Washington
2,536 Schools337 Districts1.1M Students
$50,309
Avg Per-Pupil Spend
+251% nat'l52.1%
Free Lunch Rate
≈ nat'l avg81.8%
Graduation Rate
-4.7pp vs nat'l44/100
Opportunity Score
LimitedAbout Washington Public Schools
Washington State's school funding system was overhauled following the McCleary v. State Supreme Court ruling, which found in 2012 that the state was not meeting its "paramount duty" to fund education. The legislature subsequently increased state education spending by billions of dollars over 2017-2019, replacing much of the local levy system with state funding — the most significant school finance reform in state history. Washington's 295 school districts include Seattle Public Schools, one of the most politically progressive and contentious large urban districts in the country, alongside rapidly growing suburban Eastside districts like Bellevue, Northshore, and Issaquah that serve high-income, high-expectation families. Washington uses the SBAC for grades 3-8 and the SAT for grade 11 accountability.
Largest District
Seattle School District No. 1
51K students
Highest Per-Pupil
Olympic Educational Service District 114
$4,249,400/student
Top Graduation Rate
Ephrata School District
97.5% grad rate
School Districts (337)
Per-pupil spending in Washington ranges from $10,948 to $4,249,400 across districts with available data. State avg: $50,309.
| District | Schools | Students | Per-Pupil | Grad Rate | Free Lunch | Opp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large Districts — 10,000+ Students | ||||||
| Seattle School District No. 1 | 109 | 51K | $25,927↓48% | 85.8% | 35.1%↓33% | 44 |
| Lake Washington School District | 58 | 31K | $19,952↓60% | 92.9%↑14% | 13.2%↓75% | 54 |
| Spokane School District | 67 | 29K | $24,487↓51% | 90.0%↑10% | 62.8%↑20% | 39 |
| Tacoma School District | 66 | 27K | $23,190↓54% | 87.2%↑7% | 56.5%↑8% | 42 |
| Kent School District | 44 | 25K | $19,780↓61% | 85.1% | 58.8%↑13% | 48 |
| Puyallup School District | 37 | 23K | $18,479↓63% | 87.0%↑6% | 44.6%↓14% | 50 |
| Northshore School District | 39 | 23K | $20,864↓59% | 93.0%↑14% | 17.5%↓66% | 50 |
| Evergreen School District (Clark) | 39 | 23K | $28,048↓44% | 91.2%↑12% | 57.9%↑11% | 43 |
| Vancouver School District | 41 | 22K | $22,507↓55% | 90.4%↑11% | 55.4%↑6% | 42 |
| Federal Way School District | 46 | 22K | $21,913↓56% | 83.8% | 74.0%↑42% | 47 |
| Bethel School District | 34 | 21K | $18,928↓62% | 88.2%↑8% | 55.7%↑7% | 41 |
| Edmonds School District | 39 | 20K | $21,221↓58% | 82.8% | 41.6%↓20% | 50 |
| Everett School District | 33 | 20K | $19,204↓62% | 95.5%↑17% | 42.5%↓19% | 45 |
| Issaquah School District | 30 | 20K | $22,423↓55% | 91.7%↑12% | 13.2%↓75% | 54 |
| Kennewick School District | 32 | 19K | $16,581↓67% | 83.2% | 59.1%↑13% | 45 |
| Bellevue School District | 31 | 19K | $23,753↓53% | 93.1%↑14% | 23.1%↓56% | 51 |
| Pasco School District | 29 | 19K | $17,723↓65% | 81.4% | 74.8%↑43% | 43 |
