Can I use Adair County's school score to choose a house?

No. Use the Adair County school score as a first-pass county screen, then verify the exact district, attendance boundary, transfer rules, and grade pathway for any address you are considering.

Does SchoolsByCounty confirm school attendance boundaries in Adair County?

No. SchoolsByCounty publishes NCES and Census-backed public-school records. Attendance zones, magnet eligibility, charter lotteries, transportation, and transfer rules must be confirmed with local districts.

How should parents compare public schools in Adair County?

Start with the 5 listed public schools and 2 district entries, then compare similar grade bands and confirm the address-level rules locally.

Adair County Schools & Education

Name: Adair County, Iowa Education Data
Creator: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Adair County, Iowa

NCES 2022-23 public school data and FY 2022 school-finance data

School Score

58/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Midrange Signal

Graduation Rate

91.0%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

91.0%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 92.3%

Per-Pupil Spending

$7,757

National avg $13,239

State avg $7,591

School Score

58/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 61/100

State Score Position

#66

of 99 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Adair County

Measured School Summary

Adair County performs at an average level with a school score of 58/100 and a solid graduation rate of 91.0%.

Funding Context

At $7,757 per pupil, Adair County operates with limited funding, which may constrain staffing, materials, and extracurricular offerings.

Neighbor Context

Its school score is 5% below the Iowa average, and its graduation rate trails the state average by 1.3 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 2% higher than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Adair County before comparing districts

County-level education data is best used as a screening layer. It summarizes the local school environment, then points you toward the district and school records that matter for local review.

Local context that changes the interpretation

5 public schools and 2 districts are represented below. Use those school and district records to confirm whether the county-level context fits the neighborhoods you are actually considering.

Overall screen

58/100

Mixed county signal. Ranks #66 of 99 Iowa counties with school score data.

Completion

91.0%

1.3 pts below the state average

Funding context

$7,757

$166 above the state average

School coverage

2 districts represented in the county school list.

Start with measured county context

This county needs a closer look at district mix, school level, and local context. Compare the score, graduation rate, and spending together rather than treating any single metric as final.

Check the local school mix

Adair County has 5 public schools across 2 districts, so school-level fit can vary inside the county.

Verify local rules

Use this page as county-level context, then confirm attendance zones, transportation, special programs, and current school boundaries with local districts.

View Public Schools Compare Counties

Parent decision brief

What Adair County school data means before you move

County averages are useful for screening, but parents choose addresses, grade pathways, and district rules. This brief turns the public data into the checks that matter before you sign a lease or mortgage.

Small-system county

Adair County has a compact public-school footprint. A single school change, boundary rule, or district update can move the lived experience more than the county score suggests.

State position

#66

of 99 Iowa counties with school score data. The county score is 3 points below the state average.

Data confidence

Usable

3 of 5 county signals are present, and 100% of listed schools report enrollment. Compare schools, then verify missing fields locally.

K-12 continuity check

These are the largest visible district slices in the county data. They show whether elementary, middle, and high school records appear together or whether a family needs to investigate transition points.

Nodaway Valley Comm School District

Elementary to high school visible

621 students

Elementary 1Middle 1High 1Other 0

3 listed schools in this county slice.

Orient-Macksburg Comm School District

Elementary and high visible

150 students

Elementary 1Middle 0High 1Other 0

2 listed schools in this county slice.

District reality check

Nodaway Valley Comm School District is the largest listed district slice, with 3 schools. County pages do not prove address assignment, so verify boundaries with local district tools.

What the data cannot tell you

NCES records do not confirm current attendance zones, private-school options, transfer approvals, program capacity, transportation, or whether a listed school is available to a specific address.

Questions to ask before choosing an address

Which district actually serves the addresses we are considering in Adair County?

Do the neighborhoods we like fall inside the same district, or are we comparing different Adair County district systems?

What changes at the elementary-to-middle and middle-to-high transitions in the district pathway we would likely use?

If we need a program not visible in the NCES flags, which district office can confirm current offerings?

Are the largest listed schools the ones our address can actually attend, or are they only county-level context?

