Mahadev Maitri Foundation
US Initiatives

New York

4,791 Schools1,089 Districts2.5M Students
$32,019
Avg Per-Pupil Spend
+123% nat'l
58.7%
Free Lunch Rate
+6.5pp vs nat'l
87.8%
Graduation Rate
+1.3pp vs nat'l
45/100
Opportunity Score
Limited
⇄ Compare New York with another state
About New York Public Schools

New York City's Department of Education is the largest school district in the country, serving over one million students across 1,800+ schools — larger than most states' entire systems. New York State operates one of the most complex education funding formulas (Foundation Aid) in the nation, and a 2021 settlement to the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit committed the state to delivering billions in additional Foundation Aid to high-need districts. New York's Regents Exam system — one of the oldest standardized testing regimes in the country — requires students to pass subject-specific exams for high school graduation. The state has a large and diverse charter sector, particularly in New York City, where Success Academy and other networks have demonstrated high academic performance. New York's per-pupil spending is consistently among the top three nationally.

State Snapshot
State BoardNew York State Board of Regents
AssessmentNYSTP / Regents Exams (high school)
Compulsory Ages6–16
School CalendarSchool year begins after Labor Day; NYC follows a distinct calendar
Total Enrollment2,502,948
Public Schools4,791
Largest District
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #31
57K students
Highest Per-Pupil
GREENBURGH-GRAHAM UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT
$310,844/student
Top Graduation Rate
SYOSSET CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
99.5% grad rate
School Districts (1,000)
Per-pupil spending in New York ranges from $8,599 to $310,844 across districts with available data. State avg: $32,019.
DistrictSchoolsStudentsPer-PupilGrad RateFree LunchOpp.
Large Districts — 10,000+ Students
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #317257K—84.4%62.6%↑7%54
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 211854K—85.0%54.8%↓7%46
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #245649K—86.4%79.1%↑35%57
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #204544K—78.8%↓10%78.9%↑34%51
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #108442K—82.6%↓6%85.2%↑45%41
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #276338K—80.7%↓8%78.2%↑33%51
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #285035K—87.6%69.9%↑19%55
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #305035K—83.6%71.5%↑22%42
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #254633K—80.0%↓9%73.3%↑25%54
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #214033K—80.2%↓9%76.7%↑31%53
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #116230K—77.9%↓11%83.5%↑42%40
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #224030K—87.5%72.5%↑24%43
BUFFALO CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT6030K$34,113↑7%80.1%↓9%81.5%↑39%39
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #263429K—90.4%61.3%56
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #154827K—79.8%↓9%57.7%44
NYC SPECIAL SCHOOLS - DISTRICT 755926K——87.3%↑49%43
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 96925K—77.6%↓12%94.6%↑61%37
YONKERS CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT4024K$30,139↓6%87.0%75.7%↑29%51
ROCHESTER CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT4622K$37,907↑18%67.2%↓23%79.5%↑36%35
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 85122K—66.6%↓24%86.2%↑47%41
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #294622K—80.5%↓8%75.6%↑29%39
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #134019K—91.0%62.1%↑6%44
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 34419K—86.7%50.9%↓13%76
SYRACUSE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT3118K$29,229↓9%63.0%↓28%83.8%↑43%39
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #195218K—79.7%↓9%90.5%↑54%34
BRENTWOOD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT1718K$26,171↓18%74.0%↓16%83.5%↑42%48
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #174917K—83.1%↓5%83.7%↑43%37
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 64617K—79.0%↓10%84.7%↑44%44
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #124616K—69.3%↓21%93.8%↑60%41
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #143815K—85.3%73.2%↑25%43
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 74014K—74.5%↓15%94.2%↑61%37
SACHEM CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT1512K$28,669↓10%94.0%↑7%27.6%↓53%54
NEWBURGH CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT1211K$29,612↓8%82.0%↓7%55.1%↓6%45
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 42911K—92.6%↑5%83.3%↑42%76
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #183310K—72.9%↓17%81.8%↑39%29
WAPPINGERS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT1510K$26,104↓18%92.4%↑5%24.7%↓58%54
GREECE CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT1710K$26,976↓16%92.9%↑6%57.1%43
Medium Districts — 1,000–9,999 Students
NEW ROCHELLE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT109,906$32,38881.0%↓8%55.2%↓6%48
EAST RAMAPO CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT (SPRING VALLEY)149,815$35,525↑11%63.7%↓27%78.1%↑33%56
WILLIAMSVILLE CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT139,624$22,316↓30%94.1%↑7%21.3%↓64%—
MIDDLE COUNTRY CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT149,404$29,941↓6%93.0%↑6%35.5%↓40%45
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 1269,394—86.6%64.8%↑10%45
SHENENDEHOWA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT129,389$20,216↓37%93.0%↑6%19.0%↓68%60
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #32279,304—81.8%↓7%87.1%↑48%43
UTICA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT139,075$22,561↓30%75.0%↓15%78.2%↑33%50
WILLIAM FLOYD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT98,963$30,143↓6%86.0%56.0%—
SCHENECTADY CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT158,879$27,153↓15%63.0%↓28%65.1%↑11%35
LONGWOOD CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT78,725$29,649↓7%85.0%47.0%↓20%43
NEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 5288,024—82.0%↓7%82.7%↑41%34
WEBSTER CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT118,006$27,463↓14%96.7%↑10%27.4%↓53%—
Showing 50 of 1,000
Frequently Asked Questions
Data sourced from NCES Common Core of Data, EDFacts, and Opportunity Atlas. Figures reflect the most recent available federal dataset (2021-22 / 2022-23). Learn more about our data sources.