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Digest of Education Statistics
2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 236.55. Total and current expenditures per pupil in public elementary and secondary schools: Selected years, 1919-20 through 2018-19
School year Expenditure per pupil in average daily attendance Expenditure per pupil in fall enrollment
Unadjusted dollars1 Constant 2020-21 dollars2 Unadjusted dollars1 Constant 2020-21 dollars2
Total expendi-
ture3
Current expendi-
ture
Total expendi-
ture3
Current expendi-
ture
Total expendi-
ture3
Current expendi-
ture
Total expendi-
ture3
Current expendi-
ture
Annual percent
change in
current
expenditure
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1919-204 $64   $53 $883   $736 $48   $40   $661   $551   ---
1929-304 108   87 1,668   1,333 90   72   1,381   1,104   ---
1931-324 97   81 1,768   1,480 82   69   1,497   1,253   ---
1933-344 76   67 1,515   1,341 65   57   1,287   1,139   ---
1935-364 88   74 1,684   1,423 74   63   1,424   1,203   ---

1937-384
100   84 1,831   1,541 86   72   1,572   1,323   ---
1939-404 106   88 1,991   1,659 92   76   1,726   1,438   ---
1941-424 110   98 1,857   1,659 94   84   1,590   1,421   ---
1943-444 125   117 1,883   1,767 105   99   1,586   1,489   ---
1945-464 146   136 2,104   1,968 124   116   1,793   1,676   ---

1947-484
205   181 2,314   2,050 179   158   2,020   1,790   ---
1949-504 260   210 2,893   2,337 231   187   2,567   2,074   ---
1951-524 314   246 3,149   2,463 275   215   2,757   2,157   ---
1953-544 351   265 3,434   2,591 312   236   3,054   2,304   ---
1955-56 387   294 3,789   2,880 354   269   3,463   2,633   ---

1957-58
447   341 4,123   3,143 408   311   3,760   2,867   ---
1959-60 471   375 4,218   3,360 440   350   3,941   3,139   ---
1961-62 517   419 4,527   3,668 485   393   4,248   3,442   ---
1963-64 559   460 4,767   3,928 520   428   4,437   3,656   ---
1965-66 654   538 5,392   4,434 607   499   5,006   4,117   ---

1967-68
786   658 6,086   5,094 732   612   5,661   4,738   ---
1969-70 955   816 6,653   5,684 879   751   6,125   5,233   ---
1970-71 1,049   911 6,952   6,036 970   842   6,427   5,580   6.6
1971-72 1,128   990 7,212   6,329 1,034   908   6,615   5,805   4.0
1972-73 1,211   1,077 7,442   6,620 1,117   993   6,864   6,106   5.2

1973-74
1,364   1,207 7,698   6,814 1,244   1,101   7,019   6,213   1.7
1974-75 1,545   1,365 7,849   6,933 1,423   1,257   7,231   6,387   2.8
1975-76 1,697   1,504 8,054   7,135 1,563   1,385   7,416   6,570   2.9
1976-77 1,816   1,638 8,143   7,342 1,674   1,509   7,504   6,766   3.0
1977-78 2,002   1,823 8,413   7,659 1,842   1,677   7,738   7,044   4.1

1978-79
2,210   2,020 8,490   7,762 2,029   1,855   7,796   7,128   1.2
1979-80 2,491   2,272 8,442   7,701 2,290   2,088   7,761   7,079   -0.7
1980-81 2,742 5 2,502 8,331 5 7,600 2,529 5 2,307   7,684 5 7,009   -1.0
1981-82 2,973 5 2,726 8,314 5 7,622 2,754 5 2,525   7,702 5 7,060   0.7
1982-83 3,203 5 2,955 8,589 5 7,923 2,966 5 2,736   7,953 5 7,337   3.9

1983-84
3,471 5 3,173 8,975 5 8,204 3,216 5 2,940   8,314 5 7,600   3.6
1984-85 3,722 5 3,470 9,260 5 8,634 3,456 5 3,222   8,598 5 8,017   5.5
1985-86 4,020 5 3,756 9,721 5 9,082 3,724 5 3,479   9,006 5 8,414   5.0
1986-87 4,308 5 3,970 10,192 5 9,393 3,995 5 3,682   9,451 5 8,710   3.5
1987-88 4,654 5 4,240 10,572 5 9,632 4,310 5 3,927   9,791 5 8,920   2.4

