The best school district in every US state in 2024

Public schools in the United States educate close to 50 million pupils at more than 97,000 schools.

However, the quality of education can often vary widely by district, the subunit that typically governs schools in towns and cities across the country. When looking at the best school districts across each state, there are some trends that become evident very quickly. Niche’s ratings often rank smaller school districts higher. In Massachusetts, the highest-ranked district, Hopkinton Public Schools, had just over 4,000 students enrolled. Meanwhile, Boston Public Schools, which educates 46,169 pupils, ranks 133rd of the more than 230 school districts in the state.

The ratings come from Niche, an organization dedicated to educational evaluation. In evaluating districts, they consider various factors, including academics, diversity, teachers, college preparation, clubs and activities, and the administration. Some states are home to districts with high marks across the board. Others, the number one district may not be the highest rank in terms of academics, but its high marks in the other categories elevate its overall grade.

What drives inequalities in US public schools?

One of the most notable drivers of inequality in the quality of public schools relates to how they are funded.

Property taxes are one of the primary funding sources for school districts, and home values can vary widely between towns. According to the US Department of Education, eighty-one percent of school funding comes from property taxes, with state and federal funding supplementing some districts’ budgets. In some states, however, the percentage of funding from property taxes hits 99 percent in Connecticut and 97 percent in Rhode Island.

With the value of homes varying between towns, the budgets for school districts are riddled with inequality. A blog published by scholars at the American University School of Education explains that wealthy areas “end up with well-funded schools” and districts made up of a predominantly white student population “receive 23 billion more than districts that are predominantly students of color.” Class and race-based inequalities have real consequences for students who live in underfunded school districts. The Opportunity Atlas, developed collaboratively by the US Census Bureau and Harvard University, shows just how detrimental being born in a low-income area can be on a person’s overall prospects. “In nearly every place in the country, children whose parents were low-income tended to have poorer-than-average outcomes as adults,” reported Local Initiatives Support Corporation, an organization that has used the data to conduct its own analysis.