An equity score of 27/100 ranks Wilkes-Barre Area Sd #555 of 649 districts in Pennsylvania (state average 49). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $12,924 per pupil, Wilkes-Barre Area Sd ranks #666 of 672 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending (Pennsylvania districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
7,820
Total Enrollment
10
Schools
$12,924
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Wilkes-Barre Area Sd operates 10 public schools serving 7,820 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Pennsylvania. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 elementary, 2 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 Luzerne County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $12,924 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 68 of 672 Pennsylvania districts by per-pupil spending. See how Pennsylvania compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 45.8% local, 37.4% state, and 16.8% 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 27/100, ranked #555 of 649 in Pennsylvania against a state average of 49, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 2 of 10 schools offering Advanced Placement (13 AP courses district-wide), a 781.4:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 36.4% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 51.1% Hispanic or Latino, 27.2% White, 13.4% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Solomon/Plains El Sch, with a diversity index of 64.4/100.
Its largest campus is Wilkes-Barre Area Hs, enrolling 2,569 students (31% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Wilkes-Barre Area Sd Stem Academy, at 93 students, a 28x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Wilkes-Barre Area Hs accounts for 31.0% of all Wilkes-Barre Area Sd student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Wilkes-Barre Area Sd-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade band: high. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how the district allocates programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.
Wilkes-Barre Area Sd school enrollment varies 28× across entities
Wilkes-Barre Area Sd school enrollment ranges from 93 students (lowest) to 2,569 students (highest), a spread of 2,476 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Wilkes-Barre Area Sd reports 95.8% free-lunch eligibility
The reported share is above 87.5%, so economic need is widespread across the measured student population. 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.
Wilkes-Barre Area Sd student-counselor ratio is 781:1 — 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.
Wilkes-Barre Area Sd chronic absenteeism rate is 36.4% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Wilkes-Barre Area Sd has 10 schools, including 2 high, 2 middle, 5 elementary, 1 combined. Total enrollment is 7,820 students.
How much does Wilkes-Barre Area Sd spend per student?
Wilkes-Barre Area Sd spends $12,924 per student. The district has an equity score of 27/100, ranking #555 in Pennsylvania.
What is the demographic composition of Wilkes-Barre Area Sd?
Wilkes-Barre Area Sd students are 51.1% Hispanic or Latino, 27.2% White, 13.4% African American, 1.0% Asian, averaged across 10 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Wilkes-Barre Area Sd?
Wilkes-Barre Area Sd has an equity score of 27/100, ranking #555 out of 649 districts in Pennsylvania.