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Allegheny County · Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, PA public schools

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

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

Quick answer

Pittsburgh SD is the primary public district for Pittsburgh, PA. It enrolls 20,034 students in 56 schools with 1,806 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $33,512 per pupil, 93% above the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.

Students enrolled
20,034NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
Schools in the district
56Operating school count
Students per teacher
11.1Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
Spending per pupil
$33,512Total current expenditure, FY2020

Who pays for schools in Pittsburgh

Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.

Local revenue
49.1%
$342,734,000
State revenue
41.5%
$289,249,000
Federal revenue
9.4%
$65,422,000

Local revenue is mostly property tax, which is why the Pittsburgh property tax rate and school funding move together. Of every dollar spent, about 39 cents reaches instruction — teacher salaries, benefits and classroom materials — with the rest covering transport, buildings, food service and administration.

Reading the Pittsburgh numbers

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

$33,512 per pupil puts this district in the top spending tier of the metros tracked here — 93% above the $17,320 median and higher than 96% of them. Only 39 cents of each dollar ($12,909 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 — 49.1% local, 41.5% state — so both the local tax base and the PA aid formula matter to what this district can spend. Federal aid contributes 9.4%, near the typical share for a large urban district.

20,034 students across 56 schools averages 358 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: 11.1 students per FTE teacher versus the 15.2 median, 4.1 fewer students per teacher.

What this data covers

Read this before comparing districts.

Figures cover Pittsburgh SD (LEAID 4219170) as one unit, not any single school in Pittsburgh. 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 Pittsburgh datasets on this site.

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

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

NCES LEAID 4219170. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.