State rankings

Worst School Districts by State

Texas has the highest Number of School Districts in 2022 (1,022), followed by California (977) and Illinois (853). Hawaii has the lowest (1).

EducationPolitics & Government50 states · 2 metricsUpdated Dec 4, 2025Original page
3 sources
Number of School DistrictsBetter directionWhether a higher or a lower value is better. A green arrow means higher is better, a red arrow means lower is better, and no arrow means neither.More in the glossary →
Year 202250 of 51 states
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Number of School Districts, 2022

Green is better, red is worse (lower is better). Click a place to highlight it.

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All 50 ranked

Best 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.

Median
177
Middle half 103 – 325
Average
264
50 states
Lowest (best)
1
Hawaii
Highest (worst)
1,022
Texas

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

50 states · # = rank by Number of School Districts
#
1HawaiiHawaii Department of Education1
2DelawareWoodbridge School District19
3NevadaWhite Pine County School District20
4MarylandBaltimore City Public Schools24
5Rhode IslandCentral Falls School District34
6UtahUintah School District42
7WyomingNiobrara County School District 149
8AlaskaLower Yukon School District53
9West VirginiaMcDowell County School District55
10FloridaHamilton County School District69
11LouisianaMadison Parish School District72
12South CarolinaDillon School District 479
13VermontSt. Johnsbury Town School District98
14IdahoOneida County School District 351117
15North CarolinaRobeson County Schools120
16New MexicoWest Las Vegas Public Schools129
17VirginiaColonial Beach Public Schools132
18MississippiNorth Bolivar Consolidated School District137
19AlabamaEufaula City School District138
20TennesseeUnion County School District141
21New HampshireBerlin School District162
22ConnecticutWaterbury School District169
22South DakotaTodd County School District 66-1169
24KentuckyMcCreary County School District171
25OregonMarcola School District175
26ColoradoLas Animas School District RE-1178
27North DakotaWilliams County School District 8179
28GeorgiaTreutlen County School District180
29MaineSchool Administrative District 68192
30ArkansasForrest City School District233
31NebraskaLexington Public Schools244
32ArizonaGadsden School District 32261
33KansasHumboldt Unified School District 258287
34IndianaUnion School Corporation291
35MontanaBrowning H S Dist 9302
36WashingtonMary M. Knight School District306
37MassachusettsChelsea School District316
38IowaClayton Ridge Community School District328
39MinnesotaWorthington Public School District331
40WisconsinMilwaukee School District423
41PennsylvaniaGreater Johnstown School District499
42OklahomaCarnegie Public Schools512
43MissouriHayti R-II School District518
44MichiganRiver Rouge School District539
45New JerseyTrenton City School District546
46OhioClearview Local School District615
47New YorkNiagara Falls City School District686
48IllinoisPrairie Hills Elementary School District 144853
49CaliforniaMendota Unified School District977
50TexasEdgewood Independent School District1,022

What correlates with Number of School Districts (2022)?

Pearson r against 2,116 other state metrics sharing at least 30 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 Number of School Districts tend to score higher on these (or rank better)

  1. Vietnam War CasualtiesVietnam War Casualties by State
    r = +0.82 · very strong · n = 50
    Plot
  2. $5m To 10mSBA Loan List by State
    r = +0.80 · very strong · n = 50
    Plot
  3. $2m To 5mSBA Loan List by State
    r = +0.79 · very strong · n = 50
    Plot
  4. # of Active Post OfficesPost Offices by State
    r = +0.79 · very strong · n = 50
    Plot
  5. World War II CasualtiesWorld War II Casualties by State
    r = +0.78 · very strong · n = 50
    Plot
  6. $1m To 2mSBA Loan List by State
    r = +0.78 · very strong · n = 50
    Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher Number of School Districts tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)

  1. FTE Convictions RankMost Corrupt StatesA rank: rank 1 is the worst
    r = −0.59 · strong · n = 50
    Plot
  2. % VeteransVeterans Unemployment Benefits by State
    r = −0.50 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot
  3. Related Groups per Capita RankBest States to HomeschoolA rank: rank 1 is the best
    r = +0.49 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot
  4. Debt-To-Income Ratio LowDebt by State
    r = −0.46 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot
  5. Air Quality Rank (US News)Air Quality by StateA rank: rank 1 is the best
    r = +0.46 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot
  6. Debt-To-Income Ratio HighDebt by State
    r = −0.44 · moderate · n = 50
    Plot

Quick answers

Which state has the highest Number of School Districts?
Texas has the highest Number of School Districts in 2022, at 1,022, followed by California (977) and Illinois (853).
Which state has the lowest Number of School Districts?
Hawaii has the lowest Number of School Districts in 2022, at 1.
What is the median Number of School Districts across US states?
The median is 177 across the 50 US states with data in 2022.
Where does this worst school districts by state data come from?
Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Making the grade?: In these school districts, students are less likely to succeed - USA Today; The Worst School District in Each State - 24/7 Wall St.; Analysis of school district and board member characteristics, 2022 - Ballotpedia.

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