Data Story

Rural School Settings and Small Enrollments Define Adair County Districts

Education data brief for Adair County, Iowa.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorPublished Jul 7, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

Lead metric:District structure

Adair County’s education system is distinguished by its exclusively rural school structure. All five public schools in the county are classified as rural by the NCES, with a total county enrollment of 771 students. This results in an average school size of 154 students, notably smaller than many urban counterparts. The largest district, Nodaway Valley Community School District, serves 621 students across three schools, including Nodaway Valley Elementary with 296 students. Financially, the county allocates $7,757 per pupil, which is slightly above the Iowa state average of $7,591 but significantly lower than the national average of approximately $13,000. The graduation rate of 91.0% is higher than the national 87% benchmark but remains below the state average of 92.3%. The composite school score of 58.0 sits above the national median of 50.0 but trails the state norm of 61.3. Review the NCES Common Core of Data for detailed school-level records.

Sources

NCES Common Core of Data
U.S. Census Bureau ACS

School Overview

Total Schools

in Adair County

Reported Enrollment

771

5 schools reporting

School Districts

districts

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary2

Middle1

High2

Other0

2 School Districts in Adair County

Nodaway Valley Comm School District

3 schools

621 students

Orient-Macksburg Comm School District

2 schools

150 students

5 Public Schools in Adair County

Sorted by reported enrollment. Every NCES public school remains listed here; no school-level profile pages are included in the current generated coverage for this county.

NCES 2022-23 public school data and FY 2022 school-finance data

Search schools

Level

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Showing 5 of 5 matching schools

Public schools in Adair County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
Nodaway Valley Elementary School	Record	Nodaway Valley Comm School District	Greenfield, 50849Rural: Remote	PK–5	Primary	296
Nodaway Valley High School	Record	Nodaway Valley Comm School District	Greenfield, 50849Rural: Remote	9–12	High	193
Nodaway Valley Middle School	Record	Nodaway Valley Comm School District	Fontanelle, 50846Rural: Remote	6–8	Middle	132
Orient Elementary School	Record	Orient-Macksburg Comm School District	Orient, 50858Rural: Distant	PK–6	Primary	84
Orient-Macksburg Senior High School	Record	Orient-Macksburg Comm School District	Orient, 50858Rural: Distant	7–12	High	66

Nodaway Valley Elementary School

Nodaway Valley Comm School District

Greenfield, 50849 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–5Primary296 students

Nodaway Valley High School

Nodaway Valley Comm School District

Greenfield, 50849 / Rural: Remote

Record9–12High193 students

Nodaway Valley Middle School

Nodaway Valley Comm School District

Fontanelle, 50846 / Rural: Remote

Record6–8Middle132 students

Orient Elementary School

Orient-Macksburg Comm School District

Orient, 50858 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–6Primary84 students

Orient-Macksburg Senior High School

Orient-Macksburg Comm School District

Orient, 50858 / Rural: Distant

Record7–12High66 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$7,757

State avg $7,591

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Adair County against other counties using the same NCES-backed metrics.

Open Compare

Browse Public Schools

See school-level enrollment, grade ranges, school type, and district affiliation.

View Schools

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Iowa counties have the highest graduation rates?

Dallas County (97.3%), Clay County (97.0%), and Davis County (97.0%) currently lead Iowa among counties with available NCES four-year adjusted cohort graduation-rate data. This answer is generated from the same dataset used in the county table and can change when federal data refreshes.

What is per-pupil spending like in Iowa?

Across Iowa counties with available NCES district-finance data, average per-pupil spending is $7,591. The highest current county values are Kossuth County ($8,712), Cerro Gordo County ($8,682), and Franklin County ($8,627). Compare counties in the table before treating the statewide average as representative of a local district.

How should I read the school score in Adair County?

Adair County has a school score of 58/100, which is a midrange measured signal in this county-level index. This score is calculated from available NCES graduation-rate and school-finance data, with school-level records shown separately below.

What is the graduation rate in Adair County?

The high school graduation rate in Adair County is 91.0%, which is above the national average of 87.5%. This figure is based on NCES district-level data for public high schools in the county.

How much does Adair County spend per student?

Adair County spends $7,757 per pupil annually on public education, based on NCES district finance data. Current operating spending per fall enrollment, including instruction, support services, administration, transportation, and operations. It excludes capital outlays and debt service in the SchoolsByCounty methodology.

Counties with Similar School Profile

Henry County

Iowa

+0 pts

58/100

School score

Black Hawk County

Iowa

-1 pts

57/100

School score

Mahaska County

Iowa

-1 pts

57/100

School score

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Jul 7, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

Data Sources

Education data sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data and School District Finance Survey. School scores are derived composite metrics based on available NCES graduation-rate and school-finance signals.

Data is informational only. Coverage varies by county and reporting year. Not for use as the sole basis for educational decisions.

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