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School district · Arizona · LEAID 0404970

Mesa Unified District (4235)

Mesa Unified District (4235) is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable Arizona districts (56,815 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort). Per-pupil spending, enrollment, and budget for Mesa Unified District (4235) come from the NCES Common Core of Data F-33 finance survey (FY2023).

$67,420
Est. avg teacher salary

Above benchmark

$14,903
Per-pupil spending
56,815
Students enrolled
66th
Pct. in AZ
$67,420

Mesa Unified District (4235) is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable Arizona districts (56,815 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort). Estimated average teacher salary is $67,420, near the national average of $70,245, serving 56,815 students (NCES CCD F-33, FY2023).

  • Large enrollment scale: Mesa Unified District (4235) is in the largest third by enrollment among comparable Arizona districts (56,815 students in the NCES CCD F-33 cohort).
  • 66th percentile for Arizona
  • 54th percentile nationally
  • 32% of spending reaches instructional salaries
  • Arizona ranks #29 of 49 on the salary estimate and #16 of 49 on enrollment in the same reliable-district pool.
  • Mesa Unified District (4235) ranks #51 of 152 Arizona districts by estimated teacher salary and #62 of 152 by per-pupil spending. Safford Unified District (4218) pay #1 at $99,366 is not Red Mesa Unified District (4159) spending #1 at $38,950 per pupil
  • +38.9% estimated-basis panel FY2019→FY2023 (not applied to the FTE figure above)

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Instructional payroll mix vs Arizona median

Among 213 Arizona districts that break out F-33 program salary totals, Mesa Unified District (4235)'s instructional payroll puts 78.8% into regular program , 5.2 points below the state median of 84.0%. The mix below is the district's own F-33 program split against the in-state median, not a quality score.

Program Mesa Unified AZ median Gap
Regular program 78.8% 84.0% -5.2 pp
Special education 15.9% 10.8% +5.1 pp
Vocational programs 3.4% 1.7% +1.7 pp
Other programs 1.9% 0.0% +1.9 pp

Shares are of this district's reported F-33 teacher-salary program totals (Z35–Z38), compared with the median share across 213 in-state peers with a positive program sum. NCES LEAID 0404970 · FY2023.

LEAID 0404970 · NCES CCD F-33 FY2023

Mesa Unified F-33 compensation desk

SALARY-ABOVE +5% vs state RANK-ST-MID P66 in state RANK-NAT-MID P54 national PPE-MID $15K/pupil ENR-MEGA 57K students INSTR-LOW 32% instr BASIS-FTE FTE-reported PHOTO-NEAR Near Dysart FY-2023-HEAVY FY2023 book

FY2023: $67,420 estimated average teacher salary · P66 in Arizona · P54 nationally · 32% instructional salary share. Nearest salary peer: Dysart (+$720est. salary).

Salary neighbourhood chart for Mesa Unified

Salary neighbourhood · Mesa Unified

Mesa Unified sits mid-pack among in-state peers; the chart brackets it between the top and bottom pay poles (NCES F-33 FY2023, not a full state reprint).

est. salary
Source NCES CCD F-33 Finance Survey As of FY2023
Appropriate use & corrections
National salary distribution for Mesa Unified

