Buffalo Public Schools
Listed by NCES as Buffalo City School District (district ID 3605850)
Public school district · Erie County · New York · NCES district ID 3605850
Buffalo Public Schools spent $29,407 per student on current operations in fiscal year 2022-23, more than 66% of the other New York districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022 (median $26,567). Its 60 schools enrolled 29,246 students in 2024-25; 69.0% of its revenue came from the state. Census Bureau figures for 2023-24 put it at $31,111 per student, up 5.8% on the year before (U.S. $17,619 that year). Its four-year graduation rate for the class of 2023 was 79% (New York: 87.2%).
NCES F-33 finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23 · Census Bureau school finances 2023-24 · NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 · method
Spending per student among New York's largest districts
Current spending per student excludes construction and debt. Among the 10 districts shown, Buffalo Public Schools ranks 3.
Where the money came from
$1,323,100,000 in revenue: 69.0% state, 12.0% local and 19.1% federal. Total spending including $31,559,000 of capital outlay was $1,185,544,000, or $39,355 per student; the figure above leaves capital out.
- State$912,416,000 69%
- Local$158,231,000 12%
- Federal$252,453,000 19%
Source: NCES F-33 school district finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23: current expenditures for elementary and secondary education divided by fall membership; the state median covers 440 districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022. Revenue by source (TOTALREV, TFEDREV, TSTREV, TLOCREV).
Enrollment held steady from 2022-23 to 2024-25
29,507 students in 2022-23, 29,200 students in 2023-24, 29,233 students in 2024-25, counted across the schools that reported each year.
Teachers and students per teacher
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Per teacher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 29,507 | 2961.7 | 10.0 |
| 2023-24 | 29,200 | 2872.1 | 10.2 |
| 2024-25 | 29,233 | 2844.8 | 10.3 |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data membership and staff files, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25; sums over the schools reporting each year.
$205,179,000 in teacher salaries in fiscal year 2022-23, $6,811 per student
Buffalo Public Schools booked $205,179,000 of teacher salaries in its 2022-23 finance report and counted 2,965 full-time teachers in its Common Core of Data district staff file for 2022-23 (the school files behind the staffing figures on this page count teachers separately, so the two can differ), or $69,208 of salary spending per teacher. That is more than 26 in 100 New York districts with a figure (state median $80,291, 622 districts). It is spending, not what a teacher is paid: the salary lines and the teacher count come from different files, so the result can differ widely from the average salary the district publishes (its salary schedule gives pay); benefits are left out, and states book salaries differently, so compare districts within one state. For pay, the National Education Association put the average New York teacher salary at $92,222 in 2021-22 (NCES Digest table 211.60).
| Program | Teacher salaries | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Regular programs | $109,263,000 | 53.3% |
| Special education | $67,696,000 | 33.0% |
| Vocational | $25,850,000 | 12.6% |
| Other programs | $2,370,000 | 1.2% |
Teacher salaries per student, fiscal years 2018-19 to 2022-23
The district's teacher salary bill divided by its fall enrollment each year: $6,007 in 2018-19, $5,985 in 2019-20, $6,399 in 2020-21, $6,660 in 2021-22, $6,811 in 2022-23.
Source: NCES F-33 school district finance survey, fiscal years 2019 to 2023: teacher salaries in regular, special, vocational and other programs (Z35 to Z38) and fall membership (V33); NCES Common Core of Data LEA staff file 2022-23, teachers (full-time equivalent).
State test results, 2021-22
In 2021-22, the students tested in Buffalo Public Schools scored proficient or above: 26% in reading and 17% in math, against 47% in reading and 40% in math across New York. Each state writes its own test and sets its own proficiency bar, so compare these within New York, not across states. Where a state published results by grade only, the grades tested are combined, weighted by the students tested in each.
| Subject | This district | New York | Students tested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and language arts | 26% | 47% | 11,545 |
| Math | 17% | 40% | 11,044 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts state assessment results 2021-22, all students, from ED Data Express (the Data Rescue Project archive; ED has no 2022-23 result for this district): ED shows district results as ranges (for example 20-24%) to protect small groups.
