Digest of Education Statistics
2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 203.75. Enrollment and percentage distribution of enrollment in public schools, by family poverty rate of 5- to 17-year-olds living in the school district, student race/ethnicity, region, and school locale: 2017-18
Student race/ethnicity, region,
and school locale
Enrollment Percentage distribution of enrollment
Total Family poverty rate1 of 5- to 17-year-
olds2 living in the school district
Total Family poverty rate1 of 5- to 17-year-
olds2 living in the school district
0 to 9.455
percent
9.456 to
15.905
percent
15.906 to
22.407
percent
22.408
percent or
more
0 to 9.455
percent
9.456 to
15.905
percent
15.906 to
22.407
percent
22.408
percent or
more
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Total 50,250,033 12,541,168 12,495,250 12,261,881 12,951,734 100.0 25.0 24.9 24.4 25.8
White 23,842,957 8,308,497 6,769,184 5,274,884 3,490,392 100.0 34.8 28.4 22.1 14.6
Black 7,696,585 743,434 1,426,103 1,961,593 3,565,455 100.0 9.7 18.5 25.5 46.3
Hispanic 13,433,268 1,777,796 2,892,572 3,929,772 4,833,128 100.0 13.2 21.5 29.3 36.0
Asian 2,618,712 1,076,623 657,219 417,166 467,704 100.0 41.1 25.1 15.9 17.9
Pacific Islander 183,283 27,241 95,423 37,317 23,302 100.0 14.9 52.1 20.4 12.7
American Indian/Alaska Native 491,330 55,052 107,326 121,080 207,872 100.0 11.2 21.8 24.6 42.3
Two or more races 1,937,255 552,450 546,693 474,335 363,777 100.0 28.5 28.2 24.5 18.8
Race unknown 46,643 75 730 45,734 104 100.0 0.2 1.6 98.1 0.2

Region
                   
Northeast 7,934,060 3,071,124 1,633,086 991,919 2,237,931 100.0 38.7 20.6 12.5 28.2
White 4,261,036 2,277,224 1,059,895 491,391 432,526 100.0 53.4 24.9 11.5 10.2
Black 1,115,187 146,220 182,918 153,321 632,728 100.0 13.1 16.4 13.7 56.7
Hispanic 1,712,472 287,551 269,439 281,191 874,291 100.0 16.8 15.7 16.4 51.1
Asian 569,733 261,113 59,489 31,755 217,376 100.0 45.8 10.4 5.6 38.2
Pacific Islander 13,475 3,666 2,216 987 6,606 100.0 27.2 16.4 7.3 49.0
American Indian/Alaska Native 30,207 5,190 5,104 3,209 16,704 100.0 17.2 16.9 10.6 55.3
Two or more races 231,841 90,087 54,000 30,060 57,694 100.0 38.9 23.3 13.0 24.9
Race unknown 109 73 25 5 6 100.0 67.0 22.9 4.6 5.5

    Midwest
8,516,808 3,040,910 2,400,703 1,695,761 1,379,434 100.0 35.7 28.2 19.9 16.2
White 5,861,251 2,424,897 1,815,107 1,076,618 544,629 100.0 41.4 31.0 18.4 9.3
Black 1,107,651 156,816 167,456 246,011 537,368 100.0 14.2 15.1 22.2 48.5
Hispanic 814,280 190,689 229,981 228,998 164,612 100.0 23.4 28.2 28.1 20.2
Asian 269,988 133,106 61,126 36,289 39,467 100.0 49.3 22.6 13.4 14.6
Pacific Islander 10,579 2,882 3,262 2,755 1,680 100.0 27.2 30.8 26.0 15.9
American Indian/Alaska Native 76,084 12,821 20,907 19,539 22,817 100.0 16.9 27.5 25.7 30.0
Two or more races 375,867 119,699 102,329 84,978 68,861 100.0 31.8 27.2 22.6 18.3
Race unknown 1,108 0 535 573 0 100.0 0.0 48.3 51.7 0.0

