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Knox County · Tennessee

Knoxville, TN public schools

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

Quick answer

Knox County is the primary public district for Knoxville, TN. It enrolls 60,609 students in 93 schools with 4,127 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $10,337 per pupil, 40% below the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.

Students enrolled
60,609NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
Schools in the district
93Operating school count
Students per teacher
14.7Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
Spending per pupil
$10,337Total current expenditure, FY2020

Who pays for schools in Knoxville

Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.

Local revenue
49.3%
$321,992,000
State revenue
38.3%
$249,869,000
Federal revenue
12.4%
$81,205,000

Local revenue is mostly property tax, which is why the Knoxville property tax rate and school funding move together. Of every dollar spent, about 58 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 Knox County (LEAID 4702220) 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.

Other Knoxville data on this site.

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

NCES LEAID 4702220. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.