Shelby County · Tennessee
Memphis, TN public schools
Enrollment, school count, staffing and per-pupil spending for Memphis-Shelby County Schools — federal education data, not a star rating.
Quick answer
Memphis-Shelby County Schools is the primary public district for Memphis, TN. It enrolls 109,797 students in 222 schools with 6,885 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $12,482 per pupil, 28% below the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.
- Students enrolled
- 109,797NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
- Schools in the district
- 222Operating school count
- Students per teacher
- 15.9Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
- Spending per pupil
- $12,482Total current expenditure, FY2020
Who pays for schools in Memphis
Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.
- Local revenue
- 38.3%
- $531,013,000
- State revenue
- 42.4%
- $587,084,000
- Federal revenue
- 19.3%
- $267,885,000
Local revenue is mostly property tax, which is why the Memphis property tax rate and school funding move together. Of every dollar spent, about 51 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 Memphis-Shelby County Schools (LEAID 4700148) 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 Memphis data on this site.
NCES LEAID 4700148. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.