Polk County is 13th highest in state at $2,568 per student

COLUMBUS—Polk County is one of the top schools in the state for how much it spends per student. 

The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners released its 2019 Map Book recently, which gives statistics for all 100 counties, including demographic, economic, health and education. 

Polk County ranked the 13th highest in the state for expense per student. 

Polk spends $2,568 per student. Dare County was the highest at $4,319 per student, followed by Orange County at $4,082 per student. 

Transylvania County ranked 4th in the state at $3,188 per student and Buncombe County was 5th with $2,896 per student. 

Henderson County was ranked 28th in the state and spends $1,952 per student. 

Rutherford County ranked 61st highest in the state by spending $1,413 per student. 

The lowest in the state was Hoke County, which spends $574 per student, followed by Halifax County, which spends $618 per student. 

The NCACC selected the data indicators based on research at the county level, recommendations from county officials and staff and timely policy issues. The 2019 County Map Book is a publication of the NCACC’s Center for County Research. The majority of the data comes from federal, state and local sources.