Every public school, district, and the headline NCES measures for New Hampshire - 197 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 500 scored New Hampshire schools. Full methodology →
The state in one line
New Hampshire runs 500 public schools across 197 districts, with a 11.3:1 average classroom and 21.5% of students on subsidized lunch.
500
public schools
197
school districts
11.3:1
avg student–teacher
21.5%
free/reduced lunch
How New Hampshire ranks nationally
Per-pupil spending
$24,919
#5of 51 · highest-spending
Average student-teacher ratio
11.3:1
#2of 51 · lowest ratios
Public schools
500
#43of 51 · most schools
On subsidized lunch
21.5%
#43of 43 · highest share
New Hampshire ranks #5 of 51 nationally on per-pupil spending and #2 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 New Hampshire Schools
New Hampshire operates 500 public K-12 schools organised into 197 independent school districts serving 163,884 students, per the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data 2024-25. The largest district, Manchester School District, enrolls 12,105 pupils across 21 schools at $18,014 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 11.3:1, a useful benchmark for comparing any individual district or school on PlainSchools. Free-lunch eligibility averages 21.5% across New Hampshire 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.
New Hampshire's average student-teacher ratio vs. every US state
Average students per teacher, state by state (lower means more staffing per student)
11Among the lowest ratioslower student-teacher ratio than 96% 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.
New Hampshire per-pupil spending varies 3.0× across districts
Per-pupil spending in New Hampshire ranges from $15,022 (lowest district) to $45,630 (highest), a spread of $30,608. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually equalised funding system, most states have wider gaps. 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 New Hampshire student-teacher ratio is 11.3:1 - 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.
New Hampshire's public schools average a Simpson diversity index of 24.3/100, 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 New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire data
New Hampshire's 500 schools sit inside 197 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 New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire?
New Hampshire has 500 public schools across 197 school districts, serving 163,884 students.
What is the average student-teacher ratio in New Hampshire?
The average student-teacher ratio in New Hampshire public schools is 11.3:1. This varies by district, use the district table below to compare.
What percentage of New Hampshire students qualify for free lunch?
21.5% of students in New Hampshire qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator of economic need used for Title I funding.
What is the largest school district in New Hampshire?
The largest school district in New Hampshire is Manchester School District with 12,105 students across 21 schools.
Largest K-12 public schools by total students enrolled
students
Pinkerton Academy
2,990
Pinkerton Academy
2,990 students
100.0% of the leader · rank #1 · Derry, NH
Nashua High School South
1,686
Nashua High School South
1,686 students
56.4% of the leader · rank #2 · Nashua, NH
Nashua High School North
1,543
Nashua High School North
1,543 students
51.6% of the leader · rank #3 · Nashua, NH
Concord High School
1,394
Concord High School
1,394 students
46.6% of the leader · rank #4 · Concord, NH
Dover Senior High School
1,371
Dover Senior High School
1,371 students
45.9% of the leader · rank #5 · Dover, NH
Bedford High School
1,360
Bedford High School
1,360 students
45.5% of the leader · rank #6 · Bedford, NH
Exeter High School
1,348
Exeter High School
1,348 students
45.1% of the leader · rank #7 · Exeter, NH
Spaulding High School
1,298
Spaulding High School
1,298 students
43.4% of the leader · rank #8 · Rochester, NH
What this shows The largest public schools in New Hampshire 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.