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Denver County · Colorado

Denver, CO public schools

Enrollment, school count, staffing and per-pupil spending for School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C — federal education data, not a star rating.

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

Quick answer

School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C is the primary public district for Denver, CO. It enrolls 87,883 students in 203 schools with 5,947 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $17,893 per pupil, 3% above the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.

Students enrolled
87,883NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
Schools in the district
203Operating school count
Students per teacher
14.8Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
Spending per pupil
$17,893Total current expenditure, FY2020

Who pays for schools in Denver

Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.

Local revenue
72.7%
$1,175,170,000
State revenue
15.2%
$245,229,000
Federal revenue
12.1%
$195,030,000

Local revenue is mostly property tax, which is why the Denver property tax rate and school funding move together. Of every dollar spent, about 36 cents reaches instruction — teacher salaries, benefits and classroom materials — with the rest covering transport, buildings, food service and administration.

Reading the Denver numbers

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

Spending of $17,893 per pupil sits close to the $17,320 metro median — within 3 percent of it, so budget is not what sets this district apart. Only 36 cents of each dollar ($6,472 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: 72.7% of revenue comes from local sources — overwhelmingly property tax — against 15.2% from the state. That makes the district's budget move with Denver property values and levy votes rather than with the CO legislature. Federal aid contributes 12.1%, near the typical share for a large urban district.

87,883 students across 203 schools averages 433 students per building, and the district is larger than the typical district covered here (44,998 students). The 14.8:1 student-to-teacher ratio is ordinary for this set of districts (median 15.2:1). It counts all FTE teachers district-wide, so actual class sizes run higher.

What this data covers

Read this before comparing districts.

School District No. 1 in the county of Denver and State of C is a county-scale district, so its catchment reaches well past the Denver 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 Denver datasets on this site.

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

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

NCES LEAID 0803360. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.