Mahadev Maitri Foundation
US Initiatives

Minnesota

2,611 Schools553 Districts864K Students
$26,183
Avg Per-Pupil Spend
+82% nat'l
50.7%
Free Lunch Rate
-1.5pp vs nat'l
81.2%
Graduation Rate
-5.3pp vs nat'l
52/100
Opportunity Score
Moderate
⇄ Compare Minnesota with another state
About Minnesota Public Schools

Minnesota ranks near the top nationally in overall academic performance but has one of the worst racial achievement gaps in the country — a paradox that reflects a highly educated white population alongside communities of color, particularly in the Twin Cities metro, that face systemic economic disadvantage. The state's education funding formula is among the more equitable in the nation, and Minnesota was an early adopter of charter school legislation in 1991 — the first state to do so. Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools have both faced significant enrollment declines and structural deficits in the post-pandemic period. Minnesota uses the MCA (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments) for accountability and participates in NAEP. The state has made significant investments in multilingual learner support, reflecting the Twin Cities' large Somali and Hmong communities.

State Snapshot
State BoardMinnesota State Board of Education
AssessmentMCA (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments)
Compulsory Ages7–17
School CalendarSchool year typically begins after Labor Day
Total Enrollment864,130
Public Schools2,611
Largest District
Anoka-Hennepin School District
39K students
Highest Per-Pupil
REGION 4-LAKES COUNTRY SERVICE COOP
$825,234/student
Top Graduation Rate
DELANO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
98.0% grad rate
School Districts (553)
Per-pupil spending in Minnesota ranges from $10,352 to $825,234 across districts with available data. State avg: $26,183.
DistrictSchoolsStudentsPer-PupilGrad RateFree LunchOpp.
Large Districts — 10,000+ Students
Anoka-Hennepin School District5239K$16,817↓36%88.4%↑9%42.4%↓16%47
Saint Paul Public Schools9732K$24,161↓8%80.5%70.9%↑40%43
ROSEMOUNT-APPLE VALLEY-EAGAN4129K$16,310↓38%91.4%↑13%31.8%↓37%50
Minneapolis Public School District9729K$26,11275.6%↓7%57.2%↑13%40
OSSEO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT3321K$18,446↓30%86.0%↑6%48.1%↓5%47
South Washington County Schools2719K$17,728↓32%94.7%↑17%25.7%↓49%50
ROCHESTER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT4616K$22,548↓14%88.4%↑9%41.6%↓18%56
Elk River Public School District3114K$18,226↓30%93.2%↑15%24.7%↓51%—
WAYZATA PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT2012K$17,753↓32%95.5%↑18%14.9%↓71%55
Lakeville Area Schools1912K$19,712↓25%94.0%↑16%22.0%↓57%—
MOUNDS VIEW PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT2812K$16,732↓36%94.7%↑17%35.3%↓30%50
MINNETONKA PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT1311K$17,304↓34%96.0%↑18%9.8%↓81%58
ROBBINSDALE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT2811K$19,907↓24%85.7%↑6%60.9%↑20%48
BLOOMINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT2410K$19,875↓24%83.8%49.8%48
Medium Districts — 1,000–9,999 Students
North St. Paul-Maplewood Oakdale239,554$28,292↑8%83.8%63.5%↑25%52
EASTERN CARVER COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL209,320$17,464↓33%92.6%↑14%21.9%↓57%53
ST. CLOUD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT259,286$20,297↓22%76.4%↓6%69.9%↑38%52
EDEN PRAIRIE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT128,939$18,805↓28%93.0%↑14%31.8%↓37%45
PRIOR LAKE-SAVAGE AREA SCHOOLS128,741$14,067↓46%95.1%↑17%19.5%↓62%47
EDINA PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT138,572$18,685↓29%96.0%↑18%18.4%↓64%53
DULUTH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT288,554$18,265↓30%84.2%42.9%↓15%53
MANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT238,362$17,270↓34%90.1%↑11%41.8%↓18%56
Stillwater Area Public Schools168,285$17,396↓34%95.7%↑18%22.6%↓55%53
WHITE BEAR LAKE SCHOOL DISTRICT248,070$34,074↑30%93.5%↑15%32.7%↓35%62
Burnsville-Eagan-Savage Schools207,822$19,425↓26%83.7%65.1%↑28%50
SHAKOPEE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT117,778$15,909↓39%86.0%↑6%42.6%↓16%—
ROSEVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT157,356$19,924↓24%88.0%↑8%51.4%44
Moorhead Area Public Schools157,150$21,867↓16%80.6%47.4%↓7%—
HOPKINS PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT156,833$20,154↓23%89.0%↑10%42.6%↓16%57
FARMINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT96,800$15,796↓40%94.0%↑16%26.6%↓48%56
CENTENNIAL PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT186,764$15,066↓42%94.0%↑16%26.9%↓47%51
St. Michael-Albertville Schools116,670$12,698↓52%97.0%↑19%19.4%↓62%—
BRAINERD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT136,232$23,936↓9%87.3%↑7%46.0%↓9%47
SPRING LAKE PARK PUBLIC SCHOOLS126,143$14,649↓44%83.5%48.6%43
FOREST LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT145,855$17,719↓32%84.4%30.9%↓39%56
Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools115,313$15,572↓41%93.5%↑15%29.7%↓41%—
AUSTIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT145,120$17,197↓34%76.7%↓6%67.0%↑32%47
West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan125,116$20,582↓21%91.0%↑12%46.9%↓8%58
CAMBRIDGE-ISANTI PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST175,062$14,231↓46%91.9%↑13%38.7%↓24%49
OWATONNA PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT144,926$24,438↓7%85.9%↑6%48.6%54
Minnesota Transitions Charter Sch94,879$13,698↓48%67.3%↓17%61.5%↑21%44
BEMIDJI PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT154,836$15,918↓39%78.7%48.3%48
ST. LOUIS PARK PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.94,509$21,652↓17%91.0%↑12%40.1%↓21%51
SAUK RAPIDS-RICE PUBLIC SCHOOLS74,423$20,104↓23%90.0%↑11%39.4%↓22%53
St. Francis Area Schools144,312$14,524↓45%87.4%↑8%34.4%↓32%47
WILLMAR PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT124,279$16,678↓36%76.5%↓6%70.5%↑39%55
NEW PRAGUE AREA SCHOOLS94,146$14,331↓45%95.0%↑17%20.1%↓60%—
MONTICELLO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT104,142$17,741↓32%95.2%↑17%35.4%↓30%46
RICHFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT104,139$22,144↓15%79.8%62.8%↑24%51
HASTINGS PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT114,116$16,500↓37%94.3%↑16%30.0%↓41%55
Showing 50 of 553
Frequently Asked Questions
Data sourced from NCES Common Core of Data, EDFacts, and Opportunity Atlas. Figures reflect the most recent available federal dataset (2021-22 / 2022-23). Learn more about our data sources.