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San Francisco County · California

San Francisco, CA public schools

Enrollment, school count, staffing and per-pupil spending for San Francisco Unified — federal education data, not a star rating.

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

Quick answer

San Francisco Unified is the primary public district for San Francisco, CA. It enrolls 48,785 students in 113 schools with 2,316 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $22,418 per pupil, 29% above the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.

Students enrolled
48,785NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
Schools in the district
113Operating school count
Students per teacher
21.1Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
Spending per pupil
$22,418Total current expenditure, FY2020

Who pays for schools in San Francisco

Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.

Local revenue
56%
$687,382,000
State revenue
36.3%
$445,621,000
Federal revenue
7.8%
$95,252,000

Local revenue is mostly property tax, which is why the San Francisco property tax rate and school funding move together. Of every dollar spent, about 43 cents reaches instruction — teacher salaries, benefits and classroom materials — with the rest covering transport, buildings, food service and administration.

Reading the San Francisco numbers

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

At $22,418 per pupil the district spends 29% more than the $17,320 metro median, outspending 82% of the districts covered. Only 44 cents of each dollar ($9,748 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.

Funding is split roughly evenly — 56% local, 36.3% state — so both the local tax base and the CA aid formula matter to what this district can spend. Federal aid is a small 7.8% of the total, so national funding changes have limited effect on this budget.

48,785 students across 113 schools averages 432 students per building, and the district is larger than the typical district covered here (44,998 students). Staffing is thin relative to peers: 21.1 students per FTE teacher against a 15.2 median, 5.9 students more per teacher.

What this data covers

Read this before comparing districts.

San Francisco Unified is a county-scale district, so its catchment reaches well past the San Francisco city limits and these figures describe that wider area. 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 San Francisco datasets on this site.

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

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

NCES LEAID 0634410. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.