How equitable is school funding in Colorado?

The average funding equity score for Colorado school districts is 50 out of 100, compared to the national average of 49. This score considers per-pupil spending, need-adjusted spending, funding source diversity, and student-teacher ratios.

What does the equity score measure?

The equity score (0-100) measures four dimensions: per-pupil spending level, need-adjusted spending (rewarding districts that spend more where poverty is higher), funding diversity (less reliance on local property taxes), and resource access (lower student-teacher ratios).

Colorado · NCES F-33 finance data

School Funding Equity in Colorado

142 districts ranked by how equitably school funding is distributed, scored from NCES F-33 school finance data covering districts in all 50 states.

Compiled by PlainSchools, Education-data publisher · August 26, 2026

The equity picture in one line

Ignacio School District No. 11jt ranks first in Colorado for funding equity at 92/100, in a state whose districts average 50 against a national average of 49.

92/100
top score (Ignacio School District No. 11jt): $20,214
per-pupil spending in the top district: 26
districts scoring 70 or higher: 25
districts below 30

#	District	Enrollment	$/Pupil	Free Lunch	Local Rev %	Score
1	Ignacio School District No. 11jt	641	$20,214	55.7%	29.7%	92
2	La Veta School District Re-2	238	$19,546	40.4%	13.0%	92
3	Center Consolidated School District No. 26 Jt. of the Count	607	$20,811	79.0%	14.5%	89
4	Granada School District No. Re-1	213	$17,685	51.7%	25.2%	88
5	Otis School District No. R-3	201	$18,522	42.1%	28.0%	87
6	Mountain Valley School District No. Re 1	221	$17,489	34.4%	26.8%	86
7	Swink School District No. 33 in the County of Otero and St	314	$16,290	33.0%	20.7%	82
8	Sheridan School District No. 2	1,125	$25,345	75.4%	41.1%	79
9	Rocky Ford School District No. R2	632	$16,378	68.3%	16.1%	79
10	West End School District No. Re-2	260	$17,315	43.1%	18.1%	79
11	Sierra Grande School District No. R-30	289	$17,862	66.8%	23.3%	77
12	Mcclave School District No. Re-2	258	$16,601	29.9%	24.8%	77
13	Huerfano School District Re-1	491	$16,798	73.2%	41.6%	76
14	South Routt School District No. Re 3	350	$20,006	16.9%	38.7%	76
15	Primero Reorganized School District No. 2	258	$18,376	38.0%	40.6%	76
16	Cheraw School District No. 31 in the County of Otero and S	227	$15,524	30.4%	13.4%	76
17	Akron School District No. R-1	427	$16,642	37.2%	37.7%	74
18	Wiley School District No. Re-13 Jt	266	$15,981	33.6%	20.7%	74
19	Sangre De Cristo School District No. Re-22j	259	$17,228	40.3%	41.8%	74
20	West Grand School District No. 1	391	$17,872	29.4%	51.8%	73
21	Fowler School District No. R4j	347	$15,767	34.4%	27.1%	73
22	Lake County School District No. R-1	979	$19,116	36.1%	44.4%	72
23	Springfield School District No. Re-4	304	$14,503	50.0%	12.4%	72
24	Upper Rio Grande School District C-7	386	$17,135	41.4%	53.2%	71
25	Ridgway School District No. R-2 of the County of Ouray a	332	$18,512	15.7%	55.3%	70
26	Hanover School District No. 28 in the County of El Paso an	287	$17,484	53.3%	34.0%	70
27	Cripple Creek-Victor School District No. Re-1	313	$29,505	55.0%	63.8%	69
28	Calhan District No. Rj1	424	$15,231	40.5%	29.9%	68
29	Crowley County School District No. Re-1-J	379	$17,900	61.0%	23.6%	68
30	Dolores County School District Re-2j	263	$18,376	37.5%	63.6%	68
31	Englewood School District No. 1 in the County of Arapahoe	2,441	$18,632	51.0%	73.1%	67
32	East Otero School District No. R1	1,355	$14,582	72.4%	18.6%	67
33	Telluride School District No. R-1	895	$20,208	14.2%	70.5%	67
34	Westminster Public Schools	8,004	$17,815	60.0%	41.9%	66
35	Clear Creek School District No. Re-1	680	$19,865	20.3%	75.3%	66
36	Big Sandy School District No. 100j	361	$14,490	43.8%	36.0%	66
37	School District N. 14 in the County of Adams & State of Colo	5,692	$18,034	66.2%	40.5%	65
38	Trinidad School District 1 in the County of Las Animas and	796	$14,520	65.6%	22.5%	63
39	Park County School District No. Re-2	595	$19,413	31.4%	79.0%	63
40	School District No. Re-20 Weldon Valley	235	$14,783	29.2%	32.7%	63
