Best School Districts in Michigan

Top 50 districts ranked by average school quality score. Based on student-teacher ratios, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance. NCES CCD 2022-23.

50
Districts Ranked
133,939
Students
43/100
Avg Quality Score
MI
State
# District Avg Quality Grade
1. Capac Community Schools Capac 51.3 C-
2. Jenison Public Schools Jenison 50.2 C-
3. Black River Public School HOLLAND 50 C-
4. Madison Academy FLINT 49.5 D
5. Birmingham Public Schools Beverly Hills 49.2 D
6. Washtenaw ISD ANN ARBOR 48.7 D
7. Bullock Creek School District MIDLAND 48.2 D
8. Merrill Community Schools MERRILL 48 D
9. Jackson ISD JACKSON 47.3 D
10. New Buffalo Area Schools NEW BUFFALO 47 D
11. Northwest Education Services TRAVERSE CITY 46.3 D
12. Midland Public Schools MIDLAND 46 D
13. Ingham ISD MASON 45.7 D
14. Genesee ISD Flint 45.2 D
15. North Muskegon Public Schools MUSKEGON 45 D
16. Pewamo-Westphalia Community Schools WESTPHALIA 44.5 D
17. Harbor Springs School District HARBOR SPRINGS 44.3 D
18. Ottawa Area ISD HOLLAND 44 D
19. Deckerville Community School District DECKERVILLE 44 D
20. Berrien RESA BERRIEN SPRINGS 43.7 D
21. Kalamazoo Public Schools KALAMAZOO 43 D
22. Trenton Public Schools TRENTON 42.5 D
23. Calhoun Intermediate School District MARSHALL 42.5 D
24. Saline Area Schools SALINE 42.3 D
25. Leslie Public Schools LESLIE 42.3 D
26. Clarkston Community School District CLARKSTON 42.1 D
27. Kalamazoo RESA PORTAGE 42 D
28. Kent ISD GRAND RAPIDS 41.7 D
29. Bridge Academy HAMTRAMCK 41.7 D
30. East Jordan Public Schools EAST JORDAN 41.7 D
31. Bloomfield Hills Schools Bloomfield Hills 41.6 D
32. Grosse Pointe Public Schools GROSSE POINTE WOODS 41.5 D
33. Martin Public Schools MARTIN 40.5 D
34. Colon Community School District COLON 40.3 D
35. Livonia Public Schools School District LIVONIA 40.1 D
36. Saginaw ISD Saginaw 40 D
37. Mattawan Consolidated School MATTAWAN 39.8 F
38. Sparta Area Schools SPARTA 39.3 F
39. Harrison Community Schools HARRISON 39.3 F
40. Avondale School District AUBURN HILLS 39.1 F
41. Mt. Pleasant City School District MOUNT PLEASANT 39.1 F
42. Frontier International Academy DETROIT 39 F
43. Climax-Scotts Community Schools CLIMAX 39 F
44. Boyne City Public Schools BOYNE CITY 38.8 F
45. Monroe ISD MONROE 38.8 F
46. Van Buren ISD LAWRENCE 38.7 F
47. Riverside Academy Dearborn 38.5 F
48. Macomb ISD CLINTON TOWNSHIP 38.4 F
49. Bay City School District BAY CITY 38.4 F
50. Allendale Public Schools ALLENDALE 38.3 F

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best school districts in Michigan? ▼

The top-ranked district in Michigan is Capac Community Schools in Capac with 744 students across 3 schools. Average quality score: 51.3/100. Rankings are based on average school quality scores from NCES data.

How are district rankings calculated? ▼

Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES data: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be ranked.

How many school districts are in Michigan? ▼

Michigan has 50+ school districts serving 1,376,868 students. The statewide average student-teacher ratio is 18.2:1.

Explore More for Michigan

All Schools → Best Schools → Highest Spending → Funding Equity → Absenteeism Data →

Methodology

Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2022-23 metrics: student-teacher ratio, school counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism rates. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be included. This measures school-level resources, not test scores. Higher average scores indicate districts where schools generally have smaller classes, better counselor access, and lower absenteeism.

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