Kentucky · NCES F-33 finance data

Highest Spending Districts in Kentucky

The 50 Kentucky 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.

Compiled from official source data by PlainSchools. · Updated August 2026

The spending picture in one line

Newport Independent spends $22,298 per student, the most of any Kentucky district listed, against an average of $16,142 across the top 50.

$22,298
top spend (Newport Independent): $14,475
lowest on this list: 1.5×
spread across the listed districts: 1,382
students in the top district

#	District	Enrollment	Schools	Per-Pupil $
1	Newport IndependentNewport	1,382	5	$22,298
2	Caverna IndependentCave City	647	3	$20,796
3	Letcher CountyWhitesburg	2,596	9	$20,652
4	Owsley CountyBooneville	785	2	$18,702
5	Fayette CountyLexington	41,422	80	$18,318
6	Jefferson CountyLouisville	95,230	168	$18,189
7	Wolfe CountyCampton	1,150	7	$17,855
8	Knott CountyHindman	2,092	7	$17,594
9	Menifee CountyFrenchburg	955	3	$17,406
10	Berea IndependentBerea	1,086	3	$17,169
11	Middlesboro IndependentMiddlesboro	1,120	7	$17,021
12	Covington IndependentCovington	3,665	11	$16,918
13	Livingston CountySmithland	1,074	4	$16,842
14	Dayton IndependentDayton	859	3	$16,758
15	Fairview IndependentAshland	582	2	$16,732
16	Boyd CountyAshland	3,102	12	$16,486
17	Danville IndependentDanville	1,836	6	$16,364
18	Monroe CountyTompkinsville	1,788	5	$16,268
19	Bellevue IndependentBellevue	639	2	$16,232
20	Owensboro IndependentOwensboro	5,040	13	$16,080
21	Hancock CountyHawesville	1,524	5	$16,011
22	Perry CountyHazard	3,593	10	$15,812
23	Murray IndependentMurray	1,849	4	$15,699
24	Pineville IndependentPineville	577	3	$15,672
25	Breathitt CountyJackson	1,701	6	$15,655
26	Bardstown IndependentBardstown	2,716	6	$15,648
27	Ludlow IndependentLudlow	828	2	$15,569
28	Paris IndependentParis	754	4	$15,541
29	Bell CountyPineville	2,454	7	$15,416
30	Paintsville IndependentPaintsville	766	3	$15,375
31	Carroll CountyCarrollton	2,042	6	$15,315
32	Pikeville IndependentPikeville	1,166	2	$15,243
33	Ballard CountyBarlow	1,052	5	$15,101
34	Union CountyMorganfield	2,055	8	$15,091
35	Franklin CountyFrankfort	6,126	16	$15,057
36	Paducah IndependentPaducah	3,119	7	$15,048
37	Floyd CountyEastern	5,563	14	$15,024
38	Harlan CountyHarlan	3,459	11	$14,873
39	Fulton CountyHickman	640	3	$14,780
40	Knox CountyBarbourville	3,943	15	$14,730
41	Martin CountyInez	1,758	5	$14,730
42	Elliott CountySandy Hook	962	4	$14,699
43	Ashland IndependentAshland	3,261	9	$14,691
44	Marshall CountyBenton	4,495	12	$14,559
45	Erlanger-Elsmere IndependentErlanger	2,392	8	$14,540
46	Russellville IndependentRussellville	1,168	4	$14,527
47	Cumberland CountyBurkesville	1,004	3	$14,520
48	Dawson Springs IndependentDawson Springs	534	3	$14,511
49	Hickman CountyClinton	723	2	$14,483
50	Mccreary CountyStearns	2,715	4	$14,475

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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.