Hamilton County · Tennessee
Chattanooga, TN public schools
Enrollment, school count, staffing and per-pupil spending for Hamilton County — federal education data, not a star rating.
Quick answer
Hamilton County is the primary public district for Chattanooga, TN. It enrolls 45,902 students in 81 schools with 3,041 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $11,709 per pupil, 32% below the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.
- Students enrolled
- 45,902NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
- Schools in the district
- 81Operating school count
- Students per teacher
- 15.1Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
- Spending per pupil
- $11,709Total current expenditure, FY2020
Who pays for schools in Chattanooga
Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.
- Local revenue
- 51.1%
- $272,405,000
- State revenue
- 35.4%
- $188,337,000
- Federal revenue
- 13.5%
- $71,914,000
Local revenue is mostly property tax, which is why the Chattanooga property tax rate and school funding move together. Of every dollar spent, about 57 cents reaches instruction — teacher salaries, benefits and classroom materials — with the rest covering transport, buildings, food service and administration.
What this data covers
Read this before comparing districts.
Figures describe Hamilton County (LEAID 4701590) as a whole, not any individual school. Charter schools authorised outside the district, private schools and regional vocational schools are not included. Where a city is served by a county-wide district, the county district is used and its catchment is wider than the city limits. Enrollment is from the 2021-22 NCES collection; money is from the FY2020 Census school finance survey, which is the most recent complete national release — the two years do not line up exactly, so per-pupil spending is a stable indicator rather than a current budget line.
Keep going
Other Chattanooga data on this site.
NCES LEAID 4701590. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.