Graduation rate, class of 2023
79% of the 2,543 students in Buffalo Public Schools' class of 2023 graduated within four years, against 87.2% across New York. The four-year rate follows the students who started ninth grade in fall 2019, adjusted for those who moved in or out, and counts those who earned a regular diploma by 2023. Every state computes it the same way under federal law, though each sets its own diploma requirements.
| This district | New York | |
|---|---|---|
| Four-year graduation rate | 79% | 87.2% |
| Students in the class | 2,543 | 202,009 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts four-year adjusted-cohort graduation rates 2022-23, all students, from ED Data Express: ED shows district rates as ranges (for example 90-94%) and leaves out small classes.
35 elementary schools, 17,492 students
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| International School | 933 | 10.7 | 95.6% | Schoolwide program |
| Southside Elementary School | 772 | 10.8 | 91.2% | Schoolwide program |
| West Hertel Elementary School | 771 | 12.2 | 95.1% | Schoolwide program |
| PS 81 | 739 | 13.0 | 85.3% | Schoolwide program |
| Lorraine Elementary School | 638 | 10.4 | 86.2% | Schoolwide program |
| Frank a Sedita School #30 | 614 | 10.1 | 93.0% | Schoolwide program |
| Bennett Park Montessori School | 612 | 9.7 | 75.5% | Schoolwide program |
| Lovejoy Discovery School #43 | 589 | 11.9 | 94.7% | Schoolwide program |
| PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted | 583 | 12.6 | 39.3% | Not Title I |
| Stanley Makowski Early Childhood Center | 566 | 10.8 | 94.7% | Schoolwide program |
| Dr Lydia T Wright Sch of Excellence | 560 | 11.0 | 95.9% | Schoolwide program |
| Buffalo Elementary School of Technology | 551 | 10.9 | 96.0% | Schoolwide program |
The other 23 elementary schools
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harriet Ross Tubman Academy | 550 | 11.3 | 97.8% | Targeted program |
| Discovery School | 541 | 11.8 | 56.6% | Schoolwide program |
| D'youville-Porter Campus | 521 | 8.6 | 94.0% | Schoolwide program |
| Pfc William J Grabiarz #79 | 518 | 11.1 | 93.4% | Schoolwide program |
| Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy | 514 | 10.0 | 94.0% | Schoolwide program |
| Harvey Austin School #97 | 487 | 8.7 | 95.3% | Targeted program |
| PS 27 Hillery Park Academy | 481 | 8.6 | 90.4% | Schoolwide program |
| Dr a Pantoja Comm Sch Excllnce -#18 | 475 | 10.2 | 96.2% | Schoolwide program |
| Community School #53 | 464 | 9.5 | 97.4% | Schoolwide program |
| PS 69 Houghton Academy | 444 | 10.9 | 92.3% | Schoolwide program |
| North Park Community School #50 | 437 | 12.6 | 29.7% | Not Title I |
| Martin Luther King Jr #48 | 413 | 10.6 | 96.1% | Schoolwide program |
| Highgate Heights | 407 | 11.5 | 92.9% | Schoolwide program |
| PS 74 Hamlin Park - Claude and Ouida Clapp Academy | 396 | 9.3 | 96.5% | Schoolwide program |
| Build Community School | 371 | 8.7 | 96.5% | Schoolwide program |
| Marva J Daniel Futures Preparatory School | 369 | 8.9 | 97.3% | Schoolwide program |
| Native American Magnet | 367 | 10.4 | 94.0% | Schoolwide program |
| Bilingual Center | 358 | 8.0 | 93.3% | Schoolwide program |
| Dr George Blackman Ecc | 333 | 9.4 | 89.2% | Schoolwide program |
| PS 61 Arthur O Eve School of Distinction | 315 | 11.2 | 85.7% | Schoolwide program |
| PS 17 | 284 | 9.1 | 93.0% | Schoolwide program |
| PS 82 | 269 | 10.7 | 96.7% | Schoolwide program |
| PS 65 Roosevelt Ecc | 250 | 10.3 | 94.4% | Schoolwide program |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.