Mesa Unified District (4235)'s estimated salary vs. every US district

NCES F-33 estimate, reliable-salary districts only

$67,420 Top 46% higher than 54% of 10,684 US districts

Show national distribution $30,000–$40,000: 155 US districts (1%). Below this entry. $40,000–$50,000: 1,360 US districts (13%). Below this entry. $50,000–$60,000: 2,382 US districts (22%). Below this entry. $60,000–$70,000: 2,402 US districts (22%). This entry sits in this band. $70,000–$80,000: 1,633 US districts (15%). Above this entry. $80,000–$90,000: 1,097 US districts (10%). Above this entry. $90,000–$100,000: 662 US districts (6%). Above this entry. $100,000–$110,000: 371 US districts (3%). Above this entry. $110,000–$120,000: 249 US districts (2%). Above this entry. $120,000–$130,000: 156 US districts (1%). Above this entry. $130,000–$140,000: 112 US districts (1%). Above this entry. $140,000–$150,000: 57 US districts (1%). Above this entry. $150,000–$160,000: 25 US districts (0%). Above this entry. $160,000–$170,000: 13 US districts (0%). Above this entry. $170,000–$180,000: 10 US districts (0%). Above this entry. $180,000–$190,000: 0 US districts (0%). Above this entry. Mesa Unified District (4235) $30,000 $190,000 every reliable-salary US district, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $10K-wide band; taller bars hold more US districts. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NCES CCD F-33 Finance Survey, FY2023 · FY2023

Mesa Unified in Arizona's upper-third pay band

Same 152 districts with a usable salary and a comparable per-pupil figure (NCES F-33 FY2023)

est. avg salary

What this shows Mesa Unified District (4235) ranks #51 of 152 Arizona districts by estimated teacher salary and #62 of 152 by per-pupil spending. Safford Unified District (4218) pay #1 at $99,366 is not Red Mesa Unified District (4159) spending #1 at $38,950 per pupil

Source NCES CCD F-33 Finance Survey, FY2023 As of FY2023

The same districts by per-pupil spending

Mesa Unified District (4235) is marked; a high spending bar is not a high pay bar

per pupil

What this shows Red Mesa Unified District (4159) leads spending at $38,950 per pupil; Safford Unified District (4218) leads pay.

Source NCES CCD F-33 Finance Survey, FY2023 As of FY2023

What stands out about Mesa Unified District (4235)

  • Estimated teacher pay here rose +38.9% between FY2019 and FY2023, outpacing Arizona's statewide +25.8% by 13.1 points, a growth rate faster than 78% of the 199 Arizona districts with a comparable FY2019 baseline.
  • Enrolment fell from 61,514 to 56,815 students (7.6% down) across FY2019–FY2023 while the instructional salary pool per teacher went up. Districts on that path are usually holding staffing steady against a falling roll, which lifts the per-teacher figure without anyone getting a raise, so read this page's salary estimate alongside the enrolment line rather than on its own.
  • With 56,815 students, it is the 70th-largest school district by enrollment among the 13,149 US districts reporting enrollment data.
  • Its total annual revenue of $876M puts it among just 92 US districts operating a budget of this size or larger, out of the 13,149 districts in the NCES CCD F-33 survey, a scale that brings dedicated budget offices, multi-year capital planning, and district-wide procurement contracts that a small district's single-person business office cannot replicate.

Scale composition for Mesa Unified District (4235)

Mesa Unified District (4235) enrolls 56,815 students (0.12% of the 46,412,683 students across 13,149 US districts that report enrollment in the NCES CCD F-33 survey). Only 88 districts clear the 50,000-student threshold used here - sparse districts in the 500-5,000 band cannot show a national-share read of this kind because their headcount is too small for the percentage to mean anything. Total annual revenue is $876M, putting it among 92 districts at this budget scale or larger.

Reported teacher FTE is 3,555, about 16.0 students per teacher (mega-cohort median 16.0; denser staffing than 43 of the 87 mega-districts with a usable FTE count, rank 44th densest) . At this enrollment the ratio is an aggregate across many campuses, so a single-school class-size story is the wrong read - use it to place Mesa Unified District (4235) among other large systems, not against a 1,000-student district whose FTE is a handful of classrooms.

Instructional salaries take 32% of total expenditure on a $847M budget . Large systems carry central offices, transportation, and facilities lines that dilute the classroom share relative to a small district whose budget is almost entirely payroll - comparing that percentage across the enrollment cliff without this scale note misreads both ends.