    South
19,823,783 2,586,724 4,700,640 6,159,458 6,376,961 100.0 13.0 23.7 31.1 32.2
White 8,438,073 1,390,201 2,333,488 2,690,149 2,024,235 100.0 16.5 27.7 31.9 24.0
Black 4,554,700 324,350 889,059 1,311,550 2,029,741 100.0 7.1 19.5 28.8 44.6
Hispanic 5,248,709 495,355 1,028,863 1,732,465 1,992,026 100.0 9.4 19.6 33.0 38.0
Asian 688,762 235,906 212,844 147,468 92,544 100.0 34.3 30.9 21.4 13.4
Pacific Islander 31,673 3,907 7,625 13,218 6,923 100.0 12.3 24.1 41.7 21.9
American Indian/Alaska Native 173,754 13,793 36,344 49,625 73,992 100.0 7.9 20.9 28.6 42.6
Two or more races 688,001 123,212 192,416 214,971 157,402 100.0 17.9 28.0 31.2 22.9
Race unknown 111 0 1 12 98 100.0 0.0 0.9 10.8 88.3

    West
13,975,382 3,842,410 3,760,821 3,414,743 2,957,408 100.0 27.5 26.9 24.4 21.2
White 5,282,597 2,216,175 1,560,694 1,016,726 489,002 100.0 42.0 29.5 19.2 9.3
Black 919,047 116,048 186,670 250,711 365,618 100.0 12.6 20.3 27.3 39.8
Hispanic 5,657,807 804,201 1,364,289 1,687,118 1,802,199 100.0 14.2 24.1 29.8 31.9
Asian 1,090,229 446,498 323,760 201,654 118,317 100.0 41.0 29.7 18.5 10.9
Pacific Islander 127,556 16,786 82,320 20,357 8,093 100.0 13.2 64.5 16.0 6.3
American Indian/Alaska Native 211,285 23,248 44,971 48,707 94,359 100.0 11.0 21.3 23.1 44.7
Two or more races 641,546 219,452 197,948 144,326 79,820 100.0 34.2 30.9 22.5 12.4
Race unknown 45,315 2 169 45,144 0 100.0 # 0.4 99.6 0.0

School locale
                   
City 15,925,912 1,777,744 2,589,539 4,375,049 7,183,580 100.0 11.2 16.3 27.5 45.1
White 4,637,207 901,110 1,144,964 1,425,591 1,165,542 100.0 19.4 24.7 30.7 25.1
Black 3,540,268 124,678 261,029 894,276 2,260,285 100.0 3.5 7.4 25.3 63.8
Hispanic 5,858,525 355,300 809,826 1,569,627 3,123,772 100.0 6.1 13.8 26.8 53.3
Asian 1,053,594 274,788 194,354 196,255 388,197 100.0 26.1 18.4 18.6 36.8
Pacific Islander 61,152 5,490 18,595 21,074 15,993 100.0 9.0 30.4 34.5 26.2
American Indian/Alaska Native 112,360 11,335 24,035 36,903 40,087 100.0 10.1 21.4 32.8 35.7
Two or more races 631,959 105,034 136,734 200,584 189,607 100.0 16.6 21.6 31.7 30.0
Race unknown 30,847 9 2 30,739 97 100.0 # # 99.6 0.3

    Suburban
21,483,887 8,623,754 6,338,434 4,443,742 2,077,957 100.0 40.1 29.5 20.7 9.7
White 10,418,436 5,642,790 2,890,889 1,414,566 470,191 100.0 54.2 27.7 13.6 4.5
Black 2,995,727 562,433 999,255 854,898 579,141 100.0 18.8 33.4 28.5 19.3
Hispanic 5,553,818 1,230,642 1,634,579 1,784,515 904,082 100.0 22.2 29.4 32.1 16.3
Asian 1,420,673 758,511 423,856 187,632 50,674 100.0 53.4 29.8 13.2 3.6
Pacific Islander 104,967 19,152 71,963 10,741 3,111 100.0 18.2 68.6 10.2 3.0
American Indian/Alaska Native 92,057 29,076 31,583 23,337 8,061 100.0 31.6 34.3 25.4 8.8
Two or more races 883,704 381,089 286,284 153,635 62,696 100.0 43.1 32.4 17.4 7.1
Race unknown 14,505 61 25 14,418 1 100.0 0.4 0.2 99.4 #

