District profile / Maryland

Howard County Public Schools

Ellicott City, Maryland · Public school district · #6 of 24 Maryland districts by enrollment

Compare with peers

57,565

Students

2024-25 school year

Schools

2024-25 school year

$16,710

Spending per student

FY2020-21 · about the same as the Maryland median

13.5

Students per teacher

2024-25 · Maryland median 13.8

Howard County Public Schools is a public school district based in Ellicott City, Maryland, serving 57,565 students in 78 schools. By enrollment it ranks #6 of the 24 Maryland districts with 1,000 or more students, larger than about 78% of them. Its schools average 738 students each, more than the Maryland median of 594. It spends about $16,710 per student on day-to-day operations, about the state median. It has roughly 13.5 students per teacher.

How Howard County compares

Howard CountyMaryland median, districts with 1,000+ students

Spending per student$16,710

Maryland median $16,152 · about the same · FY2020-21

Instruction spending per student$11,715

Maryland median $10,187 · 15% above · FY2020-21

Students per school738

Maryland median 594 · 24% above · 2024-25

Students per teacher13.5

Maryland median 13.8 · about the same · 2024-25

Students per counselor318

Maryland median 308 · about the same · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$1.16 billion in revenue · FY2020-21

Federal 4%State 33%Local 64%

Measure	Howard County	Maryland median	Year
Current spending per student	$16,710	$16,152	FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student	$11,715	$10,187	FY2020-21
Total spending	$1.08 billion	n/a	FY2020-21
Total revenue	$1.16 billion	n/a	FY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)	4,274	n/a	2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)	8,805	n/a	2024-25
Students per teacher	13.5	13.8	2024-25
Students per counselor	318	308	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 Maryland median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

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Peer districts in Maryland

Compare side by side →

District	Students	Schools	Spending per student	Students per teacher	Rank
Anne Arundel County Public SchoolsAnnapolis	85,029	128	$15,429	13.8	#4
Baltimore City Public SchoolsBaltimore	76,807	151	$17,434	14.4	#5
Howard County Public SchoolsEllicott City · this district	57,565	78	$16,710	13.5	#6
Frederick County Public SchoolsFrederick	48,054	69	$14,576	15.7	#7
Harford County Public SchoolsBel Air	37,771	55	$14,545	14.2	#8

Similar-size districts nationally

District	Students	Spending per student	Students per teacher
Granite DistrictSalt Lake City, UT	59,106	$9,989	22.5
Jordan DistrictWest Jordan, UT	58,788	$8,592	21.7
North East ISDSan Antonio, TX	56,420	$9,987	14.2
Aldine ISDHouston, TX	56,419	$11,814	14.4

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-md-howard-county-public-schools