How are public schools in the US funded?

This information comes from USAFacts which is funded by Steve Balmer. However, when you look at their data do so with a critical eye. They lump information together that needs to be parsed to be useful. Today we explore the US in general and then finish up on Washington State. It’s also important to note that their data is for 2021/2022 which means it’s 3 years old and the numbers have only gotten bigger. Now for your reading pleasure…

In the 2021–2022 school year, the most recent year of available data, about 44.1% of public school funding came from state sources like income and retail taxes, and another 42.2% came from local sources like property taxes. The federal government provided the remaining 13.7%, often through programs like Title I or IDEA that are aimed at supporting specific student needs. Altogether, public schools received $909.2 billion in funding, or $18,500 per student.

National averages paint an overall picture of school funding but mask large differences across states. Each state sets its own approach to funding public education and distributing those funds, so per-student funding can vary widely—from around $11,500 in Idaho to $34,000 in New York.

States also differ in the percentage of funding coming from state versus local sources. In Vermont, 86.4% of school funding came from state sources; in New Hampshire, local sources accounted for 61.7% of total funding. In other states like Mississippi, where there are fewer local revenues, federal dollars made up a larger portion — about 23.2% of total funding.

This chart is interactive on their page so please visit to choose each state you are interested in:

Washingt0n State was spending $20,200 per student per year in 2021/2022. That number is larger in 2025 but no definitive data.

As the US Dept of Education winds down there should be fewer federal funds

This website claims to have 2025 data: https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics  They show WA State at $20,700 per student