| Highline School District | 43 | 18K | $22,200↓56% | 82.1% | 69.6%↑33% | 43 |
| Auburn School District | 26 | 17K | $25,901↓49% | 84.4% | 63.6%↑22% | 40 |
| Yakima School District | 29 | 16K | $18,416↓63% | 75.5%↓8% | 83.6%↑60% | 41 |
| Renton School District | 30 | 15K | $24,195↓52% | 83.6% | 53.2% | 44 |
| Mukilteo School District | 25 | 15K | $23,427↓53% | 85.7% | 55.7%↑7% | 43 |
| North Thurston Public Schools | 24 | 15K | $19,649↓61% | 89.6%↑10% | 48.4%↓7% | 41 |
| Central Valley School District | 32 | 15K | $17,566↓65% | 83.9% | 43.8%↓16% | 50 |
| Richland School District | 22 | 14K | $18,933↓62% | 83.3% | 43.6%↓16% | 52 |
| Clover Park School District | 32 | 13K | $18,954↓62% | 77.0%↓6% | 68.4%↑31% | 43 |
| Battle Ground School District | 21 | 12K | $16,486↓67% | 82.8% | 40.8%↓22% | 47 |
| Bellingham School District | 25 | 12K | $23,302↓54% | 87.7%↑7% | 40.1%↓23% | 49 |
| Central Kitsap School District | 19 | 11K | $19,805↓61% | 87.8%↑7% | 41.0%↓21% | 45 |
| Sumner-Bonney Lake School District | 15 | 10K | $19,617↓61% | 90.5%↑11% | 32.2%↓38% | 42 |
| Mead School District | 17 | 10K | $16,899↓66% | 93.8%↑15% | 34.3%↓34% | 50 |
| Marysville School District | 23 | 10K | $20,278↓60% | 80.4% | 58.1%↑11% | 45 |
| Medium Districts — 1,000–9,999 Students | ||||||
| Lake Stevens School District | 15 | 9,687 | $18,088↓64% | 90.0%↑10% | 31.6%↓39% | 47 |
| Olympia School District | 20 | 9,633 | $20,285↓60% | 88.8%↑9% | 34.8%↓33% | 45 |
| Shoreline School District | 18 | 9,564 | $20,119↓60% | 90.5%↑11% | 31.3%↓40% | 49 |
| Snohomish School District | 17 | 9,385 | $18,590↓63% | 90.2%↑10% | 22.9%↓56% | 45 |
| South Kitsap School District | 17 | 9,196 | $19,927↓60% | 84.1% | 46.2%↓11% | 41 |
| Tahoma School District | 10 | 9,112 | $19,426↓61% | 88.0%↑8% | 18.9%↓64% | 42 |
| Peninsula School District | 18 | 8,969 | $24,585↓51% | 86.5%↑6% | 23.7%↓55% | 49 |
| Moses Lake School District | 19 | 8,310 | $22,002↓56% | 79.3% | 69.3%↑33% | 46 |
| Franklin Pierce School District | 15 | 7,425 | $21,076↓58% | 89.7%↑10% | 66.2%↑27% | 38 |
| Wenatchee School District | 19 | 7,347 | $17,969↓64% | 88.4%↑8% | 57.8%↑11% | 40 |
| Camas School District | 16 | 7,324 | $16,731↓67% | 91.7%↑12% | 17.3%↓67% | 43 |
| Snoqualmie Valley School District | 14 | 7,086 | $18,862↓63% | 94.4%↑15% | 13.4%↓74% | 54 |
| Mount Vernon School District | 14 | 6,545 | $25,085↓50% | 77.6%↓5% | 67.1%↑29% | 44 |
| Tumwater School District | 15 | 6,461 | $18,096↓64% | 91.1%↑11% | 35.7%↓31% | 44 |
| Sunnyside School District | 9 | 6,369 | $18,380↓63% | 91.0%↑11% | 80.3%↑54% | 45 |
| Longview School District | 18 | 6,311 | $17,218↓66% | 91.3%↑12% | 68.4%↑31% | 42 |
| Eastmont School District | 12 | 6,032 | $17,089↓66% | 64.6%↓21% | 65.9%↑26% | 42 |
| Omak School District | 8 | 5,834 | $19,305↓62% | 77.5%↓5% | 65.1%↑25% | 41 |
Showing 50 of 337
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.