District profile / Florida

Hillsborough County Public Schools

Tampa, Florida · Superintendent: Van Ayres · #3 of 66 Florida districts by enrollment

Compare with peers

220,360

Students

2024-25 school year

293

Schools

2024-25 school year

$9,718

Spending per student

FY2020-21 · 7% below the Florida median

19.7

Students per teacher

2024-25 · Florida median 17.4

Hillsborough County Public Schools is a public school district based in Tampa, Florida, serving 220,360 students in 293 schools. By enrollment it ranks #3 of the 66 Florida districts with 1,000 or more students, larger than about 97% of them. Its schools average 752 students each, more than the Florida median of 572. Its superintendent is Van Ayres. It spends about $9,718 per student on day-to-day operations, 7% less than the Florida median. It has roughly 19.7 students per teacher. We've matched 12 news stories to the district.

How Hillsborough County compares

Hillsborough CountyFlorida median, districts with 1,000+ students

Spending per student$9,718

Florida median $10,483 · 7% below · FY2020-21

Instruction spending per student$6,130

Florida median $5,885 · about the same · FY2020-21

Students per school752

Florida median 572 · 31% above · 2024-25

Students per teacher19.7

Florida median 17.4 · 13% above · 2024-25

Students per counselor481

Florida median 428 · 12% above · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$2.56 billion in revenue · FY2020-21

Federal 14%State 46%Local 39%

Measure	Hillsborough County	Florida median	Year
Current spending per student	$9,718	$10,483	FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student	$6,130	$5,885	FY2020-21
Total spending	$2.43 billion	n/a	FY2020-21
Total revenue	$2.56 billion	n/a	FY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)	11,163	n/a	2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)	24,321	n/a	2024-25
Students per teacher	19.7	17.4	2024-25
Students per counselor	481	428	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 Florida median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

Leadership

Moves tracker →

Van Ayres

Bay News 9 · October 7, 2026

Leadership

Candidate recommendations: Hillsborough County School Board

tampabay.com · October 4, 2026

Peer districts in Florida

Compare side by side →

District	Students	Schools	Spending per student	Students per teacher	Rank
Miami-Dade County Public SchoolsMiami	333,233	530	$11,231	19.4	#1
Broward County Public SchoolsFort Lauderdale	243,553	325	$10,362	21.7	#2
Hillsborough County Public SchoolsTampa · this district	220,360	293	$9,718	19.7	#3
Orange County Public SchoolsOrlando	205,853	275	$10,984	18.0	#4
School District of Palm Beach CountyWest Palm Beach	189,634	234	$11,509	16.4	#5

Similar-size districts nationally

District	Students	Spending per student	Students per teacher
Gwinnett CountyLawrenceville, GA	182,518	$11,482	14.3
Fairfax County Public SchoolsFalls Church, VA	179,323	$16,976	13.3
Houston ISDHouston, TX	176,727	$10,446	16.1
Hawaii Department of EducationHonolulu, HI	167,071	$16,550	13.7

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-fl-hillsborough-county-public-schools