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

No. Use the Polk 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 Polk 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 Polk County?

Start with the 10 listed public schools and 4 district entries, then compare similar grade bands and confirm the address-level rules locally.

Polk County Schools & Education

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

Polk County, Nebraska

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

School Score

59/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Midrange Signal

Graduation Rate

85.8%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

85.8%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 86.9%

Per-Pupil Spending

$10,716

National avg $13,239

State avg $10,521

School Score

59/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 64/100

State Score Position

#57

of 93 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Polk County

Measured School Summary

Polk County performs at an average level with a school score of 59/100 and a solid graduation rate of 85.8%.

Funding Context

Polk County spends $10,716 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 8% below the Nebraska average, and its graduation rate trails the state average by 1.1 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 2% higher than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Polk 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

10 public schools and 4 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

59/100

Mixed county signal. Ranks #57 of 93 Nebraska counties with school score data.

Completion

85.8%

1.1 pts below the state average

Funding context

$10,716

$195 above the state average

School coverage

4 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

Polk County has 10 public schools across 4 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 Polk 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

Polk 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

#57

of 93 Nebraska counties with school score data. The county score is 5 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.

SHELBY - RISING CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Elementary to high school visible

411 students

Elementary 1Middle 1High 1Other 0

3 listed schools in this county slice.

CROSS COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

Elementary to high school visible

367 students

Elementary 1Middle 1High 1Other 0

3 listed schools in this county slice.

OSCEOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Elementary to high school visible

244 students

Elementary 1Middle 1High 1Other 0

3 listed schools in this county slice.

HIGH PLAINS COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

High school only in this slice

102 students

Elementary 0Middle 0High 1Other 0

1 listed school in this county slice.

District reality check

CROSS COUNTY COMMUNITY 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 Polk County?

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

Polk County Educational Landscape Defined by Decentralized Rural Districts

Education data brief for Polk County, Nebraska.

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

Lead metric:District structure

Polk County features a decentralized public education structure, with four separate districts serving a relatively small total enrollment of 1,124 students across ten rural schools. This results in an average school size of only 112 students. The largest district, Shelby-Rising City Public Schools, serves 411 students, while other districts include Cross County Community Schools and Osceola Public Schools. The county's graduation rate of 85.8% is lower than the Nebraska state average of 86.9% and the national average of 87.0%. Per-pupil expenditure stands at $10,716, which is higher than the state average of $10,521 but below the national average of $13,000. The composite school score for the county is 58.8, trailing the state average of 63.6 but exceeding the national median of 50.0. No charter schools operate within the county. 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 Polk County

Reported Enrollment

1,124

10 schools reporting

School Districts

districts

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary3

Middle3

High4

Other0

4 School Districts in Polk County

SHELBY - RISING CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

3 schools

411 students

CROSS COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

3 schools

367 students

OSCEOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

3 schools

244 students

HIGH PLAINS COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

2 schools

223 students

10 Public Schools in Polk 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 10 of 10 matching schools

Public schools in Polk County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
SHELBY - RISING CITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	Record	SHELBY - RISING CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS	SHELBY, 68662Rural: Remote	PK–5	Primary	212
CROSS COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	Record	CROSS COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	STROMSBURG, 68666Rural: Remote	PK–5	Primary	169
CROSS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL	Record	CROSS COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	STROMSBURG, 68666Rural: Remote	9–12	High	123
OSCEOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	Record	OSCEOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS	OSCEOLA, 68651Rural: Remote	PK–5	Primary	119
SHELBY - RISING CITY HIGH SCHOOL	Record	SHELBY - RISING CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS	SHELBY, 68662Rural: Remote	9–12	High	110
HIGH PLAINS COMMUNITY JR/SR HIGH SCHOOL	Record	HIGH PLAINS COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	POLK, 68654Rural: Remote	7–12	High	102
SHELBY - RISING CITY MIDDLE SCHOOL	Record	SHELBY - RISING CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS	SHELBY, 68662Rural: Remote	6–8	Middle	89
CROSS COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOL	Record	CROSS COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS	STROMSBURG, 68666Rural: Remote	6–8	Middle	75
OSCEOLA HIGH SCHOOL	Record	OSCEOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS	OSCEOLA, 68651Rural: Remote	9–12	High	68
OSCEOLA MIDDLE SCHOOL	Record	OSCEOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS	OSCEOLA, 68651Rural: Remote	6–8	Middle	57

SHELBY - RISING CITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

SHELBY - RISING CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

SHELBY, 68662 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–5Primary212 students

CROSS COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CROSS COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

STROMSBURG, 68666 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–5Primary169 students

CROSS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL

CROSS COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

STROMSBURG, 68666 / Rural: Remote

Record9–12High123 students

OSCEOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

OSCEOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

OSCEOLA, 68651 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–5Primary119 students

SHELBY - RISING CITY HIGH SCHOOL

SHELBY - RISING CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

SHELBY, 68662 / Rural: Remote

Record9–12High110 students

HIGH PLAINS COMMUNITY JR/SR HIGH SCHOOL

HIGH PLAINS COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

POLK, 68654 / Rural: Remote

Record7–12High102 students

SHELBY - RISING CITY MIDDLE SCHOOL

SHELBY - RISING CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

SHELBY, 68662 / Rural: Remote

Record6–8Middle89 students

CROSS COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOL

CROSS COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

STROMSBURG, 68666 / Rural: Remote

Record6–8Middle75 students

OSCEOLA HIGH SCHOOL

OSCEOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

OSCEOLA, 68651 / Rural: Remote

Record9–12High68 students

OSCEOLA MIDDLE SCHOOL

OSCEOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

OSCEOLA, 68651 / Rural: Remote

Record6–8Middle57 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$10,716

State avg $10,521

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Polk 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 Polk County?

Polk County has a school score of 59/100, 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 Polk County?

The high school graduation rate in Polk County is 85.8%, 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 Polk County spend per student?

Polk County spends $10,716 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

Adams County

Nebraska

+0 pts

59/100

School score

Lincoln County

Nebraska

+0 pts

59/100

School score

Greeley County

Nebraska

+1 pts

59/100

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.

Explore more data for Polk County

Property Tax Cost of Living Crime Rate Income Health Disaster Risk Water Quality Weather County Score