Every public school, district, and the headline NCES measures for Virginia - 132 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 1,868 scored Virginia schools. Full methodology →
The state in one line
Virginia runs 1,869 public schools across 132 districts, with a 13.9:1 average classroom and 57.6% of students on subsidized lunch.
1,869
public schools
132
school districts
13.9:1
avg student–teacher
57.6%
free/reduced lunch
How Virginia ranks nationally
Per-pupil spending
$15,892
#29of 51 · highest-spending
Average student-teacher ratio
13.9:1
#21of 51 · lowest ratios
Public schools
1,869
#18of 51 · most schools
On subsidized lunch
57.6%
#14of 43 · highest share
Virginia ranks #29 of 51 nationally on per-pupil spending and #21 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 Virginia Schools
Virginia operates 1,869 public K-12 schools organised into 132 independent school districts serving 1,253,620 students, per the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data 2024-25. The largest district, Fairfax County Public Schools, enrolls 179,858 pupils across 223 schools at $18,975 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 13.9:1, a useful benchmark for comparing any individual district or school on PlainSchools. Free-lunch eligibility averages 57.6% across Virginia 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.
Virginia's average student-teacher ratio vs. every US state
Average students per teacher, state by state (lower means more staffing per student)
14lower student-teacher ratio than 57% 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.
Virginia per-pupil spending varies 2.6× across districts
Per-pupil spending in Virginia ranges from $9,898 (lowest district) to $25,743 (highest), a spread of $15,845. 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.
Virginia has higher-than-average Title I eligibility - 57.6% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch
Free-lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), which replaced No Child Left Behind in defining how the federal government distributes K-12 supplemental funding. Districts above 75% eligibility receive concentration grants on top of the basic Title I formula. States with majority eligibility typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local property tax base, which can either offset spending gaps or reinforce them depending on state allocation policy.
Average Virginia student-teacher ratio is 13.9:1 - 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.
Virginia's public schools average a Simpson diversity index of 53.7/100, 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 Virginia ranks in our national school-diversity analysis.
By total K-12 enrollment, NCES Common Core 2024-25
students
Fairfax County Public Schools
179,858
Fairfax County Public Schools
179,858 students
100.0% of the leader · rank #1 · 223 schools
Prince William County Public S…
91,101
Prince William County Public Schools
91,101 students
50.7% of the leader · rank #2 · 98 schools
Loudoun County Public Schools
81,678
Loudoun County Public Schools
81,678 students
45.4% of the leader · rank #3 · 99 schools
Virginia Beach City Public Sch…
65,456
Virginia Beach City Public Schools
65,456 students
36.4% of the leader · rank #4 · 87 schools
Chesterfield County Public Sch…
63,916
Chesterfield County Public Schools
63,916 students
35.5% of the leader · rank #5 · 73 schools
Henrico County Public Schools
50,389
Henrico County Public Schools
50,389 students
28.0% of the leader · rank #6 · 80 schools
Chesapeake City Public Schools
40,769
Chesapeake City Public Schools
40,769 students
22.7% of the leader · rank #7 · 48 schools
Stafford County Public Schools
31,105
Stafford County Public Schools
31,105 students
17.3% of the leader · rank #8 · 34 schools
Arlington County Public Schools
27,562
Arlington County Public Schools
27,562 students
15.3% of the leader · rank #9 · 42 schools
Norfolk City Public Schools
27,306
Norfolk City Public Schools
27,306 students
15.2% of the leader · rank #10 · 50 schools
What this shows Fairfax County Public Schools is the largest district, with 179,858 students across 223 schools. The full ranked district list follows.
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 Virginia data
Virginia's 1,869 schools sit inside 132 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 Virginia 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 Virginia?
Virginia has 1,869 public schools across 132 school districts, serving 1,253,620 students.
What is the average student-teacher ratio in Virginia?
The average student-teacher ratio in Virginia public schools is 13.9:1. This varies by district, use the district table below to compare.
What percentage of Virginia students qualify for free lunch?
57.6% of students in Virginia qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator of economic need used for Title I funding.
What is the largest school district in Virginia?
The largest school district in Virginia is Fairfax County Public Schools with 179,858 students across 223 schools.
Largest K-12 public schools by total students enrolled
students
Alexandria City High S…
4,655
Alexandria City High School
4,655 students
100.0% of the leader · rank #1 · Alexandria, VA
Lake Braddock Secondary
4,411
Lake Braddock Secondary
4,411 students
94.8% of the leader · rank #2 · Burke, VA
Robinson Secondary
3,710
Robinson Secondary
3,710 students
79.7% of the leader · rank #3 · Fairfax, VA
Hayfield Secondary
3,256
Hayfield Secondary
3,256 students
69.9% of the leader · rank #4 · Alexandria, VA
Washington-Liberty High
3,044
Washington-Liberty High
3,044 students
65.4% of the leader · rank #5 · Arlington, VA
Charles J. Colgan Sr. …
2,956
Charles J. Colgan Sr. High
2,956 students
63.5% of the leader · rank #6 · Manassas, VA
Chantilly High
2,937
Chantilly High
2,937 students
63.1% of the leader · rank #7 · Chantilly, VA
Woodbridge High
2,898
Woodbridge High
2,898 students
62.3% of the leader · rank #8 · Woodbridge, VA
What this shows The largest public schools in Virginia 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.