Every public school, district, and the headline NCES measures for Kansas - 290 districts, drawn straight from federal records.
Compiled by PlainSchools, Education-data publisher
Scored 0-100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores - the same index shown on every school page, averaged across 1,346 scored Kansas schools. Full methodology →
The state in one line
Kansas runs 1,354 public schools across 290 districts, with a 13.8:1 average classroom and 42.7% of students on subsidized lunch.
1,354
public schools
290
school districts
13.8:1
avg student–teacher
42.7%
free/reduced lunch
How Kansas ranks nationally
Per-pupil spending
$15,788
#31of 51 · highest-spending
Average student-teacher ratio
13.8:1
#19of 51 · lowest ratios
Public schools
1,354
#26of 51 · most schools
On subsidized lunch
42.7%
#26of 43 · highest share
Kansas ranks #31 of 51 nationally on per-pupil spending and #19 of 51 on average student-teacher ratio, derived live by comparing it against every other state. Ranked among all 50 states + DC from NCES enrollment/staffing and the F-33 finance survey. Lunch share is an indicator of student need, not of quality.
What the NCES Data Says About Kansas Schools
Kansas operates 1,354 public K-12 schools organised into 290 independent school districts serving 478,187 students, per the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data 2024-25. The largest district, Wichita, enrolls 46,796 pupils across 88 schools at $15,549 per student, while smaller rural districts can run fewer than a dozen campuses. This fragmentation, inherited from century-old township governance patterns in many states, is why per-pupil spending, class sizes, and programme availability vary dramatically inside a single state boundary.
Statewide, the average student-teacher ratio is 13.8:1, a useful benchmark for comparing any individual district or school on PlainSchools. Free-lunch eligibility averages 42.7% across Kansas public schools, a federal indicator of economic need that drives Title I funding allocations. The district table below is sortable by enrollment, school count, and per-pupil expenditure, the three fields that best predict a district's financial and demographic profile. For schools specifically, use the rankings links above to view per-category leaderboards covering spending, student-teacher ratio, best schools by composite quality score, chronic absenteeism, and funding-equity distribution within the state.
Every district figure here pulls from two distinct federal surveys: enrollment and demographic data come from the NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (school membership and directory), while per-pupil spending, teacher salaries, and federal/state/local revenue shares originate in the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey (FY 2022-23). Civil-rights indicators, gifted enrollment, AP course counts, counselor staffing, chronic absenteeism, in- and out-of-school suspensions, come from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Cross-referencing these three sources is what lets PlainSchools produce composite scores and equity rankings that single-source tools cannot.
Kansas's average student-teacher ratio vs. every US state
Average students per teacher, state by state (lower means more staffing per student)
14Among the lowest ratioslower student-teacher ratio than 61% of 51 US states
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data · 2024-25
Federal data, transparent formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal survey data - enrollment, staffing, finance, and demographics from NCES. The diversity index and composite quality scores referenced on this page are PlainSchools' own transparent derived indices (not an official NCES rating), computed directly from those datasets with the exact formula disclosed on our methodology page; every input number traces to a cited source. These figures describe reported resource allocation across a large, varied state - a starting point for comparing districts and schools, not a substitute for reviewing a specific school's own record.
Kansas per-pupil spending varies 5.8× across districts
Per-pupil spending in Kansas ranges from $5,276 (lowest district) to $30,500 (highest), a spread of $25,224. That spread reflects typical state-level variation between high-property-value suburbs and rural or low-tax-base districts. High-spending districts typically draw on higher property tax bases, a structural feature of state education finance under the federal Title I framework that sets the floor but not the ceiling.
Average Kansas student-teacher ratio is 13.8:1 - low (typically associated with smaller schools or state-funded class-size reduction)
Student-teacher ratio is the simplest staffing metric reported on NCES Common Core of Data, but it does not capture push-in specialists, intervention staff, English Language Learner aides, special education co-teachers, or counseling and support staff. Lower ratios in this state often correlate with smaller per-school enrollments and rural geography rather than higher staffing budgets per se. Class-load comparisons are most meaningful at the district or school level, not the state aggregate.
Kansas's public schools average a Simpson diversity index of 39.4/100, below the national average of 43.5. The index runs 0-100 from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality. See where Kansas ranks in our national school-diversity analysis.
Data sourced from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25, NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
Using the Kansas data
Kansas's 1,354 schools sit inside 290 districts - compare at the district level first.
District boundaries decide enrollment: shortlist 2-3 districts on spending, ratio, and size before comparing individual schools. Compare districts →
Check how Kansas distributes money across its districts, funding equity varies more within states than between them. Funding equity →
Verify any school's federal record (enrollment, staffing, CRDC flags) before a visit or enrollment decision. Look up a school →
Figures are the federal record (CCD 2024-25, F-33 FY 2022-23, CRDC 2021-22) - they lag the current school year. PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score used in our rankings is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many public schools are in Kansas?
Kansas has 1,354 public schools across 290 school districts, serving 478,187 students.
What is the average student-teacher ratio in Kansas?
The average student-teacher ratio in Kansas public schools is 13.8:1. This varies by district, use the district table below to compare.
What percentage of Kansas students qualify for free lunch?
42.7% of students in Kansas qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator of economic need used for Title I funding.
What is the largest school district in Kansas?
The largest school district in Kansas is Wichita with 46,796 students across 88 schools.
Largest K-12 public schools by total students enrolled
students
Andover Ecademy
3,617
Andover Ecademy
3,617 students
100.0% of the leader · rank #1 · Andover, KS
East High
2,435
East High
2,435 students
67.3% of the leader · rank #2 · Wichita, KS
Dodge City High School
2,178
Dodge City High School
2,178 students
60.2% of the leader · rank #3 · Dodge City, KS
Derby High School
2,172
Derby High School
2,172 students
60.0% of the leader · rank #4 · Derby, KS
Manhattan High School …
2,087
Manhattan High School West/East Campus
2,087 students
57.7% of the leader · rank #5 · Manhattan, KS
Southeast High
2,066
Southeast High
2,066 students
57.1% of the leader · rank #6 · Wichita, KS
North High
2,041
North High
2,041 students
56.4% of the leader · rank #7 · Wichita, KS
Olathe North Sr High
2,011
Olathe North Sr High
2,011 students
55.6% of the leader · rank #8 · Olathe, KS
What this shows The largest public schools in Kansas by enrollment, often statewide virtual academies or large consolidated campuses, so size here reflects reach, not quality.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) - Public school universe · 2023-2024 Public K-12 school enrollment, demographics, and operational data; collected annually by NCES from state education agencies.