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Urbandale, Iowa - 7 schools
An equity score of 42/100 ranks Urbandale Comm School District #187 of 303 districts in Iowa (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,327 per pupil, Urbandale Comm School District ranks #179 of 327 Iowa districts by per-pupil spending (Iowa districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
4,308
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$12,327
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Urbandale Comm School District operates 7 public schools serving 4,308 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Iowa. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 combined, 1 high, 1 middle, 1 elementary 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 Polk County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,327 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 327 Iowa districts by per-pupil spending. See how Iowa compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 54.0% local, 37.5% state, and 8.5% 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 42/100, ranked #187 of 303 in Iowa against a state average of 50, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 7 schools offering Advanced Placement (12 AP courses district-wide), a 372.2:1 student-counselor ratio, well above the ASCA benchmark though still under the roughly 408:1 national average, and 19.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 60.6% White, 15.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Olmsted Elementary School, with a diversity index of 67.2/100.
Its largest campus is Urbandale High School, enrolling 1,301 students (31% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Rolling Green Elementary School, at 233 students, a 6x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Urbandale High School accounts for 30.2% of all Urbandale Comm School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Urbandale Comm School District-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.
Urbandale Comm School District school enrollment varies 5.6× across entities
Urbandale Comm School District school enrollment ranges from 233 students (lowest) to 1,301 students (highest), a spread of 1,068 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.
Urbandale Comm School District student-counselor ratio is 372:1 — 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.
Urbandale Comm School District chronic absenteeism rate is 19.9% — 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 Urbandale Comm School District is typically wider than the Urbandale Comm School District-aggregate figure suggests.
Comparisons are relative to Urbandale Comm School District's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Iowa
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Urbandale Comm School District?
Urbandale Comm School District has 7 schools, including 1 high, 1 middle, 4 combined, 1 elementary. Total enrollment is 4,308 students.
How much does Urbandale Comm School District spend per student?
Urbandale Comm School District spends $12,327 per student. The district has an equity score of 42/100, ranking #187 in Iowa.
What is the demographic composition of Urbandale Comm School District?
Urbandale Comm School District students are 60.6% White, 15.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 8.6% African American, averaged across 7 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Urbandale Comm School District?
Urbandale Comm School District has an equity score of 42/100, ranking #187 out of 303 districts in Iowa.