41	Weld County Reorganized School District No. Re-1	1,837	$16,511	37.9%	60.4%	62
42	Manitou Springs School District No. 14 in the County of El	1,317	$16,374	20.1%	45.3%	62
43	Colorado Springs School District No. 11 in the County of E	22,725	$15,835	49.5%	47.8%	60
44	Harrison School District No. 2 in the County of El Paso an	12,267	$14,088	53.1%	24.7%	60
45	Miami-Yoder Joint District No. 60 of the Counties of El Pas	340	$17,003	39.0%	28.7%	60
46	Aurora Joint District No. 28 of the Counties of Adams and a	38,135	$18,111	69.6%	46.4%	59
47	Estes Park School District R-3	1,014	$17,084	26.8%	86.3%	59
48	Rangely School District Re4	488	$15,611	34.6%	40.7%	59
49	School District No. 1 in the County of Denver and State of C	87,883	$17,206	60.9%	70.4%	58
50	Holyoke School District No. Re-1j	552	$13,779	44.3%	38.4%	58
51	Plateau Valley School District No. 50 in the County of Mesa	314	$17,245	23.8%	48.0%	58
52	Kiowa County School District No. Re-1	211	$14,284	33.2%	27.2%	58
53	Bayfield School District No. 10jt-R	1,279	$14,205	29.2%	37.7%	57
54	School District No. Re-3 Frenchman	221	$15,792	18.8%	48.6%	57
55	Fountain School District No. 8 in the County of El Paso an	8,201	$14,254	30.9%	5.9%	55
56	Ellicott School District No. 22 in the County of El Paso a	981	$13,264	46.9%	15.6%	55
57	Gilpin County School District No. Re-1	408	$16,230	24.6%	59.9%	55
58	Sargent School District No. Re-33j	322	$16,571	29.9%	41.0%	55
59	Fremont Re-1	3,305	$14,112	46.6%	30.7%	54
60	School District No. Re-4 Buffalo	314	$15,096	18.1%	34.9%	54
61	Steamboat Springs School District No. Re 2	2,664	$17,525	7.7%	67.1%	53
62	Woodland Park School District No. Re-2	2,010	$16,214	23.7%	49.0%	53
63	Salida School District No. R-32	1,327	$16,274	25.2%	58.4%	53
64	East Grand School District No. 2	1,283	$17,219	15.6%	84.1%	53
65	Las Animas School District No. Re-1	822	$15,215	39.7%	20.4%	53
66	Hayden School District No. Re 1	454	$17,454	15.8%	69.0%	53
67	Weld County School District No. Re-7	1,094	$16,456	29.6%	78.7%	52
68	Elbert School District No. 200	281	$14,253	18.9%	27.4%	52
69	School District No. R-4 in the County of Kit Carson and Stat	221	$15,615	29.2%	31.8%	52
70	Roaring Fork School District No. Re-1	5,771	$16,667	25.0%	64.4%	51
71	Durango School District No. 9-R	5,452	$14,729	29.4%	48.5%	51
72	School District No. Re-2 Brush	1,366	$15,514	43.3%	60.4%	51
73	Pueblo School District No. 60 in the County of Pueblo and	15,025	$13,501	70.9%	29.0%	50
74	Summit School District No. Re 1	3,633	$16,171	20.0%	78.2%	50
75	Holly School District No. Re-3	273	$15,469	45.4%	53.8%	50
76	Mapleton School District No. 1 in the County of Adams & St	7,088	$14,482	49.7%	37.2%	48
77	Alamosa School District No. Re-11j	2,116	$13,387	60.8%	24.6%	48
78	Custer County School District Consolidate 1	354	$14,545	28.3%	65.9%	48
79	Boulder Valley School District No. Re2	28,485	$17,172	23.5%	80.6%	47
80	Eagle County School District No. Re 50	6,620	$16,183	27.2%	72.6%	47
81	Archuleta County School District No. 50 Jt	1,678	$13,910	41.2%	47.4%	47
82	Aspen School District No. 1 in the County of Pitkin and Sta	1,572	$27,544	-	89.1%	47
83	Platte Canyon School District No. 1 of the County of Park	797	$15,068	14.3%	50.9%	47
84	Peyton School District No. 23 in the County of El Paso and	600	$14,813	17.0%	29.6%	46
85	Adams 12 Five Star Schools	35,747	$14,748	40.8%	45.4%	45
86	Wray Rd-2 School District	724	$14,450	38.5%	49.3%	45
87	Garfield School District No. Re-2	4,662	$13,874	38.3%	37.7%	44
88	Delta County Joint District No. 50	4,592	$13,843	42.1%	29.6%	44
89	North Conejos School District No. Re1j	988	$11,862	58.1%	8.2%	44
90	Greeleyschool District No. 6 in the County of Weld and Sta	22,200	$13,549	55.0%	38.8%	43
91	Haxtun School District No. Re-2j	334	$14,114	24.8%	39.3%	43
92	Monte Vista School District No. C-8	1,033	$12,496	59.2%	22.0%	42
93	Branson Reorganized School District No. 82	442	$10,147	40.6%	17.1%	42
94	Poudre School District R-1	29,995	$14,986	29.2%	57.5%	41
95	Thompson School District R-2j	15,083	$14,678	32.3%	54.1%	41
96	Montezuma-Cortez School District No. Re-1	2,449	$13,684	53.0%	42.2%	41
