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

No. Use the Howard 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 Howard 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 Howard County?

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

Howard County Schools & Education

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

Howard County, Iowa

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

School Score

79/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Higher Signal

Graduation Rate

95.7%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

95.7%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 92.3%

Per-Pupil Spending

$8,133

National avg $13,239

State avg $7,591

School Score

79/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 61/100

State Score Position

of 99 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Howard County

Measured School Summary

Howard County has a higher measured school signal with a school score of 79/100 and a graduation rate of 95.7%, based on available NCES graduation-rate and school-score inputs.

Funding Context

Howard County spends $8,133 per student, which is on the lower end of adequate and may require careful resource allocation to maintain quality.

Neighbor Context

Its school score is 29% above the Iowa average, and its graduation rate exceeds the state average by 3.4 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 7% higher than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Howard 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

79/100

Higher measured signal. Ranks #3 of 99 Iowa counties with school score data.

Completion

95.7%

3.4 pts above the state average

Funding context

$8,133

$542 above the state average

School coverage

2 districts represented in the county school list.

Start with measured county context

This county screens well on the combined school metrics available here. Compare the score, graduation rate, and spending together rather than treating any single metric as final.

Check the local school mix

Howard 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 Howard 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

Howard 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

of 99 Iowa counties with school score data. The county score is 18 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.

Howard-Winneshiek Comm School District

Elementary and high visible

1,040 students

Elementary 1Middle 0High 1Other 1

3 listed schools in this county slice.

Riceville Comm School District

Elementary and high visible

406 students

Elementary 1Middle 0High 1Other 0

2 listed schools in this county slice.

District reality check

Howard-Winneshiek 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 Howard County?

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

Where do students transition after the visible grade band, and is that next school inside the same district path?

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

Howard County records a school score significantly above state average

Education data brief for Howard County, Iowa.

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

Lead metric:School score

Howard County reports a composite school score of 78.7, a metric that is substantially higher than the Iowa state average of 61.3 and the national median of 50.0. The county’s 1,446 students are served by five public schools, including the Howard-Winneshiek Community School District, which is the largest district with 1,040 students. Crestwood High School is the largest individual school, enrolling 559 students. Graduation rates in the county are 95.7%, surpassing the state average of 92.3% and the national average of 87.0%. Per-pupil spending is $8,133, which is higher than the state average of $7,591 but lower than the national average of $13,000. The school mix includes two elementary, two high schools, and one specialized childhood development center. All schools are situated in town or rural locales. 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 Howard County

Reported Enrollment

1,446

5 schools reporting

School Districts

districts

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary2

Middle0

High2

Other1

2 School Districts in Howard County

Howard-Winneshiek Comm School District

3 schools

1,040 students

Riceville Comm School District

2 schools

406 students

5 Public Schools in Howard 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

Sort

Showing 5 of 5 matching schools

Public schools in Howard County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
Crestwood High School	Record	Howard-Winneshiek Comm School District	Cresco, 52136Town: Remote	7–12	High	559
Crestwood Elementary School	Record	Howard-Winneshiek Comm School District	Cresco, 52136Town: Remote	KG–6	Primary	425
Riceville Elementary School	Record	Riceville Comm School District	Riceville, 50466Rural: Remote	PK–5	Primary	211
Riceville High School	Record	Riceville Comm School District	Riceville, 50466Rural: Remote	6–12	High	195
Cresco Early Childhood Development Center	Record	Howard-Winneshiek Comm School District	Cresco, 52136Town: Remote	PK	Other	56

Crestwood High School

Howard-Winneshiek Comm School District

Cresco, 52136 / Town: Remote

Record7–12High559 students

Crestwood Elementary School

Howard-Winneshiek Comm School District

Cresco, 52136 / Town: Remote

RecordKG–6Primary425 students

Riceville Elementary School

Riceville Comm School District

Riceville, 50466 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–5Primary211 students

Riceville High School

Riceville Comm School District

Riceville, 50466 / Rural: Remote

Record6–12High195 students

Cresco Early Childhood Development Center

Howard-Winneshiek Comm School District

Cresco, 52136 / Town: Remote

RecordPKOther56 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$8,133

State avg $7,591

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Howard 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 Howard County?

Howard County has a school score of 79/100, which is a higher 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 Howard County?

The high school graduation rate in Howard County is 95.7%, 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 Howard County spend per student?

Howard County spends $8,133 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

Union County

Iowa

+1 pts

80/100

School score

Winneshiek County

Iowa

+2 pts

80/100

School score

Shelby County

Iowa

-3 pts

76/100

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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