Per Pupil Spending by State
District of Columbia has the highest Annual K-12 Per-Pupil Spending in 2025 ($31,629), followed by New York ($30,012) and Vermont ($28,818). Idaho has the lowest ($11,056).
Annual K-12 Per-Pupil Spending, 2025
Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.
All 51 ranked
Highest first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Over time · 2023–2025
The top 5 in 2025, against the median.
- Median of all states
- District of Columbia
- New York
- Vermont
- New Jersey
- Connecticut
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  District of Columbia | $31,629 | 2.25% |
| 2 |  New York | $30,012 | 4.73% |
| 3 |  Vermont | $28,818 | 5.34% |
| 4 |  New Jersey | $26,280 | 4.83% |
| 5 |  Connecticut | $25,801 | 3.75% |
| 6 |  Hawaii | $23,878 | 3.96% |
| 7 |  New Hampshire | $22,978 | 3.09% |
| 8 |  Massachusetts | $22,947 | 3.4% |
| 9 |  Delaware | $22,201 | 3.85% |
| 10 |  Rhode Island | $22,110 | 3.74% |
| 11 |  Pennsylvania | $21,091 | 3.88% |
| 12 |  Wyoming | $20,521 | 3.68% |
| 13 |  Alaska | $20,340 | 5% |
| 14 |  Illinois | $20,253 | 4.19% |
| 15 |  California | $20,233 | 3.21% |
| 16 |  Maryland | $20,208 | 3.63% |
| 17 |  Maine | $19,962 | 3.65% |
| 18 |  Washington | $18,564 | 3% |
| 19 |  Michigan | $18,314 | 3.53% |
| 20 |  New Mexico | $17,844 | 4.17% |
| 21 |  Ohio | $17,257 | 3.54% |
| 22 |  Oregon | $17,161 | 3.44% |
| 23 |  Virginia | $17,104 | 3.17% |
| 24 |  North Dakota | $17,102 | 3.59% |
| 25 |  Minnesota | $17,098 | 3.25% |
| 26 |  Nebraska | $16,147 | 3.65% |
| 27 |  Colorado | $15,897 | 2.73% |
| 28 |  Georgia | $15,833 | 3.84% |
| 29 |  Wisconsin | $15,790 | 3.25% |
| 30 |  South Carolina | $15,060 | 3.36% |
| 31 |  Kansas | $14,847 | 3.87% |
| 32 |  Louisiana | $14,645 | 3.47% |
| 33 |  Kentucky | $14,596 | 3.62% |
| 34 |  West Virginia | $14,575 | 3.93% |
| 35 |  Iowa | $14,369 | 3.47% |
| 36 |  Missouri | $14,241 | 3.11% |
| 37 |  Arkansas | $13,873 | 3.49% |
| 38 |  Montana | $13,656 | 2.69% |
| 39 |  Indiana | $13,622 | 3.05% |
| 40 |  Alabama | $13,598 | 3.48% |
| 41 |  North Carolina | $12,995 | 2.51% |
| 42 |  South Dakota | $12,828 | 2.63% |
| 43 |  Florida | $12,689 | 2.16% |
| 44 |  Texas | $12,444 | 2.93% |
| 45 |  Tennessee | $12,197 | 2.71% |
| 46 |  Oklahoma | $12,162 | 3.03% |
| 47 |  Mississippi | $12,093 | 3.62% |
| 48 |  Arizona | $12,003 | 2.19% |
| 49 |  Nevada | $11,673 | 2.32% |
| 50 |  Utah | $11,342 | 2.96% |
| 51 |  Idaho | $11,056 | 2.55% |
What correlates with Annual K-12 Per-Pupil Spending (2025)?
Pearson r against 2,089 other state metrics sharing at least 31 states. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Annual K-12 Per-Pupil Spending tend to score higher on these (or rank better)
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Annual K-12 Per-Pupil Spending tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)
- Plot
- Plot
- Plot
- Presidential Margin (Republican minus Democratic, Points)Presidential Election Results by State, 2016–2024Plotr = −0.73 · very strong · n = 51
- Republican Vote Share (President, %)Presidential Election Results by State, 2016–2024Plotr = −0.73 · very strong · n = 51
- Plot
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest Annual K-12 Per-Pupil Spending?
- District of Columbia has the highest Annual K-12 Per-Pupil Spending in 2025, at $31,629, followed by New York ($30,012) and Vermont ($28,818).
- Which state has the lowest Annual K-12 Per-Pupil Spending?
- Idaho has the lowest Annual K-12 Per-Pupil Spending in 2025, at $11,056.
- What is the median Annual K-12 Per-Pupil Spending across US states?
- The median is $16,147 across the 51 US states with data in 2025.
- Where does this per pupil spending by state data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics - Education Data Initiative; Staff, teachers, and teachers as a percentage of staff in public elementary and secondary school systems, by state or jurisdiction - NCES. Last updated 2026-10-28.