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Maricopa County · Arizona

Phoenix, AZ public schools

Enrollment, school count, staffing and per-pupil spending for Phoenix Union High School District (4286) — federal education data, not a star rating.

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

Quick answer

Phoenix Union High School District (4286) is the primary public district for Phoenix, AZ. It enrolls 27,900 students in 19 schools with 1,448 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $14,791 per pupil, 15% below the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.

Students enrolled
27,900NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
Schools in the district
19Operating school count
Students per teacher
19.3Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
Spending per pupil
$14,791Total current expenditure, FY2020

Who pays for schools in Phoenix

Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.

Local revenue
64.1%
$275,234,000
State revenue
23%
$98,551,000
Federal revenue
12.9%
$55,296,000

Local revenue is mostly property tax, which is why the Phoenix property tax rate and school funding move together. Of every dollar spent, about 40 cents reaches instruction — teacher salaries, benefits and classroom materials — with the rest covering transport, buildings, food service and administration.

Reading the Phoenix numbers

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

$14,791 per pupil is 15% below the $17,320 metro median; only 32% of tracked districts spend less. Only 40 cents of each dollar ($5,969 per student) is classified as instruction, so a large share goes to support services, facilities and transport — common in districts with long bus routes or older buildings.

Money is raised locally: 64.1% of revenue comes from local sources — overwhelmingly property tax — against 23% from the state. That makes the district's budget move with Phoenix property values and levy votes rather than with the AZ legislature. Federal aid contributes 12.9%, near the typical share for a large urban district.

27,900 students across 19 schools averages 1,468 students per building, and the district is smaller than the typical district covered here (44,998 students). Buildings that size skew secondary — large comprehensive high schools pull the average up. Staffing is thin relative to peers: 19.3 students per FTE teacher against a 15.2 median, 4.1 students more per teacher.

What this data covers

Read this before comparing districts.

Figures cover Phoenix Union High School District (4286) (LEAID 0406330) as one unit, not any single school in Phoenix. 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 Phoenix datasets on this site.

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

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

NCES LEAID 0406330. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.