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Hamilton County · Ohio

Cincinnati, OH public schools

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

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

Quick answer

Cincinnati Public Schools is the primary public district for Cincinnati, OH. It enrolls 35,585 students in 65 schools with 2,131 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $20,765 per pupil, 20% above the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.

Students enrolled
35,585NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
Schools in the district
65Operating school count
Students per teacher
16.7Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
Spending per pupil
$20,765Total current expenditure, FY2020

Who pays for schools in Cincinnati

Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.

Local revenue
57.5%
$406,973,000
State revenue
30.4%
$215,139,000
Federal revenue
12.2%
$86,190,000

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

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

At $20,765 per pupil the district spends 20% more than the $17,320 metro median, outspending 70% of the districts covered. Only 43 cents of each dollar ($8,881 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 — 57.5% local, 30.4% state — so both the local tax base and the OH aid formula matter to what this district can spend. Federal aid contributes 12.2%, near the typical share for a large urban district.

35,585 students across 65 schools averages 547 students per building, and the district is smaller than the typical district covered here (44,998 students). The 16.7:1 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.

Figures cover Cincinnati Public Schools (LEAID 3904375) as one unit, not any single school in Cincinnati. Students in independent charters, private schools or regional vocational programs are not part of this enrollment count. Counts are from 2021-22 and money from FY2020 — different collection cycles, so do not compute a current cost per student from them directly.

Other Cincinnati datasets on this site.

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

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

NCES LEAID 3904375. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.