Table 3.2. Expenditures per public elementary and secondary student, by type, locale, and district poverty level: 2003

Status of Education in Rural America

NCES 2007-040
June 2007

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Table 3.2.

Expenditures per public elementary and secondary student, by type, locale, and district poverty level: 2003–04

Locale and district poverty level ¹	Expenditures per student in fall enrollment
	Total expenditures	Current expenditures
	Unadjusted dollars	Unadjusted dollars	Adjusted for geographic cost differences ²
Total	$9,754	$8,134	$8,134
City	10,075	8,453	8,149
Low	10,115	8,048	7,758
Middle low	9,341	7,670	7,394
Middle	9,025	7,442	7,174
Middle high	9,470	8,023	7,734
High	11,006	9,347	9,011
Suburban	10,099	8,321	7,877
Low	11,173	9,143	8,655
Middle low	9,690	8,031	7,602
Middle	9,221	7,451	7,053
Middle high	9,428	7,943	7,519
High	9,622	8,286	7,843
Town	8,813	7,436	8,377
Low	9,737	7,868	8,863
Middle low	9,246	7,668	8,638
Middle	8,965	7,417	8,355
Middle high	8,376	7,249	8,166
High	8,324	7,263	8,182
Rural	9,133	7,680	8,432
Low	10,339	8,322	9,136
Middle low	9,342	7,748	8,506
Middle	8,805	7,497	8,231
Middle high	8,532	7,343	8,062
High	8,839	7,631	8,378
Fringe	9,030	7,510	8,245
Low	10,687	8,488	9,319
Middle low	8,977	7,423	8,149
Middle	8,344	7,116	7,812
Middle high	7,976	6,907	7,583
High	8,431	7,232	7,940
Distant	8,932	7,543	8,281
Low	9,634	7,942	8,719
Middle low	9,517	7,825	8,591
Middle	8,763	7,463	8,193
Middle high	8,475	7,217	7,923
High	8,474	7,453	8,182
Remote	9,821	8,397	9,219
Low	10,175	8,543	9,379
Middle low	10,102	8,608	9,450
Middle	9,966	8,454	9,281
Middle high	9,578	8,317	9,131
High	9,683	8,244	9,051
¹ District poverty was determined by ranking school districts by the percentage of enrolled children ages 5–17 from families with an income below the poverty threshold, and then dividing these districts into five categories with equal proportions of the total enrollment. The low-poverty district category consists of 20 percent of students in districts with the lowest percentages of poor school-age children. Conversely, the high-poverty district category consists of the 20 percent of students in districts with the highest percentages of poor school-age children. Once determined, each school district's poverty status remained unchanged when the data were examined by locale. For a comparison of poverty definitions, see appendix B. ² NCES's Comparable Wage Index (CWI) was used to adjust for geographic cost differences. The same geographic adjustment factor was used for the overall rural locale and the detailed rural locales. For more details on the CWI, see A Comparable Wage Approach to Geographic Cost Adjustment (NCES 2006-321). NOTE: Current expenditures include instruction, student support services, food services, and enterprise operations. Total expenditures include current expenditures, capital outlay, and interest on debt. Rural areas are located outside any urbanized area or urban cluster. Urbanized areas are densely settled areas containing at least 50,000 people. Urban clusters are densely settled areas with a population of 2,500 to 49,999. Fringe rural areas are 5 miles or less from an urbanized area or 2.5 miles or less from an urban cluster. Distant rural areas are more than 5 miles but less than or equal to 25 miles from an urbanized area, or more than 2.5 miles but less than or equal to 10 miles from an urban cluster. Remote rural areas are more than 25 miles from an urbanized area and more than 10 miles from an urban cluster. For more details on Census-defined areas, see http://www.census.gov/geo/www/ua/ua_2k.html. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial Survey," 2003–04.