Virginia · NCES F-33 finance data

Highest Spending Districts in Virginia

The 50 Virginia 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.

$25,743
Top per-pupil spend
$18,481
Avg across top 50
50
Districts listed

The spending picture in one line

Surry County Public Schools spends $25,743 per student, the most of any Virginia district listed, against an average of $18,481 across the top 50.

$25,743
top spend (Surry County Public Schools)
$15,787
lowest on this list
1.6×
spread across the listed districts
681
students in the top district
#DistrictPer-Pupil $
1Surry County Public SchoolsSurry$25,743
2Greensville County Public SchoolsEmporia$25,104
3Sussex County Public SchoolsStony Creek$24,850
4Falls Church City Public SchoolsFalls Church$24,047
5Arlington County Public SchoolsArlington$23,424
6Bath County Public SchoolsWarm Springs$22,792
7Alexandria City Public SchoolsAlexandria$21,716
8Richmond City Public SchoolsRichmond$21,413
9Rappahannock County Public SchoolsWashington$21,264
10Charles City County Public SchoolsCharles City$20,589
11Charlottesville City Public SchoolsCharlottesville$19,953
12Loudoun County Public SchoolsAshburn$19,934
13Mathews County Public SchoolsMathews$19,565
14Nelson County Public SchoolsLovingston$19,458
15Fairfax County Public SchoolsFalls Church$18,975
16Brunswick County Public SchoolsLawrenceville$18,712
17Northumberland County Public SchoolsHeathsville$18,689
18Colonial Beach Public SchoolsColonial Beach$18,601
19Winchester City Public SchoolsWinchester$18,463
20Danville City Public SchoolsDanville$18,424
21Roanoke City Public SchoolsRoanoke$18,406
22Franklin City Public SchoolsFranklin$18,288
23Westmoreland County Public SchoolsMontross$17,913
24Cumberland County Public SchoolsCumberland$17,801
25Bristol City Public SchoolsBristol$17,722
26Essex County Public SchoolsTappahannock$17,613
27Albemarle County Public SchoolsCharlottesville$17,536
28Martinsville City Public SchoolsMartinsville$17,343
29Fredericksburg City Public SchoolsFredericksburg$17,150
30Lynchburg City Public SchoolsLynchburg$17,083
31Lancaster County Public SchoolsWeems$16,962
32Manassas City Public SchoolsManassas$16,832
33Hopewell City Public SchoolsHopewell$16,800
34Buena Vista City Public SchoolsBuena Vista$16,729
35King and Queen County Public SchoolsKing and Queen Ch$16,570
36Middlesex County Public SchoolsSaluda$16,498
37Petersburg City Public SchoolsPetersburg$16,474
38Staunton City Public SchoolsStaunton$16,422
39Waynesboro City Public SchoolsWaynesboro$16,393
40Grayson County Public SchoolsIndependence$16,370
41Norfolk City Public SchoolsNorfolk$16,341
42Newport News City Public SchoolsNewport News$16,082
43Colonial Heights City Public SchoolsColonial Heights$15,988
44West Point Public SchoolsWest Point$15,928
45Northampton County Public SchoolsMachipongo$15,918
46Charlotte County Public SchoolsCharlotte Court House$15,891
47Floyd County Public SchoolsFloyd$15,840
48Rockbridge County Public SchoolsLexington$15,836
49Fauquier County Public SchoolsWarrenton$15,817
50Harrisonburg City Public SchoolsHarrisonburg$15,787

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.