Nearest mega-district peers by enrollment (same 50k+ cohort):

District Enrollment Est. avg salary Revenue
Arlington ISD · Texas 56,167 $63,662 $877M
Howard County Public Schools · Maryland 57,676 $90,857 $1.28B
North East ISD · Texas 59,007 $57,830 $872M
Jordan District · Utah 59,421 $78,196 $676M
Forsyth County · Georgia 54,077 $73,930 $778M

Arizona sits close to national prices

Nominal district estimate
$67,420.317

The FY2023 salary estimate shown in the hero.

Arizona price level
100.7 / 100

BEA all-items regional price parity; 100 is the U.S. average.

National-price equivalent
$66,924

-1% versus the nominal figure.

Prices in Arizona sit close to the national average, so the nominal and national-price figures tell nearly the same story here. That is not true in the most and least expensive states.

Regional price parity: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2023 all-items RPP by state. The adjustment applies a statewide index to a district figure, so it captures how Arizona compares nationally, not how this district compares with others in its own state. Compare every state on this basis.

How this salary figure is calculated
Full NCES reading for Mesa Unified District (4235)

What the Numbers Say About Mesa Unified District (4235)

Mesa Unified District (4235) is a large urban school district in Arizona, serving 56,815 students at an estimated per-pupil spending of $14,903. Estimated average teacher salary, derived from reported teacher salary expenditure (F-33 items Z35-Z38) divided by teacher FTE, is $67,420, placing the district in the moderately funded tier of NCES F-33 respondents. NCES LEAID 0404970 references the FY2023 Common Core of Data Local Education Agency Finance Survey.

Relative to the Arizona statewide average of $63,921, teacher pay in Mesa Unified District (4235) runs meaningfully above the state benchmark, a 5.5% gap, and near the national instructional-salary estimate of $70,245 (4.0% differential). Among enrolling districts in Arizona, it pays more than 66% of them. Arizona itself ranks #29 of 49 nationally on average teacher compensation, which shapes the funding ceiling districts operate under.

On the budget side, Mesa Unified District (4235) reports $846.7M in total expenditure against $876.4M in revenue, with instructional salaries accounting for 32% of spending, a compensation-to-budget ratio that signals how much of each tax dollar reaches classroom educators. Regular-program teacher salary outlay is $188.8M, special-education teacher pay is $38.2M.

How does Mesa Unified District (4235) compare?

Estimated average teacher salary versus a peer district, the Arizona average, and the national average. Pick any in-state district to compare.

Mesa Unified District (4235) $67,420
Chandler Unified District #80 (4242) $68,895
Arizona avg $63,921
National avg $70,245

Mesa Unified District (4235) pays -2.1% less than Chandler Unified District #80 (4242) · per-pupil $14,903 vs $13,661

Derived from NCES F-33 teacher salary expenditure (Z35-Z38) and CCD Staff Universe teacher FTE (FY2023); a small minority use the documented fallback. Unreliable service entities are excluded.

Data-derived comparison paths

Find comparable Arizona districts

On pay, Mesa Unified District (4235) sits closest to Dysart Unified District (4243); on per-pupil investment, its nearest match is Scottsdale Unified District (4240). These are not simply nearby districts: each group is selected from the same NCES FY2023 dataset using a matching salary or per-pupil-investment signal and a comparable enrollment range.

Closest on estimated pay
  1. Dysart Unified District (4243)
  2. Sunnyside Unified District (4407)
  3. Chandler Unified District #80 (4242)
  4. Gilbert Unified District (4239)
  5. Deer Valley Unified District (4246)
  6. Scottsdale Unified District (4240)
  7. Washington Elementary School District (4260)
  8. Peoria Unified School District (4237)
  9. Tucson Unified District (4403)
  10. Vail Unified District (4413)
  11. Paradise Valley Unified District (4241)
Closest on per-pupil investment
  1. Scottsdale Unified District (4240)
  2. Paradise Valley Unified District (4241)
  3. Glendale Union High School District (4285)
  4. Washington Elementary School District (4260)
  5. Tucson Unified District (4403)
  6. Gilbert Unified District (4239)
  7. Chandler Unified District #80 (4242)
  8. Phoenix Union High School District (4286)
  9. Deer Valley Unified District (4246)
  10. Dysart Unified District (4243)
  11. Vail Unified District (4413)

Similar estimated teacher pay

Similar per-pupil investment

Out-of-state districts near Mesa Unified District (4235)'s enrollment scale

Two out-of-state peer sets for Mesa Unified District (4235): closest on enrollment (56,815 students here) and closest on estimated average teacher salary ($67,420 here). Rows stay link-disjoint so each axis is a distinct neighborhood.

