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Franklin County · Ohio

Columbus, OH public schools

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

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

Quick answer

Columbus City Schools District is the primary public district for Columbus, OH. It enrolls 45,338 students in 118 schools with 3,050 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $20,819 per pupil, 20% above the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.

Students enrolled
45,338NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
Schools in the district
118Operating school count
Students per teacher
14.9Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
Spending per pupil
$20,819Total current expenditure, FY2020

Who pays for schools in Columbus

Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.

Local revenue
61.8%
$622,639,000
State revenue
26.8%
$269,908,000
Federal revenue
11.4%
$115,041,000

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

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

At $20,819 per pupil the district spends 20% more than the $17,320 metro median, outspending 71% of the districts covered. Only 43 cents of each dollar ($9,036 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: 61.8% of revenue comes from local sources — overwhelmingly property tax — against 26.8% from the state. That makes the district's budget move with Columbus property values and levy votes rather than with the OH legislature. Federal aid contributes 11.4%, near the typical share for a large urban district.

45,338 students across 118 schools averages 384 students per building, and the district is larger than the typical district covered here (44,998 students). That is a small-building district; neighbourhood elementary schools dominate the count. The 14.9:1 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 Columbus City Schools District (LEAID 3904380) as one unit, not any single school in Columbus. 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 Columbus 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 3904380. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.