District profile / Alaska

Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District

Palmer, Alaska · Public school district · #2 of 17 Alaska districts by enrollment

Compare with peers

19,495

Students

2024-25 school year

Schools

2024-25 school year

$16,925

Spending per student

FY2020-21 · 22% below the Alaska median

19.2

Students per teacher

2024-25 · Alaska median 16.7

Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District is a public school district based in Palmer, Alaska, serving 19,495 students in 49 schools. By enrollment it ranks #2 of the 17 Alaska districts with 1,000 or more students, larger than about 94% of them. Its schools average 398 students each, more than the Alaska median of 227. It spends about $16,925 per student on day-to-day operations, 22% less than the Alaska median. It has roughly 19.2 students per teacher.

How Matanuska-Susitna Borough compares

Matanuska-Susitna BoroughAlaska median, districts with 1,000+ students

Spending per student$16,925

Alaska median $21,685 · 22% below · FY2020-21

Instruction spending per student$9,680

Alaska median $12,224 · 21% below · FY2020-21

Students per school398

Alaska median 227 · 75% above · 2024-25

Students per teacher19.2

Alaska median 16.7 · 15% above · 2024-25

Students per counselor433

Alaska median 454 · about the same · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$322.4 million in revenue · FY2020-21

Federal 10%State 70%Local 20%

Measure	Matanuska-Susitna Borough	Alaska median	Year
Current spending per student	$16,925	$21,685	FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student	$9,680	$12,224	FY2020-21
Total spending	$321.3 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Total revenue	$322.4 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)	1,015	n/a	2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)	2,257	n/a	2024-25
Students per teacher	19.2	16.7	2024-25
Students per counselor	433	454	2024-25

Spending: NCES school district finance survey (F-33), FY2020-21. Staffing and enrollment: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25. Via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. The Alaska median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

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Peer districts in Alaska

Compare side by side →

District	Students	Schools	Spending per student	Students per teacher	Rank
Anchorage School DistrictAnchorage	42,573	94	$16,972	19.3	#1
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School DistrictPalmer · this district	19,495	49	$16,925	19.2	#2
Fairbanks North Star Borough School DistrictFairbanks	11,857	33	$20,536	19.5	#3
Kenai Peninsula Borough School DistrictSoldotna	8,510	42	$20,456	16.7	#4
Galena City School DistrictGalena	8,168	4	$4,611	80.1	#5

Similar-size districts nationally

District	Students	Spending per student	Students per teacher
Bentonville School DistrictBentonville, AR	19,575	$10,617	14.5
Pittsburgh School DistrictPittsburgh, PA	19,571	$21,488	11.8
Hampton City Public SchoolsHampton, VA	19,472	$12,226	13.9
New Caney ISDNew Caney, TX	19,420	$11,168	15.2

Peers are the districts closest in enrollment, so they can still differ in many other ways. Enrollment, school counts and phone numbers are from the NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25.

Printed from Superintendent's Corner: https://superintendentscorner.com/district-ak-matanuska-susitna-borough-school-district