Every public school, district, and the headline NCES measures for Wisconsin - 451 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 2,202 scored Wisconsin schools. Full methodology →
The state in one line
Wisconsin runs 2,205 public schools across 451 districts, with a 14.4:1 average classroom and 38.5% of students on subsidized lunch.
2,205
public schools
451
school districts
14.4:1
avg student–teacher
38.5%
free/reduced lunch
How Wisconsin ranks nationally
Per-pupil spending
$15,645
#32of 51 · highest-spending
Average student-teacher ratio
14.4:1
#27of 51 · lowest ratios
Public schools
2,205
#15of 51 · most schools
On subsidized lunch
38.5%
#29of 43 · highest share
Wisconsin ranks #32 of 51 nationally on per-pupil spending and #27 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 Wisconsin Schools
Wisconsin operates 2,205 public K-12 schools organised into 451 independent school districts serving 814,921 students, per the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data 2024-25. The largest district, Milwaukee School District, enrolls 67,500 pupils across 156 schools at $18,815 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 14.4:1, a useful benchmark for comparing any individual district or school on PlainSchools. Free-lunch eligibility averages 38.5% across Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin'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 45% 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.
Wisconsin per-pupil spending varies 8.6× across districts
Per-pupil spending in Wisconsin ranges from $8,439 (lowest district) to $72,273 (highest), a spread of $63,834. That ratio is among the widest in the country and predicts large gaps in class size, programme availability, and counselor:student ratios that compound across a 12-year K-12 career. 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 Wisconsin student-teacher ratio is 14.4:1 - near the U.S. average of approximately 16:1
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. Variation between districts within the state is wider than the state-average figure suggests, large urban districts may run 20:1 while small rural districts run 10:1, both inside the same average. Class-load comparisons are most meaningful at the district or school level, not the state aggregate.
Wisconsin's public schools average a Simpson diversity index of 35.7/100, 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin data
Wisconsin's 2,205 schools sit inside 451 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin?
Wisconsin has 2,205 public schools across 451 school districts, serving 814,921 students.
What is the average student-teacher ratio in Wisconsin?
The average student-teacher ratio in Wisconsin public schools is 14.4:1. This varies by district, use the district table below to compare.
What percentage of Wisconsin students qualify for free lunch?
38.5% of students in Wisconsin qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator of economic need used for Title I funding.
What is the largest school district in Wisconsin?
The largest school district in Wisconsin is Milwaukee School District with 67,500 students across 156 schools.
Why does per-pupil spending vary so much across Wisconsin districts?
Wisconsin districts spend between $8,439 and $72,273 per pupil, a 8.6× range. This is a notable but not extreme spread. Most U.S. states fund schools through a mix of state aid (typically 40-60%), local property tax (30-50%), and federal Title I (5-15%); districts in higher property-value areas raise more per pupil from local taxes, while state aid is intended to partially equalise funding across districts. The federal F-33 finance survey reports actual current expenditures including instructional and support services.
Largest K-12 public schools by total students enrolled
students
Middleton High
2,303
Middleton High
2,303 students
100.0% of the leader · rank #1 · Middleton, WI
Rural Virtual Academy
2,259
Rural Virtual Academy
2,259 students
98.1% of the leader · rank #2 · Medford, WI
West High
2,222
West High
2,222 students
96.5% of the leader · rank #3 · Madison, WI
Oak Creek High
2,220
Oak Creek High
2,220 students
96.4% of the leader · rank #4 · Oak Creek, WI
Preble High
2,149
Preble High
2,149 students
93.3% of the leader · rank #5 · Green Bay, WI
Neenah High
2,013
Neenah High
2,013 students
87.4% of the leader · rank #6 · Neenah, WI
Vel Phillips Memorial …
2,004
Vel Phillips Memorial High
2,004 students
87.0% of the leader · rank #7 · Madison, WI
Hapa-Hmong American Pe…
1,974
Hapa-Hmong American Peace Academy K3-12
1,974 students
85.7% of the leader · rank #8 · Milwaukee, WI
What this shows The largest public schools in Wisconsin 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.