2016 K-12 Spending Data

Robert Fellner

The U.S. Census Bureau has released new K-12 per-pupil spending data for the 2016 fiscal year, allowing for an update on our previous post which looked at state spending and education performance across the 50 states.

Our friends at the Empire Center produced an interactive chart displaying the new data here, which shows the year over year increase in each state’s per-pupil spending:

2016 Rank State 2015 2016 % Change
1 New York $21,206 $22,366 5%
2 District of Columbia $19,396 $19,159 -1%
3 Connecticut $18,377 $18,958 3%
4 New Jersey $18,235 $18,402 1%
5 Vermont $18,039 $17,873 -1%
6 Alaska $20,172 $17,510 -13%
7 Wyoming $16,055 $16,442 2%
8 Massachusetts $15,592 $15,593 0%
9 Rhode Island $15,179 $15,532 2%
10 Pennsylvania $14,717 $15,418 5%
11 New Hampshire $14,697 $15,340 4%
12 Delaware $14,120 $14,713 4%
13 Maryland $14,192 $14,206 0%
14 Illinois $13,755 $14,180 3%
15 Hawaii $12,855 $13,748 7%
16 North Dakota $13,320 $13,373 0%
17 Maine $13,257 $13,278 0%
18 Minnesota $11,949 $12,382 4%
19 Nebraska $11,946 $12,299 3%
20 Ohio $11,637 $12,102 4%
United States $11,392 $11,762 3%
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Robert Fellner

Robert Fellner

Policy Director

Robert Fellner joined the Nevada Policy in December 2013 and currently serves as Policy Director. Robert has written extensively on the issue of transparency in government. He has also developed and directed Nevada Policy’s public-interest litigation strategy, which led to two landmark victories before the Nevada Supreme Court. The first resulted in a decision that expanded the public’s right to access government records, while the second led to expanded taxpayer standing for constitutional challenges in Nevada.

An expert on government compensation and its impact on taxes, Robert has authored multiple studies on public pay and pensions. He has been published in Business Insider, Forbes.com, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, RealClearPolicy.com, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, ZeroHedge.com and elsewhere.

Robert has lived in Las Vegas since 2005 when he moved to Nevada to become a professional poker player. Robert has had a remarkably successfully poker career including two top 10 World Series of Poker finishes and being ranked #1 in the world at 10/20 Pot-Limit Omaha cash games.

Additionally, his economic analysis on the minimum wage won first place in a 2011 George Mason University essay contest. He also independently organized a successful grassroots media and fundraising effort for a 2012 presidential candidate, before joining the campaign in an official capacity.