How much does the us spend on education? Key statistics.

Evidence snapshot:

• The United States spends an average of $16,009 per public school student.
• The United States spent $792.7 billion on public K–12 education.
• Federal sources account for 15.2% of all public K–12 education funding in the United States.
• Texas spent $63.5 billion on public K–12 education.
• California spent $102.0 billion on public K–12 education.
• New York spent $76.4 billion on public K–12 education.

The United States spends over $792 billion annually on public K–12 education. It’s more than any other country in absolute terms. But it trails behind 40+ nations in how much it invests per student relative to national income. Incredibly, New York spends over $30,000 per student, while Arizona and Utah spend less than a third of that. This data-driven breakdown reveals sharp funding inequalities and raises urgent questions for policymakers. For educators, journalists, and researchers, the practical insights in this article can help identify where the system overreaches, where it underdelivers, and what must change to close the gap between spending and impact.

How much does the US spend on education

• Public schools in the United States spend an average of $16,009 per student.
• The United States spent $792.7 billion on public K–12 education in 2023.
• In 2023, 15.2% of all public K–12 education funding in the United States came from federal sources.

How much money do schools get per student per day?

• Public schools in the United States spend about $88.94 per student for each instructional day.

What was the total amount spent on education?

• The United States spent $792.7 billion on public K–12 education in 2023.

But national totals only tell part of the story. How that money is distributed across states reveals even deeper disparities.

Education spending by state

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Table with education spending by state

• California’s public education spending of $102.0 billion in 2023 exceeds the combined total of the 12 lowest-spending states.
• New York spends $76.4 billion on K–12 education: more than Texas and Florida combined, despite having far fewer students.
• Despite its small size, New Jersey spends nearly $37.0 billion on education, outpacing much larger states like North Carolina and Georgia.

To understand what that means for students on the ground, we need to zoom in on how much each state spends per pupil.

Per pupil spending by state

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Table with spending on education per student by state

• New York leads the nation in per-student education spending at $30,172: more than triple what Arizona and Utah invest per student.
• Vermont spends $27,978 per public school student, making it the highest-spending small state and outpacing much larger states like California and Texas.
• New Jersey’s per-student spending of $26,523 surpasses that of 45 other states, highlighting its aggressive investment in public education despite its moderate size.

Another lens worth examining is per-capita spending, which highlights how education budgets relate to the overall population size of each state.

Per capita spending on education by state

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Table with spending on education per capita by state

• New Jersey leads all states in per capita education spending at $3,937.74, outpacing even New York and California.
• Vermont ranks second in per capita education spending despite its small population, investing more per resident than 47 other states.
• Arizona spends just $1,391.68 per resident on public education: less than half the per capita investment of Illinois, Massachusetts, or Wyoming.

What state spends the most on education?

• California leads all states in total public K–12 education spending with $102.0 billion.
• New York spends the most per public school student, averaging $30,172.
• New Jersey ranks highest in per capita K–12 education spending at $3,937.

Federal funding for education by state

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Public school funding by state

• California received the most federal education funding in 2023 with $15.9 billion: more than the combined federal funding of 20 of the lowest-funded states.
• Texas ranks second in federal school funding at $13.4 billion, surpassing Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania individually.
• Despite its small size, New Jersey received $2.9 billion in federal K–12 funding: more than larger states like Arizona, Indiana, or Colorado.

State education funding rankings

• Alaska tops the nation in state education funding per pupil at $4,728, outpacing every other state by over 1,300 dollars.
• Utah ranks last in state funding per student at just $1,089, it’s less than one-fourth of what Alaska provides.
• Despite its high total and per-student spending, New York ranks only 4th in state education funding per pupil, reflecting a heavier reliance on local and federal contributions.

Education funding per capita by state

• Alaska leads all states in education funding per capita at $842.60, nearly four times higher than Utah’s $218.30, the lowest in the nation.
• Mississippi, despite ranking low in overall wealth, allocates more per capita to education than wealthier states like Massachusetts and Connecticut.
• North Dakota’s education funding per capita ranks second nationally at $515.30, beating larger states like New York, California, and Texas.

What governments provide most of the funding for education in the united states?

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• State governments contributed the largest share of public K–12 education funding in 2023, providing $422.8 billion.

United States

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Spending per student by country

Comparing U.S. spending to global benchmarks provides critical context and reveals how far even the biggest budgets can lag in relative investment:

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• The United States spends 19.86% of its GDP per capita on each student’s education: above the global average but behind countries like Cuba (49.07%) and Serbia (43.65%).
• Moldova, despite being one of Europe's poorest countries, allocates 32.5% of its GDP per capita per student. It is outpacing wealthier nations like Germany, Canada, and Japan.
• South Korea invests 27.85% of GDP per capita per student, nearly 8 points more than the United States, highlighting a deep national commitment to education.

Conclusions:

• The data reveals a core contradiction: the United States spends more than $792 billion on public K–12 education, yet ranks far behind countries like Cuba and South Korea in the share of GDP per capita invested per student. This suggests that absolute spending is not translating into proportional commitment, and likely not into outcomes either. For researchers and policymakers, the practical insight is clear: structural efficiency and targeted investment matter more than raw totals.
• New York spends over $30,000 per student: more than triple what Utah or Arizona spends, yet it does not rank at the top in educational outcomes. The uneven spending landscape across states points to a broader national challenge: funding disparities reinforce systemic inequality. A practical response for educators is to advocate for not just more funding, but smarter, more equitable funding formulas aligned with student need.
• State governments contribute the bulk of public school funding, yet federal contributions are often the most critical for high-poverty areas. This imbalance means that when state budgets tighten, vulnerable districts suffer disproportionately. The strategic takeaway for researchers is to focus on policy levers that strengthen the resilience of federal aid and ensure it targets long-term capability building rather than short-term relief.

Methodology

We calculated per-student daily spending based on the standard 180-day school year. Using the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Data, which reports an average of $16,009 spent annually per public school student, we divided that amount by 180 instructional days to reflect spending on days when schools are in session.

We calculated the share of education funding by government level using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Tables. We took total revenue figures from Table 2 (federal: $120.3B), Table 3 (state: $422.8B), and Table 4 (local: $403.4B), summed them to get total K–12 funding, and divided each source by the total to determine its percentage share.

Sources:

• Bureau, US. “2023 Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Data.” Census.Gov, 1 Jan. 2023, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2023/econ/school-finances/secondary-education-finance.html.
• “State Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020-2024.” Census.Gov, 19 Dec. 2024, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-state-total.html.
• Enrollment in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, by Level, Grade, and State or Jurisdiction: Fall 2022. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_203.40.asp. Accessed 23 May 2025.
• World Bank Data360, https://data360.worldbank.org/en/indicator/WB_WDI_SE_XPD_PRIM_PC_ZS. Accessed 23 May 2025.