Iowa · NCES F-33 finance data
Highest Spending Districts in Iowa The 50 Iowa 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.
$15,764 Top per-pupil spend
$13,795 Avg across top 50
50 Districts listed The spending picture in one line
Eldora-New Providence Comm School District spends $15,764 per student, the most of any Iowa district listed, against an average of $13,795 across the top 50.
$15,764 top spend (Eldora-New Providence Comm School District)
$13,172 lowest on this list
1.2× spread across the listed districts
540 students in the top district # District Enrollment Schools Per-Pupil $ 1 Eldora-New Providence Comm School District Eldora 540 2 $15,764 2 Midland Comm School District Wyoming 508 2 $15,141 3 Mason City Comm School District Mason City 3,598 9 $15,108 4 North Cedar Comm School District Stanwood 631 3 $14,715 5 Council Bluffs Comm School District Council Bluffs 8,784 15 $14,703 6 Saydel Comm School District Des Moines 1,337 3 $14,530 7 Postville Comm School District Postville 694 4 $14,450 8 Bcluw Comm School District Conrad 506 3 $14,361 9 Pekin Comm School District Packwood 642 2 $14,354 10 South O'brien Comm School District Paullina 576 2 $14,327 11 Des Moines Independent Comm School District Des Moines 30,739 59 $14,308 12 Wapello Comm School District Wapello 541 3 $14,143 13 Maple Valley-Anthon Oto Comm School District Mapleton 653 4 $14,060 14 Burlington Comm School District Burlington 3,334 8 $13,983 15 Cedar Rapids Comm School District Cedar Rapids 15,564 33 $13,962 16 Prairie Valley Comm School District Gowrie 561 2 $13,949 17 Iowa City Comm School District Iowa City 14,805 29 $13,920 18 Charles City Comm School District Charles City 1,541 4 $13,913 19 Dubuque Comm School District Dubuque 10,518 18 $13,854 20 Van Buren County Comm School District Keosauqua 867 3 $13,838 21 Waterloo Comm School District Waterloo 10,645 18 $13,803 22 Hampton-Dumont Comm School District Hampton 1,298 4 $13,763 23 Fairfield Comm School District Fairfield 1,525 4 $13,725 24 Perry Comm School District Perry 1,812 3 $13,640 25 Washington Comm School District Washington 1,673 4 $13,632 26 Pocahontas Area Comm School District Pocahontas 739 3 $13,615 27 Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Comm School District Hartley 663 3 $13,570 28 West Sioux Comm School District Hawarden 779 4 $13,532 29 Maquoketa Comm School District Maquoketa 1,314 4 $13,517 30 South Central Calhoun Comm School District Rockwell City 916 3 $13,490 31 Fort Madison Comm School District Fort Madison 1,832 4 $13,473 32 Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Comm School District Clarion 1,071 3 $13,460 33 Howard-Winneshiek Comm School District Cresco 1,060 3 $13,437 34 Davenport Comm School District Davenport 14,135 30 $13,411 35 Woodbine Comm School District Woodbine 534 2 $13,404 36 Belmond-Klemme Comm School District Belmond 697 3 $13,389 37 Greene County Comm School District Jefferson 1,259 3 $13,347 38 Columbus Comm School District Columbus Junction 664 3 $13,306 39 Grinnell-Newburg Comm School District Grinnell 1,573 5 $13,305 40 Mid-Prairie Comm School District Wellman 1,446 5 $13,284 41 Decorah Community School District Decorah 1,663 4 $13,274 42 North Butler Comm School District Allison 567 2 $13,270 43 Starmont Comm School District Arlington 584 3 $13,262 44 Woodward-Granger Comm School District Granger 1,217 5 $13,256 45 Riverside Comm School District Carson 693 3 $13,255 46 South Winneshiek Comm School District Calmar 549 3 $13,205 47 Sioux Central Comm School District Sioux Rapids 656 3 $13,197 48 Oelwein Comm School District Oelwein 1,345 5 $13,185 49 Bedford Comm School District Bedford 535 2 $13,178 50 Shenandoah Comm School District Shenandoah 1,078 5 $13,172
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.