Kansas runs 1,354 public schools across 290 districts, with a 14.4:1 average classroom and 42.7% of students on subsidized lunch.
1,354
public schools
290
school districts
14.4:1
avg student–teacher
42.7%
free/reduced lunch
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 $15,361 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 14.4:1, 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, class size, 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 (typically FY 2021-22). 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 class size vs. every US state
Average students per teacher, state by state (lower means smaller classes)
14smaller classes than 49% 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 — no proprietary formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal survey data — enrollment, staffing, finance, and demographics from NCES — without a composite rating on top. The insights below are computed directly from those datasets; every number traces to a cited source.
Kansas per-pupil spending varies 13.3× across districts
Per-pupil spending in Kansas ranges from $7,257 (lowest district) to $96,590 (highest), a spread of $89,333. That ratio is among the widest in the country and predicts large gaps in class size, programme availability, and counselor:student ratios that compound across a 12-year K-12 career. 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 14.4:1 — near the U.S. average of approximately 16:1
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. Variation between districts within the state is wider than the state-average figure suggests — large urban districts may run 20:1 while small rural districts run 10:1, both inside the same average. Class-load comparisons are most meaningful at the district or school level, not the state aggregate.
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.
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 14.4:1. 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.
Why does per-pupil spending vary so much across Kansas districts?
Kansas districts spend between $7,257 and $96,590 per pupil — a 13.3× range. Most U.S. states fund schools through a mix of state aid (typically 40-60%), local property tax (30-50%), and federal Title I (5-15%). Districts in higher property-value areas raise more per pupil from local taxes, while state aid is intended to partially equalise but rarely closes the full gap. The federal F-33 finance survey reports actual current expenditures including instructional and support services.
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.