1 middle school, 293 students
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS 59 Dr Charles Drew Science Magnet | 293 | 8.4 | 97.3% | Schoolwide program |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.
21 high schools, 10,498 students
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hutchinson Central Technical High School | 1,140 | 12.5 | 83.1% | Schoolwide program |
| City Honors School | 1,088 | 14.0 | 50.4% | Not Title I |
| Frederick Olmsted #156 | 928 | 11.8 | 61.4% | Schoolwide program |
| Mckinley Vocational High School | 862 | 9.4 | 93.0% | Schoolwide program |
| South Park High School | 801 | 10.6 | 92.4% | Schoolwide program |
| International Preparatory School (the) | 640 | 9.5 | 95.6% | Schoolwide program |
| Buffalo Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts | 617 | 8.8 | 69.2% | Schoolwide program |
| Burgard High School | 502 | 10.5 | 94.8% | Schoolwide program |
| Lafayette International School | 475 | 7.7 | 96.8% | Schoolwide program |
| Lewis J Bennett High School of Innovative Technolgy | 469 | 9.3 | 90.0% | Schoolwide program |
| Math Science Technology Preparatory School at 197 | 438 | 10.0 | 94.7% | Schoolwide program |
| Buffalo School of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management | 436 | 9.9 | 90.1% | Schoolwide program |
The other 9 high schools
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emerson School of Hospitality | 399 | 8.9 | 94.2% | Schoolwide program |
| East Community School | 386 | 10.5 | 93.5% | Schoolwide program |
| Leonardo Da Vinci High School | 363 | 10.5 | 81.3% | Schoolwide program |
| Middle Early College High School | 302 | 11.1 | 88.7% | Schoolwide program |
| Riverside Academy High School | 285 | 7.8 | 96.1% | Schoolwide program |
| Research Laboratory HS-Bioinformatic | 174 | 7.5 | 91.4% | Schoolwide program |
| Pathways Academy | 110 | 8.5 | 90.9% | Schoolwide program |
| Academy School | 70 | 2.6 | 97.1% | Schoolwide program |
| Erie County Detention Facility | 13 | not reported | not reported | Not Title I |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.
3 other schools, 963 students
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterfront Elementary School | 743 | 12.1 | 95.7% | Schoolwide program |
| PS 84 | 151 | 6.6 | 88.1% | Schoolwide program |
| PS 42 Occupational Training Center | 69 | 7.3 | 92.8% | Schoolwide program |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.
One more school on file: small, closed or in an earlier directory
These records carry fewer federal fields than a full school page needs, so each is summarized here with what NCES reports.
Erie County Detention Facility
High school in Buffalo; open in 2024-25; 13 students.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 and earlier directories: the last year each school was listed, its students and its teachers.
Contact Buffalo Public Schools
- Website: buffaloschools.org
- Phone: (716) 816-3575
- Office: 712 City Hall, Buffalo, NY 14202
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, local education agency directory 2024-25. Enrollment, boundaries and school assignment are the district's to confirm.
What to look at next about Buffalo Public Schools
- New York districts by spending per studentBuffalo Public Schools ranks 152 of 440 New York districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022 on current spending per student in fiscal year 2022-23 ($29,407).#152 of 440
- Every school district in New YorkBuffalo Public Schools is the number 14 by size of 1,104 New York districts, with 30,124 students in fall 2022 (F-33).#14 of 1,104
- New York City Geographic District #22The next larger New York district: 31,769 students in fall 2022.
- New York City Geographic District #26The next smaller New York district: 29,116 students in fall 2022.
- Compare Buffalo Public Schools with New York City Geographic District #22Enrollment, spending, revenue sources and schools, side by side.
- Hutchinson Central Technical High School, its largest high school1,140 students in 2024-25, 12.5 per teacher.1,140
- Teacher salary spending across New YorkBuffalo Public Schools spent $69,208 in salaries per full-time teacher in fiscal year 2022-23 (state median $80,291); spending, not a salary.$69,208
- Find the school district for an addressA home's district decides which public schools it can enroll in.
