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.
Tucson, Arizona - 88 schools
An equity score of 67/100 ranks Tucson Unified District (4403) #29 of 437 districts in Arizona (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $13,783 per pupil, Tucson Unified District (4403) ranks #171 of 633 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending (Arizona districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
Tucson Unified District (4403) operates 88 public schools serving 41,511 students, placing it among the largest districts in Arizona. The school portfolio breaks down into 73 combined, 11 middle, 2 high, 2 elementary schools, giving families in a major system a clear picture of grade-band coverage across a large portfolio 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 Pima County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $13,783 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 633 Arizona districts by per-pupil spending. See how Arizona compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 41.8% local, 34.7% state, and 23.6% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 67/100, ranked #29 of 437 in Arizona against a state average of 38, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 11 of 88 schools offering Advanced Placement (139 AP courses district-wide), a 353.8:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 67.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 63.2% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% White, 7.6% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Doolen Middle School, with a diversity index of 72.8/100.
Its largest campus is Tucson Magnet High School, enrolling 2,938 students (7% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Mary Meredith K-12 School, at 17 students, a 173x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Tucson Unified District (4403) school enrollment ranges from 17 students (lowest) to 2,938 students (highest), a spread of 2,921 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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
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.
This district has moderate funding equity. There may be room to improve funding diversity or resource allocation.
Average demographic composition across 88 schools in Tucson Unified District (4403).
Source: NCES CCD School Membership 2024-25.
Average Simpson diversity index across Tucson Unified District (4403)'s schools, above the Arizona average of 47.2.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
The Arizona districts closest to this one in total enrollment.
| District | Enrollment | Spending | Funding Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chandler Unified District #80 (4242) | Similar size | Lower spending | Similar funding mix |
| Peoria Unified School District (4237) | Similar size | Lower spending | Similar funding mix |
| Gilbert Unified District (4239) | Similar size | Lower spending | Similar funding mix |
| Deer Valley Unified District (4246) | Similar size | Lower spending | Similar funding mix |
| Paradise Valley Unified District (4241) | Smaller | Similar spending | More locally funded |
Comparisons are relative to Tucson Unified District (4403)'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 Mesa Unified District (4235) →Tucson Unified District (4403) has 88 schools, including 73 combined, 11 middle, 2 high, 2 elementary. Total enrollment is 41,511 students.
Tucson Unified District (4403) spends $13,783 per student. The district has an equity score of 67/100, ranking #29 in Arizona.
Tucson Unified District (4403) students are 63.2% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% White, 7.6% African American, 1.8% Asian, averaged across 88 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
Tucson Unified District (4403) has an equity score of 67/100, ranking #29 out of 437 districts in Arizona.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.