Every public school, district, and the headline NCES measures for New Jersey - 653 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 2,502 scored New Jersey schools. Full methodology →
The state in one line
New Jersey runs 2,509 public schools across 653 districts, with a 11.8:1 average classroom and 29.6% of students on subsidized lunch.
2,509
public schools
653
school districts
11.8:1
avg student–teacher
29.6%
free/reduced lunch
How New Jersey ranks nationally
Per-pupil spending
$26,225
#4of 51 · highest-spending
Average student-teacher ratio
11.8:1
#4of 51 · lowest ratios
Public schools
2,509
#10of 51 · most schools
On subsidized lunch
29.6%
#36of 43 · highest share
New Jersey ranks #4 of 51 nationally on per-pupil spending and #4 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 Jersey Schools
New Jersey operates 2,509 public K-12 schools organised into 653 independent school districts serving 1,354,386 students, per the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data 2024-25. The largest district, Newark Public School District, enrolls 41,672 pupils across 63 schools at $28,631 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 11.8:1, a useful benchmark for comparing any individual district or school on PlainSchools. Free-lunch eligibility averages 29.6% across New Jersey 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 Jersey's average student-teacher ratio vs. every US state
Average students per teacher, state by state (lower means more staffing per student)
12Among the lowest ratioslower student-teacher ratio than 86% 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 Jersey per-pupil spending varies 4.7× across districts
Per-pupil spending in New Jersey ranges from $13,499 (lowest district) to $63,559 (highest), a spread of $50,060. 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.
New Jersey operates 653 school districts, among the most fragmented K-12 governance structures in the country
Each district has independent budgeting, hiring, and curriculum authority. The fragmentation predates modern county-level consolidation efforts and reflects 19th-century township governance patterns, a feature of states that organised public schooling around small civic units rather than centralised state systems. Per-pupil spending and accountability variations are largest in fragmented states because each district sets its own tax rate, contracts, and programme mix without state-level coordination above the regulatory floor.
Average New Jersey student-teacher ratio is 11.8:1 - 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.
New Jersey's public schools average a Simpson diversity index of 51.2/100, above 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 Jersey 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 Jersey data
New Jersey's 2,509 schools sit inside 653 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 Jersey 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 Jersey?
New Jersey has 2,509 public schools across 653 school districts, serving 1,354,386 students.
What is the average student-teacher ratio in New Jersey?
The average student-teacher ratio in New Jersey public schools is 11.8:1. This varies by district, use the district table below to compare.
What percentage of New Jersey students qualify for free lunch?
29.6% of students in New Jersey 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 Jersey?
The largest school district in New Jersey is Newark Public School District with 41,672 students across 63 schools.
Largest K-12 public schools by total students enrolled
students
North Star Academy Cha…
6,714
North Star Academy Charter School
6,714 students
100.0% of the leader · rank #1 · Newark, NJ
Team Academy Charter S…
6,406
Team Academy Charter School
6,406 students
95.4% of the leader · rank #2 · Newark, NJ
Passaic County Technic…
3,565
Passaic County Technical Institute
3,565 students
53.1% of the leader · rank #3 · Wayne, NJ
Clifton High School
3,150
Clifton High School
3,150 students
46.9% of the leader · rank #4 · Clifton, NJ
Union City High School
3,147
Union City High School
3,147 students
46.9% of the leader · rank #5 · Union City, NJ
Mastery Schools of Cam…
2,873
Mastery Schools of Camden Inc.
2,873 students
42.8% of the leader · rank #6 · Camden, NJ
Bayonne High School
2,830
Bayonne High School
2,830 students
42.2% of the leader · rank #7 · Bayonne, NJ
Perth Amboy High School
2,769
Perth Amboy High School
2,769 students
41.2% of the leader · rank #8 · Perth Amboy, NJ
What this shows The largest public schools in New Jersey 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.