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

No. Use the Decatur 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 Decatur 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 Decatur County?

Start with the 7 listed public schools and 2 district entries, then compare similar grade bands and confirm the address-level rules locally.

Decatur County Schools & Education

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

Decatur County, Iowa

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

School Score

52/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Midrange Signal

Graduation Rate

90.0%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

90.0%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 92.3%

Per-Pupil Spending

$7,565

National avg $13,239

State avg $7,591

School Score

52/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 61/100

State Score Position

#80

of 99 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Decatur County

Measured School Summary

Decatur County performs at an average level with a school score of 52/100 and a solid graduation rate of 90.0%.

Funding Context

At $7,565 per pupil, Decatur County operates with limited funding, which may constrain staffing, materials, and extracurricular offerings.

Neighbor Context

Its school score is 14% below the Iowa average, and its graduation rate trails the state average by 2.3 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 0% lower than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Decatur 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

7 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

52/100

Mixed county signal. Ranks #80 of 99 Iowa counties with school score data.

Completion

90.0%

2.3 pts below the state average

Funding context

$7,565

roughly matches 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

Decatur County has 7 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 Decatur 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

Decatur 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

#80

of 99 Iowa counties with school score data. The county score is 9 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.

Central Decatur Comm School District

Elementary and high visible

697 students

Elementary 2Middle 0High 1Other 0

3 listed schools in this county slice.

Lamoni Comm School District

Elementary to high school visible

380 students

Elementary 1Middle 1High 1Other 0

3 listed schools in this county slice.

District reality check

Central Decatur 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 Decatur County?

Do the neighborhoods we like fall inside the same district, or are we comparing different Decatur 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 Infrastructure Defines Decatur County School District Structure

Education data brief for Decatur County, Iowa.

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

Lead metric:District structure

Public education in Decatur County is characterized by a purely rural district structure, with all seven of its public schools classified in rural locales. The county is served by two districts: Central Decatur Community School District, which enrolls 697 students, and Lamoni Community School District, which serves 380 students. Total enrollment across the county is 1,173, with an average school size of 168 students. The largest individual school is Central Decatur MS/HS High School, which enrolls 348 students. The county’s graduation rate is 90.0%, falling slightly below the Iowa state average of 92.3% but remaining above the national average of 87.0%. The composite school score of 52.3 is above the national median of 50.0 but trails the state average of 61.3. Per-pupil expenditure is $7,565, aligning closely with the state average of $7,591 while remaining lower than the national benchmark of $13,000. See the NCES Common Core of Data for school-level records.

Sources

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

School Overview

Total Schools

in Decatur County

Reported Enrollment

1,173

7 schools reporting

School Districts

districts

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary3

Middle1

High3

Other0

2 School Districts in Decatur County

Central Decatur Comm School District

3 schools

697 students

Lamoni Comm School District

3 schools

380 students

7 Public Schools in Decatur 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 7 of 7 matching schools

Public schools in Decatur County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
Central Decatur MS/HS High School	Record	Central Decatur Comm School District	Leon, 50144Rural: Remote	7–12	High	348
Lamoni Elementary School	Record	Lamoni Comm School District	Lamoni, 50140Rural: Remote	PK–5	Primary	212
South Elementary School	Record	Central Decatur Comm School District	Leon, 50144Rural: Remote	PK–2	Primary	177
North Elementary School	Record	Central Decatur Comm School District	Leon, 50144Rural: Remote	3–6	Primary	172
Lamoni High School	Record	Lamoni Comm School District	Lamoni, 50140Rural: Remote	9–12	High	98
Mormon Trail Jr-Sr High School	Record	Mormon Trail Comm School District	Garden Grove, 50103Rural: Remote	7–12	High	96
Lamoni Middle School	Record	Lamoni Comm School District	Lamoni, 50140Rural: Remote	6–8	Middle	70

Central Decatur MS/HS High School

Central Decatur Comm School District

Leon, 50144 / Rural: Remote

Record7–12High348 students

Lamoni Elementary School

Lamoni Comm School District

Lamoni, 50140 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–5Primary212 students

South Elementary School

Central Decatur Comm School District

Leon, 50144 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–2Primary177 students

North Elementary School

Central Decatur Comm School District

Leon, 50144 / Rural: Remote

Record3–6Primary172 students

Lamoni High School

Lamoni Comm School District

Lamoni, 50140 / Rural: Remote

Record9–12High98 students

Mormon Trail Jr-Sr High School

Mormon Trail Comm School District

Garden Grove, 50103 / Rural: Remote

Record7–12High96 students

Lamoni Middle School

Lamoni Comm School District

Lamoni, 50140 / Rural: Remote

Record6–8Middle70 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$7,565

State avg $7,591

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Decatur 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 Decatur County?

Decatur County has a school score of 52/100, 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 Decatur County?

The high school graduation rate in Decatur County is 90.0%, 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 Decatur County spend per student?

Decatur County spends $7,565 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

Butler County

Iowa

-0 pts

52/100

School score

Woodbury County

Iowa

+0 pts

53/100

School score

Greene County

Iowa

+1 pts

53/100

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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