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District profile / Tennessee

Memphis-Shelby County Schools

Memphis, Tennessee · Public school district · #1 of 122 Tennessee districts by enrollment

Compare with peers
111,124
Students
2024-25 school year
223
Schools
2024-25 school year
$10,862
Spending per student
FY2020-21 · 8% above the Tennessee median
#1
Size rank in Tennessee
of 122 districts listed

Memphis-Shelby County Schools is a public school district based in Memphis, Tennessee, serving 111,124 students in 223 schools. By enrollment it ranks #1 of the 122 Tennessee districts with 1,000 or more students, making it the largest in the state. Its schools average 498 students each, about the same as the Tennessee median of 467. It spends about $10,862 per student on day-to-day operations, 8% more than the Tennessee median. We've matched 66 news stories to the district.

How Memphis-Shelby County compares

Memphis-Shelby CountyTennessee median, districts with 1,000+ students
Spending per student$10,862
Tennessee median $10,059 · 8% above · FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student$6,415
Tennessee median $6,268 · about the same · FY2020-21
Students per school498
Tennessee median 467 · 7% above · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$1.39 billion in revenue · FY2020-21
Federal 19%State 42%Local 38%
MeasureMemphis-Shelby CountyTennessee medianYear
Current spending per student$10,862$10,059FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student$6,415$6,268FY2020-21
Total spending$1.38 billionn/aFY2020-21
Total revenue$1.39 billionn/aFY2020-21

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 Tennessee median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

Leadership

Moves tracker →

In the news

66 stories matched

Peer districts in Tennessee

Compare side by side →
DistrictStudentsSchoolsSpending per studentStudents per teacherRank
Memphis-Shelby County SchoolsMemphis · this district111,124223$10,862n/a#1
Metro Nashville Public SchoolsNashville81,021162$13,624n/a#2
Knox CountyKnoxville60,18595$9,915n/a#3
Rutherford CountyMurfreesboro52,12755$9,674n/a#4
Hamilton CountyChattanooga45,98182$11,137n/a#5

Similar-size districts nationally

DistrictStudentsSpending per studentStudents per teacher
Cypress-Fairbanks ISDCypress, TX117,927$10,08115.4
Polk County Public SchoolsBartow, FL111,372$10,58719.3
Baltimore County Public SchoolsTowson, MD110,024$15,62415.0
Cobb CountyMarietta, GA105,738$11,90214.1

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-tn-memphis-shelby-county-schools