District profile / Washington

Bellingham School District

Bellingham, Washington · Public school district · #28 of 150 Washington districts by enrollment

Compare with peers

11,337

Students

2024-25 school year

Schools

2024-25 school year

$15,475

Spending per student

FY2020-21 · about the same as the Washington median

17.4

Students per teacher

2024-25 · Washington median 18.3

Bellingham School District is a public school district based in Bellingham, Washington, serving 11,337 students in 25 schools. By enrollment it ranks #28 of the 150 Washington districts with 1,000 or more students, larger than about 82% of them. Its schools average 453 students each, about the same as the Washington median of 435. It spends about $15,475 per student on day-to-day operations, about the state median. It has roughly 17.4 students per teacher.

How Bellingham compares

BellinghamWashington median, districts with 1,000+ students

Spending per student$15,475

Washington median $14,904 · about the same · FY2020-21

Instruction spending per student$9,696

Washington median $8,883 · 9% above · FY2020-21

Students per school453

Washington median 435 · about the same · 2024-25

Students per teacher17.4

Washington median 18.3 · about the same · 2024-25

Students per counselor324

Washington median 368 · 12% below · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$216.2 million in revenue · FY2020-21

Federal 7%State 61%Local 32%

Measure	Bellingham	Washington median	Year
Current spending per student	$15,475	$14,904	FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student	$9,696	$8,883	FY2020-21
Total spending	$255.4 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Total revenue	$216.2 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)	651	n/a	2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)	1,331	n/a	2024-25
Students per teacher	17.4	18.3	2024-25
Students per counselor	324	368	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 Washington median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

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Peer districts in Washington

Compare side by side →

District	Students	Schools	Spending per student	Students per teacher	Rank
Clover Park School DistrictLakewood	12,345	33	$16,025	15.6	#27
Bellingham School DistrictBellingham · this district	11,337	25	$15,475	17.4	#28
Central Kitsap School DistrictBremerton	11,100	19	$14,587	18.3	#29
Sumner-Bonney Lake School DistrictSumner	10,743	15	$13,617	19.1	#30
Mead School DistrictMead	10,657	17	$14,102	18.6	#31

Similar-size districts nationally

District	Students	Spending per student	Students per teacher
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City SchoolsChapel Hill, NC	11,353	$14,165	12.7
Penn-Harris-Madison School CorporationMishawaka, IN	11,329	$8,919	18.4
Minnetonka Public School DistrictMinnetonka, MN	11,323	$13,584	15.7
Palatine CCSD 15Palatine, IL	11,321	$16,859	13.5

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-wa-bellingham-school-district