    Town
5,487,936 702,496 1,540,260 1,552,055 1,693,125 100.0 12.8 28.1 28.3 30.9
White 3,494,835 574,280 1,156,507 1,044,263 719,785 100.0 16.4 33.1 29.9 20.6
Black 484,328 15,320 41,543 83,354 344,111 100.0 3.2 8.6 17.2 71.0
Hispanic 1,120,420 69,888 240,571 317,850 492,111 100.0 6.2 21.5 28.4 43.9
Asian 64,490 12,537 19,202 16,783 15,968 100.0 19.4 29.8 26.0 24.8
Pacific Islander 9,838 1,177 2,657 3,758 2,246 100.0 12.0 27.0 38.2 22.8
American Indian/Alaska Native 122,496 6,651 24,146 28,135 63,564 100.0 5.4 19.7 23.0 51.9
Two or more races 191,525 22,642 55,634 57,909 55,340 100.0 11.8 29.0 30.2 28.9
Race unknown 4 1 0 3 0 100.0 25.0 0.0 75.0 0.0

    Rural
7,653,484 1,508,564 2,193,245 1,952,066 1,999,609 100.0 19.7 28.7 25.5 26.1
White 5,519,664 1,248,320 1,703,272 1,431,351 1,136,721 100.0 22.6 30.9 25.9 20.6
Black 679,507 41,859 126,095 129,623 381,930 100.0 6.2 18.6 19.1 56.2
Hispanic 955,051 130,200 237,195 274,205 313,451 100.0 13.6 24.8 28.7 32.8
Asian 83,675 32,009 21,730 17,061 12,875 100.0 38.3 26.0 20.4 15.4
Pacific Islander 8,288 1,666 2,723 1,942 1,957 100.0 20.1 32.9 23.4 23.6
American Indian/Alaska Native 167,862 8,401 29,051 33,989 96,421 100.0 5.0 17.3 20.2 57.4
Two or more races 238,150 46,105 72,476 63,321 56,248 100.0 19.4 30.4 26.6 23.6
Race unknown 1,287 4 703 574 6 100.0 0.3 54.6 44.6 0.5
#Rounds to zero.
1 A family is in poverty if its income falls below the Census Bureau's poverty threshold, which is a dollar amount that varies depending on a family's size and composition and is updated annually to account for inflation. In 2018, for example, the poverty threshold for a family of four with two children was $25,465. The family poverty rate of 5- to 17-year-olds is the percentage of children in this age group whose families are in poverty. Includes only children classified as "related" and "relevant" (see footnote 2). For additional information about poverty status, see https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/poverty-measures.html.
2 Includes only those children who live in households and meet both of the following conditions: (1) The children are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption (except a child who is the spouse of the householder). The householder is the person (or one of the people) who owns or rents (maintains) the housing unit. (2) The children are relevant to the school district. Children are relevant if they reside within the geographical boundaries of the district and are at a grade level served by the district, even if they do not attend a school in the district.
NOTE: School enrollment data were obtained from the Common Core of Data and poverty rate data were obtained from the Census Bureau. To create the school district categories, public school districts were ranked and divided into quarters based on the family poverty rate of their 5- to 17-year-old population; the cut points between the four quarters were chosen so that, at the national level, each quarter contains approximately the same number of students. For the approximately 3 percent of public school students who attended charter or other special districts, no data were available on their school district's family poverty rate. The rate for their district was imputed to be the same as the rate for the county containing the zip code listed for their superintendent's location. This table excludes 7,494 enrolled children whose poverty status could not be determined. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Local Education Agency Universe Survey," 2017–18; and Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE), "Public School File," 2017-18. U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) Program, 2018 Poverty Estimates for School Districts. (This table was prepared December 2019.)

2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest