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Cass County · North Dakota

Fargo, ND public schools

Enrollment, school count, staffing and per-pupil spending for Fargo 1 — federal education data, not a star rating.

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

Quick answer

Fargo 1 is the primary public district for Fargo, ND. It enrolls 11,431 students in 25 schools with 943 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $19,183 per pupil, 11% above the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.

Students enrolled
11,431NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
Schools in the district
25Operating school count
Students per teacher
12.1Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
Spending per pupil
$19,183Total current expenditure, FY2020

Who pays for schools in Fargo

Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.

Local revenue
36.3%
$74,866,000
State revenue
51.1%
$105,273,000
Federal revenue
12.6%
$25,961,000

Local revenue is mostly property tax, which is why the Fargo 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 Fargo numbers

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

Spending of $19,183 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 — $9,924 per student — with the remainder on transport, buildings, food service and administration.

Funding is split roughly evenly — 36.3% local, 51.1% state — so both the local tax base and the ND aid formula matter to what this district can spend. Federal aid contributes 12.6%, near the typical share for a large urban district.

11,431 students across 25 schools averages 457 students per building, and the district is smaller than the typical district covered here (44,998 students). Staffing is generous: 12.1 students per FTE teacher versus the 15.2 median, 3.1 fewer students per teacher.

What this data covers

Read this before comparing districts.

Figures cover Fargo 1 (LEAID 3806780) as one unit, not any single school in Fargo. 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 Fargo datasets on this site.

Statewide: North Dakota cities · North Dakota ZIP codes · North Dakota sales tax · North Dakota counties

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

NCES LEAID 3806780. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.