Source: NCES F-33 finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23 (spending per student and fall 2022 membership; ranks among the state's districts that reported them); NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (schools).
Questions about Buffalo Public Schools
How many schools and students are in Buffalo Public Schools?
60 schools were open in 2024-25 (35 elementary, 1 middle, 21 high, 3 other), enrolling 29,246 students, according to the NCES Common Core of Data.How much does Buffalo Public Schools spend per student?
$29,407 per student on current operations in fiscal year 2022-23 (NCES F-33), which leaves out construction and debt; the New York median for districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022 is $26,567 and the U.S. figure is $16,260. Census Bureau figures for 2023-24 put it at $31,111 per student, up 5.8% on the year before (U.S. $17,619 that year).Where does Buffalo Public Schools' money come from?
$1,323,100,000 in revenue in fiscal year 2022-23: 69.0% state, 12.0% local and 19.1% federal (NCES F-33).How many children in Buffalo Public Schools live in poverty?
The Census Bureau estimates that 12,303 of the 45,130 children aged 5 to 17 living within the district's boundaries in 2024, 27.3%, were in families in poverty (Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). It is a model-based estimate for everyone living in the district, not a count of its students; the free-meal shares in the school tables are counts of enrolled students.How much does Buffalo Public Schools spend on teacher salaries?
$205,179,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 (NCES F-33), or $6,811 per student. Divided by the 2,965 full-time teachers in the NCES Common Core of Data for 2022-23 that is $69,208 per teacher, more than 26 in 100 New York districts (state median $80,291). That is spending, not what a teacher is paid: the salary lines and the teacher count come from different files, and the result can differ widely from the average salary a district publishes. The district's salary schedule gives pay. For pay, the National Education Association put the average New York teacher salary at $92,222 in 2021-22 (NCES Digest table 211.60).How do students in Buffalo Public Schools do on state tests?
In 2021-22, the students tested in Buffalo Public Schools scored proficient or above: 26% in reading and 17% in math, against 47% in reading and 40% in math across New York. New York's own test sets what proficient means, so results compare within the state, not across states. Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts state assessment results, 2021-22.What is the graduation rate in Buffalo Public Schools?
79% of the 2,543 students in Buffalo Public Schools' class of 2023 graduated within four years, against 87.2% across New York. The four-year rate follows the students who started ninth grade in fall 2019, adjusted for those who moved in or out. Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts four-year adjusted-cohort graduation rates, 2022-23.What is Buffalo Public Schools' NCES district ID?
3605850. Each of its schools' 12-digit NCES IDs begins with these seven digits.
Reading these figures: how to choose a school district, what Title I means and what an absenteeism rate means. They are for information and are not a substitute for the school's or district's own records.
Sources
Every federal file behind this record
- NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25: directory, membership, staff and lunch files. nces.ed.gov
- NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22 school characteristics: Title I status. nces.ed.gov
- Civil Rights Data Collection, 2021-22: AP courses, gifted programs, counselors, discipline. civilrightsdata.ed.gov
- EDFacts, 2022-23: chronic absenteeism. ed.gov
- EDFacts four-year adjusted-cohort graduation rates, 2022-23: the class of 2023 for the district and its state (ED Data Express). eddataexpress.ed.gov
- EDFacts state assessment results, 2021-22: reading and math proficiency for the district and its state (ED Data Express). eddataexpress.ed.gov
- NCES Digest of Education Statistics, table 211.60 (2021-22): the state's average teacher salary, from the National Education Association. nces.ed.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024: children aged 5 to 17 and those in families in poverty, by school district. census.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, fiscal year 2023-24: per pupil current spending for 2023-24 and 2022-23. census.gov
- NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, fiscal year 2022-23: district spending and revenue. nces.ed.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau geocoder and TIGER school districts: the district boundary used by the district finder. census.gov
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances Per pupil current spending by school system · FY 2023-24
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey Revenue and expenditures by district · FY 2022-23
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School directory, membership, staff and lunch files · 2024-25