Similar enrollment

Nearest other districts by NCES student count (floored at ≥200).

Similar estimated salary

Nearest other districts by F-33-derived average teacher salary, distinct from the enrollment row.

Enrollment and salaries from NCES CCD F-33; estimated teacher pay can diverge widely at the same student count because of state funding, cost of living, and local bargaining.

Revenue & Expenditure

$876.4M
Total Revenue
$846.7M
Total Expenditure
$269.4M
Instruction Salaries
32% of total spending

Instructional Salary by Program

$188.8M
Regular Program
$38.2M
Special Education
$8.1M
Vocational
$4.5M
Other Programs

The teacher salaries behind this page's average are the ones NCES reports for 4 programs in Mesa Unified District (4235): the regular program, special education, vocational programs and other programs. Every program category NCES breaks out separately carries a figure here. Together they are 89% of everything the district spends on instructional salaries; the other 11% pays instructional aides, paraprofessionals, substitutes and other instructional staff who are not counted as teachers here.

Arizona Teacher Pay Overview

The highest average among comparably sized Arizona districts belongs to Safford Unified District (4218) at $99,366. Mesa Unified District (4235) places 43 of 128 comparably sized districts, squarely in the middle band the state average actually represents. On BEA's price parity Arizona sits near the national average, so its salaries need less adjustment than most; Virginia and Colorado are its nearest price peers.

View all Arizona districts →

Other Arizona Districts

Large-district sample from 153 Arizona peers with reliable NCES data; bar length shows pay magnitude within this slice.

Buckeye Elementary District (4269)
$50,545
5,540 students
Madison Elementary District (4270)
$62,743
5,525 students
Humboldt Unified District (4469)
$62,371
5,505 students
Buckeye Union High School District (4284)
$76,806
5,406 students
Lake Havasu Unified District (4368)
$66,378
5,368 students
Flowing Wells Unified District (4405)
$57,523
5,281 students

This is a sample of 6 from 153 Arizona districts with enrollment and salary data reliable enough to compare in the NCES CCD F-33 survey.

Frequently Asked Questions about Mesa Unified District (4235)
What is the average teacher salary in Mesa Unified District (4235)?

The average teacher salary in Mesa Unified District (4235) is $67,420 (NCES CCD FY2023), from reported teacher salary expenditure (F-33 items Z35-Z38) divided by the district's reported teacher headcount (NCES CCD Staff Universe Survey).

How does Mesa Unified District (4235) teacher pay compare to the Arizona average?

Mesa Unified District (4235) pays 5.5% more than the Arizona state average of $63,921. The district's average is $67,420.

How does Mesa Unified District (4235) teacher pay compare to the national average?

Mesa Unified District (4235) pays 4.0% below the national average of $70,245. The district average is $67,420.

What is the per-pupil spending in Mesa Unified District (4235)?

Mesa Unified District (4235) spends approximately $14,903 per student annually (NCES FY2023), covering instructional salaries, support services, and administration.

What percentage of Mesa Unified District (4235)'s budget goes to teacher salaries?

Instructional salaries account for 32% of Mesa Unified District (4235)'s total expenditure of $846.7M (NCES FY2023).

Next read for Mesa Unified District (4235)
Disclaimer & data sources

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainTeacher

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Editorial standards & source notes

According to the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) F-33 Local Education Agency Finance Survey, PlainTeacher's figures are computed directly, no number is typed in by an editor. Mesa Unified District (4235)'s salary and finance figures are computed directly from its FY2023 F-33 submission, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Data current as of FY2023.