Enrollment
181
Montana · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Deer Lodge, MT
Powell County High School
Federal NCES profile for Powell County High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 38/100.
2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 302145000641
👥 S:T ratio 55
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 64
📋 Attendance 3
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Powell County High School earns 38/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Montana median.
- #1 of 3
- public schools in Deer Lodge · Resource Index
- 38
- Resource Index · Typical
- 11.3:1
- students per teacher
- 181
- students enrolled
Powell County High School has class sizes near the Montana median. Computed live against every Montana school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Powell County High School ranks #1 of 3 public schools in Deer Lodge, MT.
School address
District: Powell County H S · Montana
NCES ID 302145000641 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
16.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
11.3:1
vs 11.8:1 Montana avg
-4% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Powell County High School compares with Montana and U.S. medians
What stands out at Powell County High School
Scale and staffing sit near the state mainstream
Powell County High School is neither an extreme outlier in enrollment nor in student-teacher ratio among Montana schools. Its profile therefore turns on the other dimensions rather than on scale alone: economic need, counselor coverage, program access, attendance, and district finance. This middle placement is useful because it prevents the campus from being mislabeled as unusually large, small, crowded, or teacher-dense when the federal comparison does not support that claim.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Powell County High School's 38.7% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Powell County High School is a mid-sized high school in Deer Lodge, Montana, enrolling 181 students.
At 11.3:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Montana median, within a few percentage points of the 11.8:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.
Enrollment of 181 puts it in the larger third of Montana schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 826 scored Montana schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (92% of enrollment) (diversity index 15/100).
On the academic-pipeline side it reports 1 Advanced Placement course.
Counselor coverage is strong, about 181 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 38.7% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Powell County H S operates only this one school, so Powell County High School has no district-mates to compare against locally.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Powell County High School compares
Powell County High School on the metrics families compare, against Montana and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Montana | Montana avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 11.3:1 | ▼ 4% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 181 | top 33% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
11.3:1
Leaner classes than 81% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
181
Bigger than 18% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
11.3:1
students per teacher
- 4% below state mean
Top 42% in Montana - lower ratio than 58% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
38.7%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$19,242
per pupil, district-wide
- below Montana avg of $19,859
Somewhat above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 181 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
10
in-school suspensions + 13 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 5.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 12.7 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 92.3%
Two or More 2.8%
Asian 2.2%
Hispanic or Latino 1.7%
African American 0.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.6%
Largest group: White at 92.3% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 14.6/100
Simpson diversity index - at 14.6, Powell County High School is less mixed than the Montana school average of 23.6.
Programs
AP courses offered 1
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Powell County H S, which includes Powell County High School.
$19,242
Per student
-3%
vs Montana
Avg $19,859
+9%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 59.6%
State 31.9%
Federal 8.5%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2022-23 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar high schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Montana, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~181 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~11.3:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Powell County High School's federal record.
- Compare Powell County High School against another school. Compare schools
- Powell County H S's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Powell County High School
How many students attend Powell County High School?
Powell County High School has 181 students enrolled. It is a high school in Deer Lodge, MT.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Powell County High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Powell County High School is 11.3:1, which is 4% lower than the Montana average of 11.8:1 and 28% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Powell County High School?
The largest demographic group at Powell County High School is White at 92.3% of enrollment, in Deer Lodge, MT.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Powell County High School?
Powell County High School has a Resource Investment Index of 38/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
How does Powell County High School rank among public schools in Deer Lodge?
By Resource Investment Index, Powell County High School ranks #1 of 3 public schools in Deer Lodge, MT. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking.
What other schools are in Powell County H S?
None reported; Powell County H S operates only Powell County High School as a public school district in NCES's records.
Related tools
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. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. 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.