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

No. Use the Barnes 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 Barnes 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 Barnes County?

Start with the 7 listed public schools and 3 district entries, then compare similar grade bands and confirm the address-level rules locally.

Barnes County Schools & Education

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

Barnes County, North Dakota

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

School Score

65/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Midrange Signal

Graduation Rate

91.7%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

91.7%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 84.8%

Per-Pupil Spending

$8,185

National avg $13,239

State avg $9,385

School Score

65/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 54/100

State Score Position

#10

of 53 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Barnes County

Measured School Summary

Barnes County performs at an average level with a school score of 65/100 and a solid graduation rate of 91.7%.

Funding Context

Barnes County spends $8,185 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 20% above the North Dakota average, and its graduation rate exceeds the state average by 6.9 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 13% lower than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Barnes 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 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

65/100

Mixed county signal. Ranks #10 of 53 North Dakota counties with school score data.

Completion

91.7%

6.9 pts above the state average

Funding context

$8,185

$1,200 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

Barnes County has 7 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 Barnes 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

Barnes 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

#10

of 53 North Dakota counties with school score data. The county score is 11 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.

VALLEY CITY 2

Elementary to high school visible

1,033 students

Elementary 1Middle 2High 1Other 0

4 listed schools in this county slice.

BARNES COUNTY NORTH 7

Elementary and high visible

248 students

Elementary 1Middle 0High 1Other 0

2 listed schools in this county slice.

LITCHVILLE-MARION 46

Elementary school only in this slice

84 students

Elementary 1Middle 0High 0Other 0

1 listed school in this county slice.

District reality check

VALLEY CITY 2 is the largest listed district slice, with 4 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 Barnes County?

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

Barnes County Graduation Rate Surpasses State and National Averages

Education data brief for Barnes County, North Dakota.

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

Lead metric:Graduation rate

Barnes County maintains a graduation rate of 91.7%, exceeding the North Dakota state average of 84.8% and the national average of 87.0%. The county's education system includes seven public schools across three districts, with Valley City 2 serving as the largest district with 1,033 students. Valley City High School is the largest individual school, enrolling 366 students in grades 9-12. The composite school score for the county is 64.8, which is higher than the state average of 53.6 and the national median of 50.0. Despite these metrics, per-pupil expenditure is $8,185, which is lower than both the state average of $9,385 and the national average of $13,000. Schools are split between town and rural locales, with most students attending town-based facilities. Check district boundaries before drawing conclusions from this data.

Sources

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

School Overview

Total Schools

in Barnes County

Reported Enrollment

1,365

7 schools reporting

School Districts

districts

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary3

Middle2

High2

Other0

3 School Districts in Barnes County

VALLEY CITY 2

4 schools

1,033 students

BARNES COUNTY NORTH 7

2 schools

248 students

LITCHVILLE-MARION 46

2 schools

142 students

7 Public Schools in Barnes 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 Barnes County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
VALLEY CITY HIGH SCHOOL	Record	VALLEY CITY 2	Valley City, 58072Town: Remote	9–12	High	366
JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	Record	VALLEY CITY 2	Valley City, 58072Town: Remote	PK–3	Primary	304
WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	Record	VALLEY CITY 2	Valley City, 58072Town: Remote	4–6	Middle	215
BARNES COUNTY NORTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	Record	BARNES COUNTY NORTH 7	Wimbledon, 58492Rural: Remote	PK–8	Primary	172
VALLEY CITY JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL	Record	VALLEY CITY 2	Valley City, 58072Town: Remote	7–8	Middle	148
LITCHVILLE-MARION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	Record	LITCHVILLE-MARION 46	Litchville, 58461Rural: Remote	PK–5	Primary	84
BARNES COUNTY NORTH HIGH SCHOOL	Record	BARNES COUNTY NORTH 7	Wimbledon, 58492Rural: Remote	9–12	High	76

VALLEY CITY HIGH SCHOOL

VALLEY CITY 2

Valley City, 58072 / Town: Remote

Record9–12High366 students

JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

VALLEY CITY 2

Valley City, 58072 / Town: Remote

RecordPK–3Primary304 students

WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

VALLEY CITY 2

Valley City, 58072 / Town: Remote

Record4–6Middle215 students

BARNES COUNTY NORTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

BARNES COUNTY NORTH 7

Wimbledon, 58492 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–8Primary172 students

VALLEY CITY JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

VALLEY CITY 2

Valley City, 58072 / Town: Remote

Record7–8Middle148 students

LITCHVILLE-MARION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

LITCHVILLE-MARION 46

Litchville, 58461 / Rural: Remote

RecordPK–5Primary84 students

BARNES COUNTY NORTH HIGH SCHOOL

BARNES COUNTY NORTH 7

Wimbledon, 58492 / Rural: Remote

Record9–12High76 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$8,185

State avg $9,385

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Barnes 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 North Dakota counties have the highest graduation rates?

Mercer County (95.0%), Pierce County (95.0%), and Dickey County (93.4%) currently lead North Dakota 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 North Dakota?

Across North Dakota counties with available NCES district-finance data, average per-pupil spending is $9,385. The highest current county values are Steele County ($16,783), Sioux County ($14,627), and Burke County ($12,732). Compare counties in the table before treating the statewide average as representative of a local district.

How should I read the school score in Barnes County?

Barnes County has a school score of 65/100, 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 Barnes County?

The high school graduation rate in Barnes County is 91.7%, 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 Barnes County spend per student?

Barnes County spends $8,185 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

Renville County

North Dakota

+1 pts

66/100

School score

Burleigh County

North Dakota

-1 pts

64/100

School score

Pembina County

North Dakota

+2 pts

67/100

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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