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District profile / Washington

Seattle Public Schools

Seattle, Washington · Public school district · #1 of 150 Washington districts by enrollment

Compare with peers
50,773
Students
2024-25 school year
108
Schools
2024-25 school year
$17,985
Spending per student
FY2020-21 · 21% above the Washington median
16.5
Students per teacher
2024-25 · Washington median 18.3

Seattle Public Schools is a public school district based in Seattle, Washington, serving 50,773 students in 108 schools. By enrollment it ranks #1 of the 150 Washington districts with 1,000 or more students, making it the largest in the state. Its schools average 470 students each, about the same as the Washington median of 435. It spends about $17,985 per student on day-to-day operations, 21% more than the Washington median. It has roughly 16.5 students per teacher. We've matched 42 news stories to the district.

How Seattle compares

SeattleWashington median, districts with 1,000+ students
Spending per student$17,985
Washington median $14,904 · 21% above · FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student$10,950
Washington median $8,883 · 23% above · FY2020-21
Students per school470
Washington median 435 · 8% above · 2024-25
Students per teacher16.5
Washington median 18.3 · 10% below · 2024-25
Students per counselor442
Washington median 368 · 20% above · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$1.30 billion in revenue · FY2020-21
Federal 9%State 51%Local 41%
MeasureSeattleWashington medianYear
Current spending per student$17,985$14,904FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student$10,950$8,883FY2020-21
Total spending$1.11 billionn/aFY2020-21
Total revenue$1.30 billionn/aFY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)3,073n/a2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)6,359n/a2024-25
Students per teacher16.518.32024-25
Students per counselor4423682024-25

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.

In the news

42 stories matched

Peer districts in Washington

Compare side by side →
DistrictStudentsSchoolsSpending per studentStudents per teacherRank
Seattle Public SchoolsSeattle · this district50,773108$17,98516.5#1
Lake Washington School DistrictRedmond30,98657$14,78217.9#2
Spokane School DistrictSpokane28,85368$15,57914.8#3
Tacoma School DistrictTacoma28,84767$15,92218.8#4
Kent School DistrictKent25,35846$15,84718.0#5

Similar-size districts nationally

DistrictStudentsSpending per studentStudents per teacher
Clayton CountyJonesboro, GA51,055$11,02714.8
Garland ISDGarland, TX51,021$10,54615.0
Henrico County Public SchoolsHenrico, VA50,915$11,07114.9
Charleston 01Charleston, SC50,856$14,26713.0

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-seattle-public-schools