Arkansas · NCES F-33 finance data
Highest Spending Districts in Arkansas The 50 Arkansas districts that spend the most per student, ranked from NCES F-33 finance data (2021-22). Only districts enrolling 500 or more students are included.
$17,702 Top per-pupil spend
$14,274 Avg across top 50
50 Districts listed The spending picture in one line
Arkansas Lighthouse Academies spends $17,702 per student, the most of any Arkansas district listed, against an average of $14,274 across the top 50.
$17,702 top spend (Arkansas Lighthouse Academies)
$12,734 lowest on this list
1.4× spread across the listed districts
962 students in the top district # District Enrollment Schools Per-Pupil $ 1 Arkansas Lighthouse Academies Little Rock 962 6 $17,702 2 Gurdon School District Gurdon 645 3 $17,563 3 Cedar Ridge School District Newark 641 2 $17,183 4 Osceola School District Osceola 983 4 $16,952 5 Lafayette County School District Lewisville 516 2 $16,454 6 Pine Bluff School District Pine Bluff 3,261 9 $15,873 7 Fordyce School District Fordyce 732 2 $15,868 8 Eureka Springs School District Eureka Springs 661 3 $15,831 9 Lee County School District Marianna 631 2 $15,792 10 Dumas School District Dumas 1,001 4 $15,637 11 Lakeside School District (Chicot County) Lake Village 889 4 $15,282 12 Kipp Delta Public Schools Helena 1,224 5 $15,266 13 Blytheville School District Blytheville 1,581 4 $15,124 14 Hot Springs School District Hot Springs 3,690 6 $14,922 15 Pulaski Co. Spec. School Dist. Little Rock 12,244 26 $14,894 16 Mountain Pine School District Mountain Pine 641 2 $14,808 17 Searcy County School District Marshall 841 4 $14,792 18 Little Rock School District Little Rock 21,456 40 $14,597 19 South Side School District Bee Branch 542 2 $14,592 20 Jasper School District Jasper 888 6 $14,555 21 West Side School District Greers Ferry 506 2 $14,426 22 Midland School District Pleasant Plains 511 2 $14,344 23 Helena/ W.Helena School Dist. Helena 1,012 2 $14,123 24 Harrisburg School District Harrisburg 1,074 3 $14,095 25 Forrest City School District Forrest City 2,159 5 $13,992 26 Greenland School District Greenland 767 3 $13,747 27 Ozark Mountain School District St Joe 571 3 $13,707 28 Camden Fairview School Dist. Camden 2,222 5 $13,642 29 Cedarville School District Cedarville 721 3 $13,507 30 Watson Chapel School District Pine Bluff 1,796 5 $13,476 31 Mountainburg School District Mountainburg 660 3 $13,425 32 Newport School District Newport 1,268 2 $13,423 33 Texarkana School District Texarkana 3,888 8 $13,423 34 Hazen School District Hazen 556 2 $13,293 35 Cossatot River School District Wickes 861 4 $13,287 36 Rivercrest School District #57 Wilson 1,116 3 $13,239 37 Russellville School District Russellville 5,602 10 $13,203 38 Malvern School District Malvern 1,831 4 $13,071 39 Hampton School District Hampton 543 2 $12,994 40 Mcgehee School District Mcgehee 1,098 3 $12,956 41 Fountain Lake School District Hot Springs 1,349 3 $12,931 42 England School District England 648 2 $12,917 43 Highland School District Hardy 1,612 3 $12,909 44 Izard Co. Cons. School Dist. Brockwell 648 3 $12,896 45 Horatio School District Horatio 694 2 $12,895 46 Pangburn School District Pangburn 753 2 $12,891 47 Danville School District Danville 787 3 $12,864 48 Star City School District Star City 1,432 3 $12,820 49 Paris School District Paris 1,083 3 $12,764 50 South Pike County School District Murfreesboro 655 2 $12,734
Explore More for Arkansas Methodology
Per-pupil expenditure data comes from the NCES F-33 Finance Survey. Only districts with
500 or more students are included to ensure meaningful comparisons. Spending figures
include all current operational expenditures divided by total enrollment.
Read our methodology
— how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.