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Hinds County · Mississippi

Jackson, MS public schools

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

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

Quick answer

Jackson Public School District is the primary public district for Jackson, MS. It enrolls 18,710 students in 54 schools with 1,470 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $13,326 per pupil, 23% below the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.

Students enrolled
18,710NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
Schools in the district
54Operating school count
Students per teacher
12.7Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
Spending per pupil
$13,326Total current expenditure, FY2020

Who pays for schools in Jackson

Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.

Local revenue
37.9%
$100,303,000
State revenue
41.7%
$110,488,000
Federal revenue
20.4%
$53,956,000

Local revenue is mostly property tax, which is why the Jackson property tax rate and school funding move together. Of every dollar spent, about 48 cents reaches instruction — teacher salaries, benefits and classroom materials — with the rest covering transport, buildings, food service and administration.

Reading the Jackson numbers

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

$13,326 per pupil is 23% below the $17,320 metro median; only 21% of tracked districts spend less. Only 48 cents of each dollar ($6,396 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 — 37.9% local, 41.7% state — so both the local tax base and the MS aid formula matter to what this district can spend. Federal dollars are an outsized 20.4% of revenue, a share that tracks concentrated student poverty (Title I) and special-education enrollment.

18,710 students across 54 schools averages 346 students per building, and the district is smaller than the typical district covered here (44,998 students). That is a small-building district; neighbourhood elementary schools dominate the count. Staffing is generous: 12.7 students per FTE teacher versus the 15.2 median, 2.5 fewer students per teacher.

Worth flagging: a federal share this large means the district is exposed to grant cycles. Title I and pandemic-era relief awards can move the per-pupil figure between survey years without any change in local taxation.

What this data covers

Read this before comparing districts.

Figures cover Jackson Public School District (LEAID 2802190) as one unit, not any single school in Jackson. 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 Jackson datasets on this site.

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

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

NCES LEAID 2802190. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.