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San Luis Obispo, California - 16 schools
An equity score of 44/100 ranks San Luis Coastal Unified #907 of 1517 districts in California (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $16,712 per pupil, San Luis Coastal Unified ranks #580 of 1862 California districts by per-pupil spending (California districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
7,555
Total Enrollment
16
Schools
$16,712
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
San Luis Coastal Unified operates 16 public schools serving 7,555 students, placing it among the smaller districts in California. The school portfolio breaks down into 10 elementary, 3 high, 2 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 San Luis Obispo County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $16,712 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 77.4% local, 16.0% state, and 6.7% 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 44/100, ranked #907 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 2 of 16 schools offering Advanced Placement (26 AP courses district-wide), a 547.7:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 27.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 54.2% White, 31.6% Hispanic or Latino, 5.0% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Peep - Prepare, with a diversity index of 65.9/100.
Its largest campus is San Luis Obispo High, enrolling 1,678 students (22% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Peep - Prepare, at 25 students, a 67x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
San Luis Obispo High accounts for 21.9% of all San Luis Coastal Unified student enrollment
That concentration means San Luis Coastal 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.
San Luis Coastal Unified school enrollment varies 67× across entities
San Luis Coastal Unified school enrollment ranges from 25 students (lowest) to 1,678 students (highest), a spread of 1,653 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.
San Luis Coastal Unified student-counselor ratio is 548:1 — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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.
San Luis Coastal Unified chronic absenteeism rate is 27.0% — 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 San Luis Coastal Unified is typically wider than the San Luis Coastal Unified-aggregate figure suggests.
San Luis Coastal Unified has 16 schools, including 3 high, 2 middle, 10 elementary, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 7,555 students.
How much does San Luis Coastal Unified spend per student?
San Luis Coastal Unified spends $16,712 per student. The district has an equity score of 44/100, ranking #907 in California.
What is the demographic composition of San Luis Coastal Unified?
San Luis Coastal Unified students are 54.2% White, 31.6% Hispanic or Latino, 5.0% Asian, 0.7% African American, averaged across 16 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for San Luis Coastal Unified?
San Luis Coastal Unified has an equity score of 44/100, ranking #907 out of 1517 districts in California.