California · NCES F-33 finance data
Highest Spending Districts in California
The 50 California 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.
- $40,182
- Top per-pupil spend
- $24,691
- Avg across top 50
- 50
- Districts listed
The spending picture in one line
Desert Sands Charter District spends $40,182 per student, the most of any California district listed, against an average of $24,691 across the top 50.
- $40,182
- top spend (Desert Sands Charter District)
- $20,552
- lowest on this list
- 2.0×
- spread across the listed districts
- 742
- students in the top district
| # | District | Per-Pupil $ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Desert Sands Charter District Lancaster | $40,182 |
| 2 | Saint Helena Unified St. Helena | $34,699 |
| 3 | Portola Valley Elementary Portola Valley | $31,688 |
| 4 | Carmel Unified Carmel | $31,314 |
| 5 | Las Lomitas Elementary Menlo Park | $30,394 |
| 6 | Siatech District Oceanside | $30,194 |
| 7 | Ravenswood City Elementary East Palo Alto | $30,183 |
| 8 | San Pasqual Valley Unified Winterhaven | $29,005 |
| 9 | Roseland Santa Rosa | $28,357 |
| 10 | Hillsborough City Elementary Hillsborough | $28,278 |
| 11 | Beverly Hills Unified Beverly Hills | $27,589 |
| 12 | Palo Alto Unified Palo Alto | $27,172 |
| 13 | Mountain View-Los Altos Union High Mountain View | $26,799 |
| 14 | Laguna Beach Unified Laguna Beach | $26,628 |
| 15 | Calistoga Joint Unified Calistoga | $25,785 |
| 16 | Emery Unified Emeryville | $25,480 |
| 17 | Menlo Park City Elementary Atherton | $24,857 |
| 18 | Vista Real Charter High District Oxnard | $24,846 |
| 19 | Buellton Union Elementary Buellton | $24,480 |
| 20 | Antelope Valley Learning Academy District Palmdale | $24,277 |
| 21 | Healdsburg Unified Healdsburg | $24,243 |
| 22 | Sequoia Union High Redwood City | $24,094 |
| 23 | Santa Clara Unified Santa Clara | $24,038 |
| 24 | Reed Union Elementary Tiburon | $23,744 |
| 25 | Taft Union High Taft | $23,718 |
| 26 | San Francisco Unified San Francisco | $23,654 |
| 27 | Pacific Grove Unified Pacific Grove | $23,215 |
| 28 | North Valley Military Inst College Acad District Sun Valley | $23,053 |
| 29 | Saratoga Union Elementary Saratoga | $22,720 |
| 30 | Goleta Union Elementary Goleta | $22,500 |
| 31 | Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified Hoopa | $22,461 |
| 32 | San Mateo Union High San Mateo | $22,262 |
| 33 | Richgrove Elementary Richgrove | $22,000 |
| 34 | Sunnyvale Sunnyvale | $21,963 |
| 35 | Los Angeles Unified Los Angeles | $21,940 |
| 36 | Rancho Santa Fe Elementary Rancho Santa Fe | $21,886 |
| 37 | Fenton Primary Center District Pacoima | $21,557 |
| 38 | Berkeley Unified Berkeley | $21,454 |
| 39 | Solana Beach Elementary Solana Beach | $21,403 |
| 40 | Sonoma Valley Unified Sonoma | $21,339 |
| 41 | Making Waves Academy District Richmond | $21,268 |
| 42 | El Monte City El Monte | $21,213 |
| 43 | Mountain View Whisman Mountain View | $21,080 |
| 44 | Montebello Unified Montebello | $20,966 |
| 45 | Piedmont City Unified Piedmont | $20,957 |
| 46 | Los Altos Elementary Los Altos | $20,931 |
| 47 | Mill Valley Elementary Mill Valley | $20,856 |
| 48 | Tahoe-Truckee Unified Truckee | $20,636 |
| 49 | Newport-Mesa Unified Costa Mesa | $20,621 |
| 50 | Oakland Unified Oakland | $20,552 |
Explore More for California
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.