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Salisbury, North Carolina - 33 schools
An equity score of 51/100 ranks Rowan-Salisbury Schools #119 of 293 districts in North Carolina (state average 45). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,832 per pupil, Rowan-Salisbury Schools ranks #149 of 322 North Carolina districts by per-pupil spending (North Carolina districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
18,225
Total Enrollment
33
Schools
$11,832
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Rowan-Salisbury Schools operates 33 public schools serving 18,225 students, placing it in the mid-size range in North Carolina. The school portfolio breaks down into 13 combined, 7 high, 7 middle, 6 elementary 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 Rowan County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,832 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 322 North Carolina districts by per-pupil spending. See how North Carolina compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 18.6% local, 60.4% state, and 21.0% 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 51/100, ranked #119 of 293 in North Carolina against a state average of 45, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 6 of 33 schools offering Advanced Placement (62 AP courses district-wide), a 463:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 35.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 46.3% White, 24.3% Hispanic or Latino, 20.9% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Dole Elementary, with a diversity index of 72.0/100.
Its largest campus is Carson High, enrolling 1,063 students (6% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Henderson High, at 71 students, a 15x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Rowan-Salisbury Schools school enrollment varies 15× across entities
Rowan-Salisbury Schools school enrollment ranges from 71 students (lowest) to 1,063 students (highest), a spread of 992 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.
Rowan-Salisbury Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 68.7% 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). Eligibility here is approaching the 75% concentration-grant threshold; it does not yet unlock the extra funding tier but sits meaningfully above the baseline 50% majority mark. 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.
Rowan-Salisbury Schools student-counselor ratio is 463:1 — 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.
Rowan-Salisbury Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 35.7% — 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.