similar funding mix |
| Capistrano Unified | Similar size | Similar spending | More locally funded |
Comparisons are relative to Riverside Unified'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.
Out-of-state peers matched by enrollment and by per-pupil expenditure, not the same-state lists above.
See how this district compares to others in enrollment, spending, demographics, and academic resources.
Compare vs Los Angeles Unified →Riverside Unified has 48 schools, including 7 high, 29 elementary, 7 middle, 5 combined. Total enrollment is 39,425 students.
Riverside Unified spends $16,986 per student. The district has an equity score of 50/100, ranking #761 in California.
Riverside Unified students are 70.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% White, 5.4% African American, 4.7% Asian, averaged across 48 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
Riverside Unified has an equity score of 50/100, ranking #761 out of 1526 districts in California.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.