A new U.S. Census Bureau report that was released on May 1 ranked New Jersey as fourth in the nation in terms of per-student public school spending. New Jersey has one of the best education systems in the country, which makes this number less surprising.
The report, which takes data from the 2023 fiscal year, showed that New Jersey spent around $26,280 on each student. The national average is $16,014. New York ($30,012), Washington D.C. ($31,629) and Vermont ($26,395) were the only areas to rank higher than New Jersey on this list.
The most significant chunk of the money came from covering educator’s salaries and providing the resources needed for students. This accounted for over half of the approximate $26,280.
Local revenue sources were the largest contributors to this funding. Employee benefit costs ranked second in the nation, coming out to roughly $5,539 per student. This is more than double the average and second only to New York.
New Jersey is widely regarded as one of the best states when it comes to education, so it doesn’t come as a surprise to many that they have allocated a hefty sum of money to maintain that image. The state’s funding has seemed to pay off, seeing as how high they tend to rank in all aspects of education.