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Syracuse, New York - 31 schools
An equity score of 63/100 ranks Syracuse City School District #197 of 941 districts in New York (state average 45). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $23,831 per pupil, Syracuse City School District ranks #592 of 999 New York districts by per-pupil spending (New York districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
18,398
Total Enrollment
31
Schools
$23,831
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Syracuse City School District operates 31 public schools serving 18,398 students, placing it in the mid-size range in New York. The school portfolio breaks down into 19 combined, 6 high, 6 middle 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 Onondaga County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $23,831 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 999 New York districts by per-pupil spending. See how New York compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 11.5% local, 65.7% state, and 22.8% 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 63/100, ranked #197 of 941 in New York 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 3 of 31 schools offering Advanced Placement (6 AP courses district-wide), a 382.1:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 65.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 52.1% African American, 17.4% White, 15.6% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Expeditionary Learning Middle School, with a diversity index of 73.4/100.
Its largest campus is Henninger High School, enrolling 1,483 students (8% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Onondaga Cnty Sheriff's Dept, at 19 students, a 78x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Syracuse City School District school enrollment varies 78× across entities
Syracuse City School District school enrollment ranges from 19 students (lowest) to 1,483 students (highest), a spread of 1,464 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.
Syracuse City School District has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 84.2% 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 — including this one — 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.
Syracuse City School District student-counselor ratio is 382:1 — 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.
Syracuse City School District chronic absenteeism rate is 65.4% — 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.
Comparisons are relative to Syracuse City School District's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in New York
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Syracuse City School District?
Syracuse City School District has 31 schools, including 6 high, 19 combined, 6 middle. Total enrollment is 18,398 students.
How much does Syracuse City School District spend per student?
Syracuse City School District spends $23,831 per student. The district has an equity score of 63/100, ranking #197 in New York.
What is the demographic composition of Syracuse City School District?
Syracuse City School District students are 52.1% African American, 17.4% White, 15.6% Hispanic or Latino, 5.5% Asian, averaged across 31 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Syracuse City School District?
Syracuse City School District has an equity score of 63/100, ranking #197 out of 941 districts in New York.