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Characteristics of Public School Districts in the United States:
NCES 2009-320
June 2009


Table 10.    Among districts with more than one school, percentage of public school districts that had salary schedules for principals and average lowest and highest yearly base salaries paid to all full-time principals, by selected public school district characteristics: 2007–08
 
Selected public school
 district characteristic
Percent with salary
schedules for principals
Average lowest and highest yearly base salaries of full-time principals
      Base salary of the lowest paid   Base salary of the highest paid  
                 
All districts with more than one school    50.9     $73,300   $88,600  
                 
District size                 
2-3 schools    32.3     70,100   79,200  
4-5 schools    41.7     73,100   87,300  
6-9 schools    65.7     77,600   96,500  
10-19 schools    82.4     75,800   98,300  
20 or more schools    90.8     75,300   105,800  
                 
Community type                 
City    87.8     79,800   104,200  
Suburban    60.8     88,600   109,800  
Town    53.3     68,800   83,700  
Rural    38.2     66,000   76,600  
                 
District K-12 enrollment                 
Less than 250    24.5     64,600   68,000  
250-999    28.7     65,700   73,800  
1,000-1,999    42.8     72,500   86,500  
2,000-4,999    63.4     79,400   97,400  
5,000-9,999    77.3     79,900   104,200  
10,000 or more    91.4     78,200   108,300  
                 
Percent of K-12 students in
  district who were approved for
  free or reduced-price lunches
               
0-34    46.1     79,300   96,300  
35-49    48.7     69,500   84,000  
50-74    58.8     66,000   79,700  
75 or more    58.5     66,300   79,900  
District did not participate
  in free or reduced-price
  lunch program 
  50.9     99,100   108,500  
NOTE: Districts with only one school, including single traditional public schools and public charter schools that operate independently of a regular school district, were not asked aboutprincipal salary schedules, specific agreements with principal unions, principal hiring, number of contract days for principals, principal tenure, or training programs for aspiring schooladministrators. Estimates in this table are based on 68 percent of all districts.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School District Data File," 2007–08.