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

No. Use the Appanoose 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 Appanoose 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 Appanoose County?

Start with the 8 listed public schools and 3 district entries, then compare similar grade bands and confirm the address-level rules locally.

Appanoose County Schools & Education

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

Appanoose County, Iowa

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

School Score

62/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Midrange Signal

Graduation Rate

94.0%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

94.0%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 92.3%

Per-Pupil Spending

$7,166

National avg $13,239

State avg $7,591

School Score

62/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 61/100

State Score Position

#54

of 99 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Appanoose County

Measured School Summary

Appanoose County performs at an average level with a school score of 62/100 and a solid graduation rate of 94.0%.

Funding Context

At $7,166 per pupil, Appanoose County operates with limited funding, which may constrain staffing, materials, and extracurricular offerings.

Neighbor Context

Its school score is 2% above the Iowa average, and its graduation rate exceeds the state average by 1.7 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 6% lower than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Appanoose 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

8 public schools and 3 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

62/100

Mixed county signal. Ranks #54 of 99 Iowa counties with school score data.

Completion

94.0%

1.7 pts above the state average

Funding context

$7,166

$425 below the state average

School coverage

3 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

Appanoose County has 8 public schools across 3 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 Appanoose 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.

Mixed school landscape

Appanoose County has enough school-level records to compare the local mix, but no single county metric should be treated as the answer. Use district shape, grade span, and data coverage together.

State position

#54

of 99 Iowa counties with school score data. The county score is 1 points above 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.

Centerville Comm School District

Elementary to high school visible

1,339 students

Elementary 1Middle 1High 1Other 1

4 listed schools in this county slice.

Moravia Comm School District

Elementary and high visible

382 students

Elementary 1Middle 0High 1Other 0

2 listed schools in this county slice.

Moulton-Udell Comm School District

Elementary and high visible

164 students

Elementary 1Middle 0High 1Other 0

2 listed schools in this county slice.

District reality check

Centerville Comm School District is the largest listed district slice, with 4 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 Appanoose County?

Do the neighborhoods we like fall inside the same district, or are we comparing different Appanoose 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

Appanoose County Education Spending Trails State and National Norms

Education data brief for Appanoose County, Iowa.

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

Lead metric:Per-pupil spending

In Appanoose County, per-pupil expenditure is $7,166, which is lower than the Iowa state average of $7,591 and approximately 45% below the national average of $13,000. Despite this lower spending level, the county reports a graduation rate of 94.0%, which is higher than the state average of 92.3% and the national average of 87.0%. The county serves 1,885 students across eight schools, with the Centerville Community School District being the largest, enrolling 1,339 students. Lakeview Elementary is the largest individual school with 575 students. The composite school score for the county is 62.3, slightly outperforming the state average of 61.3 and exceeding the national median of 50.0. The school directory indicates a mix of five rural and three town-based schools with no charter presence. Consult the NCES Common Core of Data for further school-level demographics.

Sources

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

School Overview

Total Schools

in Appanoose County

Reported Enrollment

1,885

8 schools reporting

School Districts

districts

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary3

Middle1

High3

Other1

3 School Districts in Appanoose County

Centerville Comm School District

4 schools

1,339 students

Moravia Comm School District

2 schools

382 students

Moulton-Udell Comm School District

2 schools

164 students

8 Public Schools in Appanoose 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 8 of 8 matching schools

Public schools in Appanoose County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
Lakeview Elementary	Record	Centerville Comm School District	Centerville, 52544Rural: Fringe	KG–5	Primary	575
Centerville High School	Record	Centerville Comm School District	Centerville, 52544Town: Remote	9–12	High	404
Howar Middle School	Record	Centerville Comm School District	Centerville, 52544Town: Remote	6–8	Middle	299
Moravia High School	Record	Moravia Comm School District	Moravia, 52571Rural: Distant	6–12	High	224
Moravia Elementary School	Record	Moravia Comm School District	Moravia, 52571Rural: Distant	PK–5	Primary	158
Moulton Elementary School	Record	Moulton-Udell Comm School District	Moulton, 52572Rural: Distant	PK–6	Primary	97
Moulton-Udell High School	Record	Moulton-Udell Comm School District	Moulton, 52572Rural: Distant	7–12	High	67
Centerville Community Preschool Bldg	Record	Centerville Comm School District	Centerville, 52544Town: Remote	PK	Other	61

Lakeview Elementary

Centerville Comm School District

Centerville, 52544 / Rural: Fringe

RecordKG–5Primary575 students

Centerville High School

Centerville Comm School District

Centerville, 52544 / Town: Remote

Record9–12High404 students

Howar Middle School

Centerville Comm School District

Centerville, 52544 / Town: Remote

Record6–8Middle299 students

Moravia High School

Moravia Comm School District

Moravia, 52571 / Rural: Distant

Record6–12High224 students

Moravia Elementary School

Moravia Comm School District

Moravia, 52571 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–5Primary158 students

Moulton Elementary School

Moulton-Udell Comm School District

Moulton, 52572 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–6Primary97 students

Moulton-Udell High School

Moulton-Udell Comm School District

Moulton, 52572 / Rural: Distant

Record7–12High67 students

Centerville Community Preschool Bldg

Centerville Comm School District

Centerville, 52544 / Town: Remote

RecordPKOther61 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$7,166

State avg $7,591

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Appanoose 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 Appanoose County?

Appanoose County has a school score of 62/100, 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 Appanoose County?

The high school graduation rate in Appanoose County is 94.0%, 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 Appanoose County spend per student?

Appanoose County spends $7,166 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

Madison County

Iowa

-0 pts

62/100

School score

Montgomery County

Iowa

+0 pts

63/100

School score

Humboldt County

Iowa

-0 pts

62/100

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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