Top 30 Most Expensive School Districts in New Jersey

Total spending on each student at New Jersey schools rose by over 12% during the 2021-2022 school year, according to a state report.

For each student, New Jersey schools spent an average of $27,627.

But some school districts are spending much more per student.

The most expensive school district in the state is in Ocean County and spends over $57,000 on each student — more than double the statewide average.

The county with the greatest number of most expensive schools in the top 30 in total spending per student is Bergen.

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Total vs. budgetary spending

The total spending per pupil is separate from the budgetary spending per pupil, which is the number that individual school districts give when publishing their user-friendly budgets each spring.

Budgetary spending per pupil can be a useful way to compare school districts against each other. It only includes costs that are directly comparable between districts and does not include factors like transportation, lunches, debt for construction projects, and pension payments for teachers made by the state on behalf of the school, according to the state report.

Budgetary spending per student at New Jersey schools rose to an average of $17,656 in the 2021-2022 school year, according to state data. That's up 5.07% from the prior school year.

But overall spending per student is the metric that gives the clearest picture of which school districts are the most expensive in the state.

The 2021-2022 is the most recent school year for which average spending data is available through the latest Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending

Directly below are the top 30 school districts that spend the most overall per student.