Posted:
June 6, 2012
By
Michael B. Sauter, Ashley
C. Allen, Lisa Nelson, Alexander E. M. Hess
The average income
of Americans differs by state, county, city and ZIP code, obviously. At each
level, the amount residents earn every year impacts available government
services, health and overall quality of life. This is
especially true when education is examined by school district.
24/7 Wall St.
analyzed Census data from 2006 through 2010 for each of the more
than 10,000 unified school districts in the United States. Wealth appears to
have an outsized effect on education at the local level. Residents that live in
wealthy school districts have among the best schools in the nation based on
graduation rates, test scores and independent ratings of academic success. Children who attend these schools are more
likely to earn a college degree than the national average. To illustrate the
influence wealth and poverty have on educational attainment, 24/7 Wall St.
examined the wealthiest and poorest school districts in the country.
Nearly
all of the wealthiest school districts are within a short distance
of one of the richest cities in the country. Other than one suburb of Portland,
Ore., all of the wealthiest school districts are commuter towns of New
York City, located in either Fairfield County, Conn., or Westchester County,
N.Y. The poorest districts are rural communities scattered all over the
country, from Ohio and Kentucky to Texas and Mississippi.
Compared
to the national median income, the families in the most well-off districts are
incredibly wealthy. In the 10 richest school districts, median incomes ranged
from $175,766 to $238,000. By comparison, the national median household income
from 2006 to 2010 was $51,914. Among the 10 wealthiest districts, between 48%
and 64% earned $200,000. Nationally, only 5.4% of households earned more than
that.
Median
income in the poorest school districts was just as extreme. Annual median
incomes in those districts ranged from $16,607 to $18,980, well below $22,314,
the national poverty line for a household of four. In San Perlita Independent
School District in Texas, one of the poorest districts in the country, 30% of
residents earned less than $10,000 each year.
According
to the National Center of Education Statistics, all of the wealthiest
school districts spend far more per pupil than the national average. The
Darien, Conn., public school district spends $15,433 per student per year, more
than 50% above the U.S. average of $10,591. The Edgemont, N.Y., public school
spends more than $25,000 per student annually. Barbourville, Ky., the poorest
school district, spends less than one-third that amount.
Not surprisingly,
the richest schools are considered better than the poorest schools, based
on measures used by the media to rank academic success. All of the richest
school districts were included in the 2012U.S. News & World Report Best
High Schools list, except for Bronxville, which was ranked fourth inNewsweek’s Top 20 High Schools in the Northeast. U.S. News based its rankings on state test
scores and college readiness, while Newsweek’s
methodology included graduation rates, college acceptance and AP exams. The
poorest school districts did not fare as well. Only two were included in the U.S. Newsrankings.
To read the complete study, click here.
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