Every public school, district, and the headline NCES measures for West Virginia - 61 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 643 scored West Virginia schools. Full methodology →
The state in one line
West Virginia runs 648 public schools across 61 districts, with a 13.1:1 average classroom and - of students on subsidized lunch.
648
public schools
61
school districts
13.1:1
avg student–teacher
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free/reduced lunch
What the NCES Data Says About West Virginia Schools
West Virginia operates 648 public K-12 schools organised into 61 independent school districts serving 242,956 students, per the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data 2024-25. The largest district, Kanawha County Schools, enrolls 23,864 pupils across 67 schools at $14,242 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 13.1:1, a useful benchmark for comparing any individual district or school on PlainSchools. 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.
West Virginia's average student-teacher ratio vs. every US state
Average students per teacher, state by state (lower means more staffing per student)
13Among the lowest ratioslower student-teacher ratio than 75% 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.
West Virginia per-pupil spending varies 1.9× across districts
Per-pupil spending in West Virginia ranges from $12,158 (lowest district) to $22,500 (highest), a spread of $10,342. 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.
West Virginia operates only 61 school districts, among the most consolidated K-12 governance structures in the country
Most West Virginia districts are countywide or multi-county systems. Consolidation produces narrower per-pupil spending variance because resources pool across larger student populations, but it can also mask intra-district inequities, school-by-school differences within a single district are not visible at the state-aggregation level. Consolidated states typically rely more heavily on state-level funding formulas than on local property tax variability.
Average West Virginia student-teacher ratio is 13.1:1 - 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.
West Virginia's public schools average a Simpson diversity index of 17.9/100, 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia data
West Virginia's 648 schools sit inside 61 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 West 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 West Virginia?
West Virginia has 648 public schools across 61 school districts, serving 242,956 students.
What is the average student-teacher ratio in West Virginia?
The average student-teacher ratio in West Virginia public schools is 13.1:1. This varies by district, use the district table below to compare.
What is the largest school district in West Virginia?
The largest school district in West Virginia is Kanawha County Schools with 23,864 students across 67 schools.
Largest K-12 public schools by total students enrolled
students
Morgantown High School
1,754
Morgantown High School
1,754 students
100.0% of the leader · rank #1 · Morgantown, WV
Musselman High School
1,725
Musselman High School
1,725 students
98.3% of the leader · rank #2 · Inwood, WV
Huntington High School
1,667
Huntington High School
1,667 students
95.0% of the leader · rank #3 · Huntington, WV
West Virginia Virtual …
1,654
West Virginia Virtual Academy
1,654 students
94.3% of the leader · rank #4 · Charleston, WV
Cabell Midland High Sc…
1,638
Cabell Midland High School
1,638 students
93.4% of the leader · rank #5 · Ona, WV
Spring Mills High School
1,544
Spring Mills High School
1,544 students
88.0% of the leader · rank #6 · Martinsburg, WV
Martinsburg High School
1,505
Martinsburg High School
1,505 students
85.8% of the leader · rank #7 · Martinsburg, WV
Parkersburg High School
1,491
Parkersburg High School
1,491 students
85.0% of the leader · rank #8 · Parkersburg, WV
What this shows The largest public schools in West 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.