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Anchorage Municipality · Alaska

Anchorage, AK public schools

Enrollment, school count, staffing and per-pupil spending for Anchorage School District — federal education data, not a star rating.

Yellow public school bus parked at dusk, illustrating local school district data

Quick answer

Anchorage School District is the primary public district for Anchorage, AK. It enrolls 43,727 students in 96 schools with 2,424 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $19,178 per pupil, 11% above the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.

Students enrolled
43,727NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
Schools in the district
96Operating school count
Students per teacher
18Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
Spending per pupil
$19,178Total current expenditure, FY2020

Who pays for schools in Anchorage

Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.

Local revenue
29.1%
$216,644,000
State revenue
59.2%
$439,730,000
Federal revenue
11.7%
$86,834,000

Local revenue is mostly property tax, which is why the Anchorage property tax rate and school funding move together. Of every dollar spent, about 52 cents reaches instruction — teacher salaries, benefits and classroom materials — with the rest covering transport, buildings, food service and administration.

Reading the Anchorage numbers

What the 2021-22 NCES and FY2020 Census finance numbers say about this district.

Spending of $19,178 per pupil sits close to the $17,320 metro median — within 11 percent of it, so budget is not what sets this district apart. Instruction takes 52 cents of each dollar — $9,912 per student — with the remainder on transport, buildings, food service and administration.

Funding is split roughly evenly — 29.1% local, 59.2% state — so both the local tax base and the AK aid formula matter to what this district can spend. Federal aid contributes 11.7%, near the typical share for a large urban district.

43,727 students across 96 schools averages 455 students per building, and the district is smaller than the typical district covered here (44,998 students). Staffing is thin relative to peers: 18 students per FTE teacher against a 15.2 median, 2.8 students more per teacher.

What this data covers

Read this before comparing districts.

Figures cover Anchorage School District (LEAID 0200180) as one unit, not any single school in Anchorage. Independently authorised charter schools, private schools and regional vocational programs are counted separately by NCES and are not in these totals. Enrollment is the 2021-22 NCES collection; dollars are the FY2020 Census F-33 survey, the latest complete national release. The two years differ, so per-pupil spending is a stable indicator rather than a live budget line.

Other Anchorage datasets on this site.

Statewide: Alaska cities · Alaska ZIP codes · Alaska sales tax · Alaska counties

Source: NCES Common Core of Data + Census F-33, via Urban Institute Education Data · rates as published for 2021-22 / FY2020

NCES LEAID 0200180. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.