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Bryson City, North Carolina - 5 schools
An equity score of 83/100 ranks Swain County Schools #12 of 293 districts in North Carolina (state average 45). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $14,269 per pupil, Swain County Schools ranks #55 of 322 North Carolina districts by per-pupil spending (North Carolina districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,910
Total Enrollment
5
Schools
$14,269
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Swain County Schools operates 5 public schools serving 1,910 students, placing it among the smallest districts in North Carolina. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle, 1 combined schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Swain County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $14,269 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 7.7% local, 63.1% state, and 29.2% 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 83/100, ranked #12 of 293 in North Carolina against a state average of 45, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 5 schools offering Advanced Placement (6 AP courses district-wide), a 365.5:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 46.3% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 63.4% White, 8.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.8% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Swain County East Elementary, with a diversity index of 67.2/100.
Its largest campus is Swain County High School, enrolling 536 students (29% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Cherokee Extension School, at 110 students, a 5x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Swain County High School accounts for 28.1% of all Swain County Schools student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Swain County Schools-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.
Swain County Schools school enrollment varies 4.9× across entities
Swain County Schools school enrollment ranges from 110 students (lowest) to 536 students (highest), a spread of 426 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.
Swain County Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 66.5% 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.
Swain County Schools student-counselor ratio is 366:1 — 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.
Swain County Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 46.3% — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
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 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.
Swain County Schools has 5 schools, including 1 high, 1 middle, 2 elementary, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 1,910 students.
How much does Swain County Schools spend per student?
Swain County Schools spends $14,269 per student. The district has an equity score of 83/100, ranking #12 in North Carolina.
What is the demographic composition of Swain County Schools?
Swain County Schools students are 63.4% White, 8.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.8% Asian, 0.7% African American, averaged across 5 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Swain County Schools?
Swain County Schools has an equity score of 83/100, ranking #12 out of 293 districts in North Carolina.