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 (2022-23). Only districts enrolling 500 or more students are included.
- $43,030
- Top per-pupil spend
- $26,778
- Avg across top 50
- 50
- Districts listed
The spending picture in one line
Desert Sands Charter District spends $43,030 per student, the most of any California district listed, against an average of $26,778 across the top 50.
- $43,030
- top spend (Desert Sands Charter District)
- $22,948
- lowest on this list
- 1.9×
- spread across the listed districts
- 742
- students in the top district
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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.
Per-pupil spending figures come from the National Center for Education Statistics F-33 School District Finance Survey for fiscal year 2022-23, the federal government's annual census of revenues and expenditures across more than 13,000 public school districts. Only districts enrolling 500 or more students are ranked, to keep small-district outliers from distorting the comparison.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.