1988-89
5,108   4,645 11,091   10,085 4,737   4,307   10,285   9,352   4.8
1989-90 5,547   4,980 11,496   10,320 5,172   4,643   10,718   9,622   2.9
1990-91 5,882   5,258 11,558   10,332 5,484   4,902   10,776   9,632   0.1
1991-92 6,072   5,421 11,561   10,322 5,626   5,023   10,713   9,564   -0.7
1992-93 6,279   5,584 11,594   10,309 5,802   5,160   10,713   9,526   -0.4

1993-94
6,489   5,767 11,679   10,380 5,994   5,327   10,787   9,587   0.6
1994-95 6,723   5,989 11,762   10,478 6,206   5,529   10,858   9,673   0.9
1995-96 6,959   6,147 11,853   10,470 6,441   5,689   10,971   9,690   0.2
1996-97 7,297   6,393 12,084   10,587 6,761   5,923   11,197   9,809   1.2
1997-98 7,701   6,676 12,529   10,861 7,139   6,189   11,616   10,070   2.7

1998-99
8,115   7,013 12,979   11,216 7,531   6,508   12,044   10,408   3.4
1999-2000 8,589   7,394 13,351   11,493 8,030   6,912   12,482   10,745   3.2
2000-01 9,180   7,904 13,796   11,879 8,572   7,380   12,882   11,092   3.2
2001-02 9,611   8,259 14,194   12,196 8,993   7,727   13,280   11,412   2.9
2002-03 9,950   8,610 14,378   12,441 9,296   8,044   13,433   11,624   1.9

2003-04
10,308   8,900 14,576   12,585 9,625   8,310   13,611   11,752   1.1
2004-05 10,779   9,316 14,797   12,789 10,078   8,711   13,835   11,958   1.8
2005-06 11,338   9,778 14,993   12,931 10,603   9,145   14,022   12,093   1.1
2006-07 12,015   10,336 15,489   13,324 11,252   9,679   14,505   12,477   3.2
2007-08 12,759   10,982 15,860   13,651 11,965   10,298   14,872   12,801   2.6

2008-09
13,033   11,239 15,977   13,777 12,222   10,540   14,983   12,921   0.9
2009-10 13,035   11,427 15,827   13,874 12,133   10,636   14,732   12,914   -0.1
2010-11 12,926   11,433 15,385   13,609 12,054   10,663   14,348   12,691   -1.7
2011-12 12,796   11,362 14,797   13,139 11,991   10,648   13,866   12,313   -3.0
2012-13 12,859   11,509 14,626   13,091 12,033   10,771   13,687   12,251   -0.5

2013-14
13,174   11,819 14,755   13,237 12,335   11,066   13,815   12,394   1.2
2014-15 13,668   12,224 15,196   13,592 12,796   11,445   14,227   12,725   2.7
2015-16 14,171   12,619 15,650   13,936 13,299   11,842   14,687   13,079   2.8
2016-17 14,777   13,096 16,025   14,202 13,834   12,260   15,002   13,296   1.7
2017-18 15,381   13,550 16,313   14,370 14,364   12,654   15,234   13,420   0.9
2018-19 16,144   14,164 16,774   14,716 15,034 6 13,187 6 15,621 6 13,701 6 2.1
---Not available.
1 Unadjusted (or "current") dollars have not been adjusted to compensate for inflation.
2 Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis.
3 Excludes "Other current expenditures," such as community services, private school programs, adult education, and other programs not allocable to expenditures per student at public schools.
4 Enrollment data for 1919-20 to 1953-54 are based on school-year enrollment.
5 Estimated.
6 Excludes prekindergarten expenditures and prekindergarten enrollment for California.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Beginning in 1980-81, state administration expenditures are excluded from both "total" and "current" expenditures. Current expenditures include instruction, support services, food services, and enterprise operations. Total expenditures include current expenditures, capital outlay, and interest on debt. Beginning in 1988-89, extensive changes were made in the data collection procedures. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Biennial Survey of Education in the United States, 1919-20 through 1955-56; Statistics of State School Systems, 1957-58 through 1969-70; Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education, 1970-71 through 1986-87; and Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial Survey," 1987-88 through 2018-19. (This table was prepared September 2021.)

2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest