Every child is born to a unique set of circumstances that help shape who they become. While these environmental conditions are virtually countless, a small handful of factors play an outsized role in a child’s development and likelihood for future success.
Whether or not a child succeeds academically can depend considerably on school quality. A student who falls behind in one school district may have excelled academically in another. By no means limited to the classroom, many of the strongest influences on a child’s future are in the home environment, and the resources available — or absent — there.
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics, 24/7 Wall St. developed an index of four measures to determine the best school district in every state.
Sarasota County School District, located along the Gulf Coast just south of Tampa Bay, ranks as the best district in Florida. The greater likelihood of future success for students in the district is largely a product of conditions outside of the classroom. For example, poverty can greatly reduce a child’s chance for academic success, and in the district, 11.0% of children live below the poverty line, compared to Florida’s 16.9% child poverty rate.
Additionally, school review website Niche gives the district high marks for college prep and academics. The Sarasota district also has smaller than average class sizes.
The four measures used to determine the best school district in every state were the child poverty rate, the teacher-to-student ratio, per-pupil spending, and the share of adults with a college education. All data came from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics.
| State | District | Enrollment | Annual per-pupil spending($) | Students per teacher | Adults with a 4-yr. degree or higher (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Mountain Brook City | 4,346 | 14,059 | 13 | 85.3 |
| Alaska | North Slope Borough | 2,195 | 36,416 | 13 | 16.5 |
| Arizona | Sedona-Oak Creek Joint Unified | 517 | 20,576 | 17 | 46.1 |
| Arkansas | Fayetteville | 10,334 | 11,084 | 14 | 49.4 |
| California | Palo Alto Unified | 11,992 | 23,038 | N/A | 84.7 |
| Colorado | Aspen 1 | 1,670 | 19,901 | 13 | 66.1 |
| Connecticut | Regional 12 | 683 | 35,082 | 9 | 57.7 |
| Delaware | Brandywine | 10,470 | 17,615 | 14 | 44.2 |
| Florida | Sarasota County | 43,111 | 11,595 | 15 | 35.4 |
| Georgia | Decatur City | 5,734 | 12,851 | 13 | 74.3 |
| Hawaii | Hawaii Department of Education | 181,278 | 16,132 | 15 | 33.0 |
| Idaho | Blaine County 61 | 3,467 | 15,661 | 13 | 35.4 |
| Illinois | Lisle Community Unit 202 | 1,421 | 27,166 | 12 | 50.1 |
| Indiana | West Lafayette Community | 2,411 | 11,487 | 16 | 70.1 |
| Iowa | Gilbert Community | 1,574 | 10,036 | 16 | 63.9 |
| Kansas | Blue Valley Unified 229 | 22,783 | 10,500 | 14 | 70.9 |
| Kentucky | Fort Thomas Independent | 3,129 | 11,086 | 17 | 52.5 |
| Louisiana | Cameron Parish | 1,341 | 18,521 | 11 | 12.7 |
| Maine | Falmouth | 2,126 | 16,611 | 11 | 67.0 |
| Maryland | Howard County Publics | 57,907 | 16,084 | 14 | 62.6 |
| Massachusetts | Cambridge | 7,052 | 29,962 | 10 | 79.0 |
| Michigan | Bloomfield Hills | 5,470 | 18,614 | 14 | 72.5 |
| Minnesota | Edina Public | 8,510 | 12,813 | 19 | 73.2 |
| Mississippi | Madison County | 13,302 | 9,653 | 14 | 54.9 |
| Missouri | Clayton | 2,644 | 19,050 | 11 | 77.5 |
| Montana | Frenchtown K-12s | 1,325 | 9,929 | 14 | 33.3 |
| Nebraska | Elkhorn Publics | 9,857 | 9,672 | 16 | 59.3 |
| Nevada | Pershing County | 658 | 18,427 | 9 | 11.1 |
| New Hampshire | Oyster River Cooperative | 2,193 | 19,051 | 12 | 65.4 |
| New Jersey | Mountain Lakes Borough | 1,404 | 29,737 | 9 | 85.8 |
| New Mexico | Los Alamos Publics | 3,749 | 11,249 | 15 | 67.4 |
| New York | Byram Hills Central | 2,319 | 35,160 | 10 | 81.0 |
| North Carolina | Chapel Hill-Carrboros | 12,422 | 13,044 | 14 | 73.8 |
| North Dakota | Fargo Public 1 | 11,514 | 14,327 | 13 | 40.5 |
| Ohio | Orange City | 2,047 | 24,437 | 14 | 74.2 |
| Oklahoma | Deer Creek Publics | 6,646 | 9,048 | 18 | 58.9 |
| Oregon | Riverdale 51J | 637 | 15,330 | 17 | 82.7 |
| Pennsylvania | Lower Merion | 8,648 | 25,591 | 12 | 78.6 |
| Rhode Island | Narragansett | 1,290 | 21,254 | 14 | 56.7 |
| South Carolina | York 4 | 16,081 | 9,576 | 15 | 49.7 |
| South Dakota | Harrisburg 41-2 | 4,841 | 9,448 | 14 | 40.9 |
| Tennessee | Williamson County | 40,475 | 9,354 | 17 | 62.0 |
| Texas | Eanes Independent | 8,132 | 10,251 | 13 | 81.8 |
| Utah | Park City | 4,939 | 14,110 | 18 | 65.8 |
| Vermont | Hartford | 1,522 | 23,359 | 9 | 48.0 |
| Virginia | Falls Church City Publics | 2,620 | 19,222 | 15 | 77.6 |
| Washington | Mercer Island | 4,522 | 14,986 | 18 | 78.2 |
| West Virginia | Monongalia | 11,679 | 12,034 | 15 | 42.8 |
| Wisconsin | Gibraltar Area | 531 | 21,292 | 10 | 50.6 |
| Wyoming | Teton County 1 | 2,881 | 18,496 | 12 | 57.0 |
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