97	Cherry Creek School District No. 5 in the County of Arapah	52,392	$15,158	24.2%	48.6%	40
98	Grand Valley School District No. 16 in the County of Garfi	1,198	$14,045	41.4%	46.2%	40
99	Mancos School District Re-6	509	$13,572	39.8%	24.4%	40
100	Sanford School District No. 6 in the County of Conejos and	384	$12,917	32.2%	13.0%	40
101	School District No. C-2 in the County of Elbert and State of	309	$14,139	33.4%	38.4%	40
102	School District No. Re-3 Fort Morgan	3,423	$11,959	52.2%	32.1%	39
103	State Charter School Institute	19,239	$12,197	42.3%	8.8%	38
104	Hoehne Reorganized School District No. 3	319	$13,006	28.5%	37.7%	38
105	Genoa-Hugo School District No. C-113	224	$13,295	28.1%	50.0%	38
106	School District No. 3 in the County of El Paso and State of	9,612	$12,730	25.4%	30.7%	37
107	Limon School District No. Re 4j	457	$13,359	34.3%	51.5%	36
108	Jefferson County School District No. R-1	75,327	$14,483	31.0%	55.3%	35
109	Mesa County Valley School District No. 51	20,762	$12,834	35.9%	38.9%	35
110	Dolores School District No. Re-4a	683	$13,201	38.2%	30.7%	35
111	Moffat County School District Re: No. 1	2,092	$12,776	34.1%	55.5%	34
112	Littleton School District No. 6 in the County of Arapahoe	13,450	$15,924	16.6%	64.6%	33
113	St. Vrain Valley School District No. Re1j	31,894	$14,045	27.2%	54.1%	32
114	Lamar School District No. Re-2	1,522	$10,990	55.8%	17.9%	32
115	Fremont Re-2	1,390	$12,127	40.8%	37.2%	32
116	Yuma 1 School District	886	$12,299	47.5%	30.3%	31
117	Meeker School District Re1	712	$13,649	29.8%	62.9%	31
118	Julesburg School District No. Re1	607	$10,232	39.9%	14.6%	29
119	Montrose County School District Re-1j	6,029	$11,857	45.8%	28.8%	28
120	Cheyenne Mountain School District No. 12 in the County of E	3,737	$13,252	14.6%	56.3%	28
121	El Paso County Colorado School District 49	24,517	$11,472	23.7%	23.9%	27
122	Weld County School District No. Re-5j	3,869	$13,357	17.3%	41.4%	27
123	School District No. Re-1 Valley	1,972	$12,521	39.1%	41.0%	27
124	Byers School District No. 32j	5,671	$9,413	23.3%	5.6%	26
125	Weld County School District No. Re-9	993	$12,220	28.8%	62.4%	26
126	Academy School District No. 20 in the County of El Paso an	25,719	$12,090	11.9%	44.7%	25
127	Pueblo County School District 70	10,501	$11,559	40.1%	31.7%	25
128	Weld County School District Re-3j	2,785	$13,061	37.3%	67.1%	25
129	Weld Re-8 Schools	2,522	$13,297	41.3%	60.7%	24
130	Gunnison Watershed School District Re1j	2,061	$14,480	18.3%	69.7%	24
131	Lewis-Palmer Consolidated School District No. 38 in the Co	6,496	$12,434	7.8%	44.8%	23
132	Strasburg School District 31j	1,209	$10,793	24.8%	37.5%	22
133	Buena Vista School District No. R-31	1,032	$14,439	25.6%	68.3%	22
134	Burlington Public School District No. Re-6j	762	$10,657	48.8%	43.7%	22
135	Douglas County School District No. Re 1	62,341	$12,942	9.7%	52.8%	21
136	Deer Trail School District No. 26j	325	$12,751	38.6%	47.5%	21
137	Weld County School District No. Re-2	1,977	$12,839	23.6%	74.5%	20
138	Weld County Reorganized School District No. Re-4	8,227	$11,404	14.7%	56.8%	19
139	Elizabeth School District	2,379	$12,907	11.2%	43.8%	19
140	School District 27j	22,713	$10,854	32.6%	44.5%	17
141	School District No. Re-50 Wiggins	862	$12,119	25.2%	74.3%	16
142	Bennett School District No. 29j	1,296	$10,775	23.2%	51.8%	10

How the Equity Score Works

The equity score (0-100) evaluates four dimensions of school funding fairness. According to the National Center for Education Statistics F-33 Finance Survey (FY 2022-23), which covers more than 17,000 districts nationwide, local property wealth drives most of the spending differences the score captures; our methodology documents each weight:

Per-Pupil Spending (0-25)

Higher spending relative to peers

Need-Adjusted Spending (0-25)

Spending weighted by poverty level, rewards districts that spend more where need is greatest

Funding Diversity (0-25)

Less reliance on local property taxes, more state/federal support

Resource Access (0-25)

Lower student-teacher ratios = more individualized attention

National Equity Rankings → ← Back to Colorado

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.