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

No. Use the Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson County?

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

Jefferson County Schools & Education

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

Jefferson County, Nebraska

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

86.7%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

86.7%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 86.9%

Per-Pupil Spending

$9,651

National avg $13,239

State avg $10,521

School Score

57/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 64/100

State Score Position

#59

of 93 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Jefferson County

Measured School Summary

Jefferson County performs at an average level with a school score of 57/100 and a solid graduation rate of 86.7%.

Funding Context

Jefferson County spends $9,651 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 10% below the Nebraska average, and its graduation rate trails the state average by 0.2 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 8% lower than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Jefferson 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

57/100

Mixed county signal. Ranks #59 of 93 Nebraska counties with school score data.

Completion

86.7%

0.2 pts below the state average

Funding context

$9,651

$870 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

Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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

Jefferson 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

#59

of 93 Nebraska counties with school score data. The county score is 7 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.

FAIRBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Elementary and high visible

909 students

Elementary 2Middle 0High 1Other 0

3 listed schools in this county slice.

TRI COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Elementary and high visible

430 students

Elementary 1Middle 0High 1Other 0

2 listed schools in this county slice.

MERIDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Elementary and high visible

224 students

Elementary 1Middle 0High 1Other 0

2 listed schools in this county slice.

District reality check

FAIRBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS 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 Jefferson County?

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

Fairbury Public Schools Serves Majority of Jefferson County Student Population

Education data brief for Jefferson County, Nebraska.

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

Lead metric:District structure

Fairbury Public Schools is the primary district in Jefferson County, educating 909 of the county's 1,700 total students across three of the county's eight schools. The remaining students are divided between the Tri County and Meridian districts. Jefferson County's graduation rate is 86.7%, which closely aligns with the Nebraska state average of 86.9% and the national average of 87.0%. The county’s composite school score is 57.4, which is lower than the state average of 63.6 but higher than the national median of 50.0. Per-pupil expenditure is $9,651, falling below the Nebraska average of $10,521 and the national average of $13,000. Six of the eight schools are in rural locales, while two are in town settings. There are no charter schools in the county. The largest facility is Fairbury Junior-Senior High School, with 377 students. Compare district boundaries before drawing conclusions.

Sources

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

School Overview

Total Schools

in Jefferson County

Reported Enrollment

1,700

8 schools reporting

School Districts

districts

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary5

Middle0

High3

Other0

3 School Districts in Jefferson County

FAIRBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

3 schools

909 students

TRI COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

2 schools

430 students

MERIDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

2 schools

224 students

8 Public Schools in Jefferson 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 8 of 8 matching schools

Public schools in Jefferson County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
FAIRBURY JR-SR HIGH SCHOOL	Record	FAIRBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS	FAIRBURY, 68352Rural: Fringe	7–12	High	377
JEFFERSON INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL	Record	FAIRBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS	FAIRBURY, 68352Town: Remote	3–6	Primary	270
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	Record	FAIRBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS	FAIRBURY, 68352Town: Remote	PK–2	Primary	262
TRI COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	Record	TRI COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS	DEWITT, 68341Rural: Distant	PK–6	Primary	238
TRI COUNTY JR-SR HIGH SCHOOL	Record	TRI COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS	DEWITT, 68341Rural: Distant	7–12	High	192
DILLER-ODELL ELEM SCHOOL	Record	DILLER-ODELL PUBLIC SCHOOLS	DILLER, 68342Rural: Remote	PK–6	Primary	137
MERIDIAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	Record	MERIDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS	DAYKIN, 68338Rural: Remote	PK–6	Primary	122
MERIDIAN HIGH SCHOOL	Record	MERIDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS	DAYKIN, 68338Rural: Remote	7–12	High	102

FAIRBURY JR-SR HIGH SCHOOL

FAIRBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

FAIRBURY, 68352 / Rural: Fringe

Record7–12High377 students

JEFFERSON INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL

FAIRBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

FAIRBURY, 68352 / Town: Remote

Record3–6Primary270 students

CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

FAIRBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

FAIRBURY, 68352 / Town: Remote

RecordPK–2Primary262 students

TRI COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

TRI COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

DEWITT, 68341 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–6Primary238 students

TRI COUNTY JR-SR HIGH SCHOOL

TRI COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

DEWITT, 68341 / Rural: Distant

Record7–12High192 students

DILLER-ODELL ELEM SCHOOL

DILLER-ODELL PUBLIC SCHOOLS

DILLER, 68342 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–6Primary137 students

MERIDIAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

MERIDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

DAYKIN, 68338 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–6Primary122 students

MERIDIAN HIGH SCHOOL

MERIDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

DAYKIN, 68338 / Rural: Remote

Record7–12High102 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$9,651

State avg $10,521

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Jefferson 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 Nebraska counties have the highest graduation rates?

Washington County (96.3%), Seward County (96.2%), and Keith County (95.4%) currently lead Nebraska 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 Nebraska?

Across Nebraska counties with available NCES district-finance data, average per-pupil spending is $10,521. The highest current county values are Wheeler County ($19,491), Sioux County ($18,861), and Loup County ($18,703). Compare counties in the table before treating the statewide average as representative of a local district.

How should I read the school score in Jefferson County?

Jefferson 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 Jefferson County?

The high school graduation rate in Jefferson County is 86.7%, which is below 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 Jefferson County spend per student?

Jefferson County spends $9,651 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

Holt County

Nebraska

+0 pts

58/100

School score

Dakota County

Nebraska

-1 pts

56/100

School score

Brown County

Nebraska

-1 pts

56/100

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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