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District profile / North Carolina

Wake County Schools

Cary, North Carolina · Superintendent: Dr Robert P Taylor · #1 of 112 North Carolina districts by enrollment

Compare with peers
163,325
Students
2024-25 school year
198
Schools
2024-25 school year
$9,899
Spending per student
FY2020-21 · 11% below the North Carolina median
15.3
Students per teacher
2024-25 · North Carolina median 15.7

Wake County Schools is a public school district based in Cary, North Carolina, serving 163,325 students in 198 schools. By enrollment it ranks #1 of the 112 North Carolina districts with 1,000 or more students, making it the largest in the state. Its schools average 825 students each, more than the North Carolina median of 446. Its superintendent is Dr Robert P Taylor. It spends about $9,899 per student on day-to-day operations, 11% less than the North Carolina median. It has roughly 15.3 students per teacher. We've matched 14 news stories to the district.

How Wake County compares

Wake CountyNorth Carolina median, districts with 1,000+ students
Spending per student$9,899
North Carolina median $11,153 · 11% below · FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student$6,701
North Carolina median $6,920 · about the same · FY2020-21
Students per school825
North Carolina median 446 · 85% above · 2024-25
Students per teacher15.3
North Carolina median 15.7 · about the same · 2024-25
Students per counselor332
North Carolina median 358 · 7% below · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$1.71 billion in revenue · FY2020-21
Federal 7%State 61%Local 32%
MeasureWake CountyNorth Carolina medianYear
Current spending per student$9,899$11,153FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student$6,701$6,920FY2020-21
Total spending$1.90 billionn/aFY2020-21
Total revenue$1.71 billionn/aFY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)10,648n/a2024-25
Students per teacher15.315.72024-25
Students per counselor3323582024-25

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 North Carolina median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

Leadership

Moves tracker →

Dr Robert P Taylor

Superintendent, Wake County Schools

Source: NC Department of Public Instruction, EDDIE, checked 2026-11-09. Report a change

In the news

14 stories matched

Peer districts in North Carolina

Compare side by side →
DistrictStudentsSchoolsSpending per studentStudents per teacherRank
Wake County SchoolsCary · this district163,325198$9,89915.3#1
Charlotte-Mecklenburg SchoolsCharlotte147,299186$10,53416.5#2
Guilford County SchoolsGreensboro67,620120$11,25415.1#3
Winston Salem / Forsyth County SchoolsWinston Salem52,43081$10,62614.2#4
Cumberland County SchoolsFayetteville49,00286$10,28616.8#5

Similar-size districts nationally

DistrictStudentsSpending per studentStudents per teacher
Fairfax County Public SchoolsFalls Church, VA179,323$16,97613.3
Houston ISDHouston, TX176,727$10,44616.1
Hawaii Department of EducationHonolulu, HI167,071$16,55013.7
Montgomery County Public SchoolsRockville, MD159,181$17,75313.8

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-nc-wake-county-schools