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

No. Use the Mahaska 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 Mahaska 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 Mahaska County?

Start with the 8 listed public schools and 2 district entries, then compare similar grade bands and confirm the address-level rules locally.

Mahaska County Schools & Education

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

Mahaska County, Iowa

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

School Score

57/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Midrange Signal

Graduation Rate

92.7%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

92.7%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 92.3%

Per-Pupil Spending

$7,113

National avg $13,239

State avg $7,591

School Score

57/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 61/100

State Score Position

#68

of 99 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Mahaska County

Measured School Summary

Mahaska County performs at an average level with a school score of 57/100 and a solid graduation rate of 92.7%.

Funding Context

At $7,113 per pupil, Mahaska County operates with limited funding, which may constrain staffing, materials, and extracurricular offerings.

Neighbor Context

Its school score is 6% below the Iowa average, and its graduation rate exceeds the state average by 0.4 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 6% lower than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Mahaska 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 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

57/100

Mixed county signal. Ranks #68 of 99 Iowa counties with school score data.

Completion

92.7%

0.4 pts above the state average

Funding context

$7,113

$478 below 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

Mahaska County has 8 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 Mahaska 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

Mahaska 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

#68

of 99 Iowa counties with school score data. The county score is 4 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.

Oskaloosa Comm School District

Elementary to high school visible

2,081 students

Elementary 1Middle 1High 1Other 2

5 listed schools in this county slice.

North Mahaska Comm School District

Elementary and high visible

616 students

Elementary 1Middle 0High 1Other 0

2 listed schools in this county slice.

District reality check

Oskaloosa Comm School District is the largest listed district slice, with 5 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 Mahaska County?

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

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

Which charter, magnet, or virtual options require a lottery, application window, separate transportation plan, or address eligibility check?

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

Data Story

Per-Pupil Spending in Mahaska County Records at Seven Thousand Dollars

Education data brief for Mahaska County, Iowa.

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

Lead metric:Per-pupil spending

Mahaska County records a per-pupil expenditure of $7,113, which is roughly $5,900 less than the national average of $13,000 and lower than the state average of $7,591. The county has two school districts serving a total of 2,823 students across 8 schools. The Oskaloosa Community School District is the larger of the two, with 5 schools and 2,081 students. The largest individual facility is Oskaloosa Elementary School, which has an enrollment of 886. The county graduation rate is 92.7%, outperforming the national average of 87.0% and slightly exceeding the state average of 92.3%. However, the composite school score of 57.4 is lower than the state average of 61.3, although it remains higher than the national median of 50.0. The schools are split between rural and town locales, with no charter schools present. Compare district boundaries before drawing conclusions.

Sources

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

School Overview

Total Schools

in Mahaska County

Reported Enrollment

2,823

8 schools reporting

School Districts

districts

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary3

Middle1

High2

Other2

2 School Districts in Mahaska County

Oskaloosa Comm School District

5 schools

2,081 students

North Mahaska Comm School District

2 schools

616 students

8 Public Schools in Mahaska 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 Mahaska County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
Oskaloosa Elementary School	Record	Oskaloosa Comm School District	Oskaloosa, 52577Town: Remote	KG–5	Primary	886
Oskaloosa High School	Record	Oskaloosa Comm School District	Oskaloosa, 52577Rural: Fringe	9–12	High	600
Oskaloosa Middle School	Record	Oskaloosa Comm School District	Oskaloosa, 52577Rural: Fringe	6–8	Middle	454
North Mahaska Elementary School	Record	North Mahaska Comm School District	New Sharon, 50207Rural: Distant	PK–6	Primary	346
North Mahaska Jr-Sr High School	Record	North Mahaska Comm School District	New Sharon, 50207Rural: Distant	7–12	High	270
Fremont Elementary	Record	Eddyville-Blakesburg- Fremont CSD	Fremont, 52561Rural: Distant	PK–6	Primary	126
Oskaloosa Early Childhood Center - PK	Record	Oskaloosa Comm School District	Oskaloosa, 52577Town: Remote	PK	Other	99
Oskaloosa Virtual Academy	Record	Oskaloosa Comm School District	OSKALOOSA, 52577Rural: Fringe	KG–12	Virtual	42

Oskaloosa Elementary School

Oskaloosa Comm School District

Oskaloosa, 52577 / Town: Remote

RecordKG–5Primary886 students

Oskaloosa High School

Oskaloosa Comm School District

Oskaloosa, 52577 / Rural: Fringe

Record9–12High600 students

Oskaloosa Middle School

Oskaloosa Comm School District

Oskaloosa, 52577 / Rural: Fringe

Record6–8Middle454 students

North Mahaska Elementary School

North Mahaska Comm School District

New Sharon, 50207 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–6Primary346 students

North Mahaska Jr-Sr High School

North Mahaska Comm School District

New Sharon, 50207 / Rural: Distant

Record7–12High270 students

Fremont Elementary

Eddyville-Blakesburg- Fremont CSD

Fremont, 52561 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–6Primary126 students

Oskaloosa Early Childhood Center - PK

Oskaloosa Comm School District

Oskaloosa, 52577 / Town: Remote

RecordPKOther99 students

Oskaloosa Virtual Academy

Oskaloosa Comm School District

OSKALOOSA, 52577 / Rural: Fringe

RecordKG–12Virtual42 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$7,113

State avg $7,591

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Mahaska 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 Mahaska County?

Mahaska County has a school score of 57/100, 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 Mahaska County?

The high school graduation rate in Mahaska County is 92.7%, 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 Mahaska County spend per student?

Mahaska County spends $7,113 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

Black Hawk County

Iowa

0 pts

57/100

School score

Pottawattamie County

Iowa

0 pts

57/100

School score

Adair County

Iowa

+1 pts

58/100

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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