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

No. Use the Fairfield 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 Fairfield 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 Fairfield County?

Start with the 9 listed public schools and 1 district entry, then compare similar grade bands and confirm the address-level rules locally.

Fairfield County Schools & Education

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

Fairfield County, South Carolina

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

School Score

63/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Midrange Signal

Graduation Rate

87.0%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

87.0%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 84.2%

Per-Pupil Spending

$11,084

National avg $13,239

State avg $7,165

School Score

63/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 33/100

State Score Position

of 46 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Fairfield County

Measured School Summary

Fairfield County performs at an average level with a school score of 63/100 and a solid graduation rate of 87.0%.

Funding Context

Fairfield County spends $11,084 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 90% above the South Carolina average, and its graduation rate exceeds the state average by 2.8 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 55% higher than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Fairfield 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

9 public schools and 1 district 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

63/100

Mixed county signal. Ranks #1 of 46 South Carolina counties with school score data.

Completion

87.0%

2.8 pts above the state average

Funding context

$11,084

$3,919 above the state average

School coverage

1 district 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

Fairfield County has 9 public schools across 1 district, 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 Fairfield 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.

Dominant-district county

Fairfield 01 carries most of the listed public-school system, with 8 of 9 schools. Start there, then verify whether your target address sits inside that district slice.

State position

of 46 South Carolina counties with school score data. The county score is 30 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.

Fairfield 01

Elementary to high school visible

2,278 students

Elementary 5Middle 1High 2Other 0

8 listed schools in this county slice.

District reality check

Fairfield 01 is the largest listed district slice, with 8 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 Fairfield County?

Which attendance zones, transfer rules, and transportation policies apply inside the local district?

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

Fairfield County Composite School Score Surpasses State and National Medians

Education data brief for Fairfield County, South Carolina.

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

Lead metric:School score

Fairfield County reports a composite school score of 62.8, nearly double the South Carolina average of 33.4 and exceeding the national median of 50.0. All public education is consolidated into a single district, Fairfield 01, which serves 2,278 students. The county has nine public schools with an average size of 311 students, making it notably smaller than state norms. Fairfield Central High is the largest facility, enrolling 662 students. The graduation rate of 87.0% aligns exactly with the national average and is higher than the state average of 84.2%. Expenditure per pupil is $11,084, which is significantly higher than the state average of $7,165, though it remains below the national average of $13,000. Eight of the county's nine schools are classified as rural. 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 Fairfield County

Reported Enrollment

2,486

9 schools reporting

School Districts

district

Charter Schools

11% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary5

Middle1

High2

Other1

1 School District in Fairfield County

Fairfield 01

8 schools

2,278 students enrolled

9 Public Schools in Fairfield 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 9 of 9 matching schools

Public schools in Fairfield County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
Fairfield Central High	Record	Fairfield 01	Winnsboro, 29180Rural: Fringe	9–12	High	662
Fairfield Elementary	Record	Fairfield 01	Winnsboro, 29180Rural: Fringe	PK–6	Primary	463
Fairfield Middle	Record	Fairfield 01	Winnsboro, 29180Rural: Fringe	7–8	Middle	337
Geiger Elementary	Record	Fairfield 01	Ridgeway, 29130Rural: Fringe	PK–6	Primary	259
Fairfield Magnet for Math and Science	Record	Fairfield 01	Winnsboro, 29180Rural: Fringe	PK–6	Primary	217
Midlands STEM Institute	Record	Charter Institute at Erskine	Winnsboro, 29180Town: Distant	PK–12	Charter	208
Kelly Miller Elementary	Record	Fairfield 01	Winnsboro, 29180Rural: Distant	PK–6	Primary	205
McCrorey-Liston School of Technology	Record	Fairfield 01	Blair, 29015Rural: Distant	PK–6	Primary	135
Fairfield Career and Technology Center	Record	Fairfield 01	Winnsboro, 29180Rural: Fringe	9–12	Vocational	0

Fairfield Central High

Fairfield 01

Winnsboro, 29180 / Rural: Fringe

Record9–12High662 students

Fairfield Elementary

Fairfield 01

Winnsboro, 29180 / Rural: Fringe

RecordPK–6Primary463 students

Fairfield Middle

Fairfield 01

Winnsboro, 29180 / Rural: Fringe

Record7–8Middle337 students

Geiger Elementary

Fairfield 01

Ridgeway, 29130 / Rural: Fringe

RecordPK–6Primary259 students

Fairfield Magnet for Math and Science

Fairfield 01

Winnsboro, 29180 / Rural: Fringe

RecordPK–6Primary217 students

Midlands STEM Institute

Charter Institute at Erskine

Winnsboro, 29180 / Town: Distant

RecordPK–12Charter208 students

Kelly Miller Elementary

Fairfield 01

Winnsboro, 29180 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–6Primary205 students

McCrorey-Liston School of Technology

Fairfield 01

Blair, 29015 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–6Primary135 students

Fairfield Career and Technology Center

Fairfield 01

Winnsboro, 29180 / Rural: Fringe

Record9–12Vocational0 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$11,084

State avg $7,165

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Fairfield 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 South Carolina counties have the highest graduation rates?

Lee County (92.0%), Darlington County (91.1%), and Dorchester County (91.1%) currently lead South Carolina 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 South Carolina?

Across South Carolina counties with available NCES district-finance data, average per-pupil spending is $7,165. The highest current county values are Fairfield County ($11,084), Richland County ($10,146), and McCormick County ($8,932). Compare counties in the table before treating the statewide average as representative of a local district.

How should I read the school score in Fairfield County?

Fairfield County has a school score of 63/100, 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 Fairfield County?

The high school graduation rate in Fairfield County is 87.0%, 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 Fairfield County spend per student?

Fairfield County spends $11,084 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

Darlington County

South Carolina

-10 pts

53/100

School score

Aiken County

South Carolina

-12 pts

51/100

School score

Beaufort County

South Carolina

-12 pts

51/100

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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