Berks Vital Signs

Why is this important?

Free public education was long ago embraced as a cornerstone of a fair society. Schools must prepare the next generation to become productive members of society and compete in the global economy. Yet the cost of public education has been rising more rapidly than many other goods and services and can become a burden to taxpayers, particularly those on fixed incomes or whose incomes are not keeping pace with tax increases

How is our region doing?

Schools in Berks County spent $2,870 per resident in 2018, up 40% from $2,046 in 2001. Berk's spent more per resident than Pennsylvania in 2018, and has spent more than the state each year since 2001.

Compared to neighboring counties, Berks spent more per resident than Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, and Schuylkill in 2018, but less than Chester and Montgomery. At $3,168, Chester County had the highest school spending per resident, while Lancaster County (at $2,218) spent the least.

Spending of School Districts

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Pennsylvania	$1,872	$1,941	$1,992	$2,077	$2,118	$2,173	$2,209	$2,235	$2,297	$2,340	$2,346	$2,282	$2,330	$2,342	$2,460	$2,507	$2,641	$2,559
Berks County	$2,046	$2,074	$2,129	$2,196	$2,287	$2,355	$2,484	$2,471	$2,591	$2,680	$2,635	$2,643	$2,707	$2,617	$2,873	$2,782	$2,924	$2,870
Berks County Regions
Central
Northeast
South
Southeast
West
Reading city
Berks County Peers
Chester County	$2,175	$2,260	$2,366	$2,506	$2,577	$2,678	$2,768	$2,818	$2,954	$3,013	$2,999	$3,011	$3,113	$3,072	$3,313	$3,289	$3,113	$3,168
Lancaster County	$1,705	$1,727	$1,777	$1,815	$1,819	$1,845	$1,943	$1,977	$2,049	$2,042	$2,009	$1,964	$2,003	$2,025	$2,117	$2,132	$2,212	$2,218
Lebanon County	$1,683	$1,758	$1,736	$1,777	$1,821	$1,849	$1,950	$2,041	$2,059	$2,131	$1,990	$1,972	$2,075	$2,075	$2,070	$2,150	$2,213	$2,272
Lehigh County	$1,774	$1,825	$1,862	$1,945	$2,006	$2,050	$2,118	$2,130	$2,235	$2,278	$2,311	$2,281	$2,294	$2,361	$2,436	$2,550	$2,633	$2,667
Montgomery County	$2,052	$2,138	$2,229	$2,353	$2,408	$2,527	$2,562	$2,589	$2,645	$2,656	$2,626	$2,600	$2,629	$2,668	$2,781	$2,822	$3,065	$3,019
Schuylkill County	$1,604	$1,673	$1,868	$1,715	$1,929	$1,820	$1,748	$1,775	$1,898	$2,040	$1,883	$2,082	$1,895	$2,055	$2,351	$2,283	$2,147	$2,233

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education
Notes: Figures are in constant 2016 dollars.

Total Spending of School Districts

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Pennsylvania	$23,019,961,721	$23,928,904,534	$24,653,168,010	$25,781,987,218	$26,373,600,148	$27,187,927,034	$27,759,114,307	$28,193,044,168	$29,096,170,113	$29,718,755,616	$29,901,308,707	$29,133,099,765	$29,771,263,442	$29,957,448,581	$31,451,806,933	$32,051,153,189	$33,784,422,486	$32,770,632,958
Berks County	$772,344,027	$791,008,210	$821,499,360	$858,132,092	$905,516,264	$946,126,847	$1,006,510,196	$1,007,593,384	$1,062,105,116	$1,103,049,528	$1,088,118,398	$1,092,731,765	$1,120,663,476	$1,085,107,822	$1,192,850,462	$1,156,691,266	$1,221,013,958	$1,205,641,066
Berks County Regions
Central
Northeast
South
Southeast
West
Reading city
Berks County Peers
Chester County	$959,384,114	$1,012,242,313	$1,076,853,060	$1,160,143,934	$1,212,470,616	$1,283,150,022	$1,345,636,444	$1,384,885,869	$1,465,956,752	$1,503,848,571	$1,509,756,226	$1,524,006,442	$1,585,210,337	$1,575,424,681	$1,706,516,152	$1,699,630,532	$1,615,341,918	$1,653,872,795
Lancaster County	$810,787,286	$829,230,625	$862,263,232	$889,271,898	$899,767,207	$924,352,161	$984,413,224	$1,012,210,251	$1,058,417,158	$1,060,908,790	$1,052,552,664	$1,034,589,210	$1,061,790,539	$1,080,183,440	$1,133,903,536	$1,147,276,467	$1,196,879,008	$1,205,781,834
Lebanon County	$203,581,577	$213,989,737	$213,806,262	$221,434,636	$229,777,066	$237,197,446	$253,821,521	$268,575,619	$273,739,712	$284,628,376	$267,613,253	$267,267,517	$281,721,030	$283,290,147	$284,655,033	$297,748,959	$308,882,744	$321,089,362
Lehigh County	$558,410,812	$579,132,490	$598,807,071	$634,366,956	$664,797,401	$690,351,125	$721,770,305	$734,232,695	$776,005,287	$796,520,501	$816,793,379	$809,066,465	$815,306,410	$844,416,529	$876,238,052	$923,708,573	$961,868,120	$981,665,385
Montgomery County	$1,558,180,786	$1,637,853,296	$1,721,924,998	$1,827,296,904	$1,877,185,733	$1,975,149,970	$2,011,586,222	$2,043,320,926	$2,104,160,541	$2,124,362,191	$2,114,445,870	$2,103,001,417	$2,136,216,160	$2,176,385,303	$2,272,868,253	$2,313,919,134	$2,527,534,189	$2,501,360,826
Schuylkill County	$239,299,067	$248,802,366	$276,095,076	$252,252,346	$283,483,938	$269,364,376	$259,406,817	$263,453,111	$281,514,613	$302,550,150	$277,784,543	$306,250,545	$277,865,557	$298,706,868	$338,895,211	$327,632,963	$306,325,628	$317,236,395

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education
Notes: Figures are in constant 2016 dollars.

INDICATORS	TREND \| BERKS COUNTY
Early Prenatal Care	Increasing
Early Prenatal Care by Mother's Race/Ethnicity	Increasing
Children Living in Poverty	Increasing
Children Living in Poverty, by Race/Ethnicity	Maintaining
Single-Parent Families	Increasing
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity	Decreasing
Disengaged Youth	Maintaining
Live Births to Teen Mothers	Decreasing
Change in Population by Age and Gender	Maintaining
Change in Total Population by Race/Ethnicity	Increasing
Population by Age and Race/Ethnicity	Decreasing
Foreign-Born Population	Increasing
Language Diversity	Increasing
Unemployment Rate	Decreasing
Change in Labor Force	Increasing
Employment to Population ratio	Increasing
Change in Jobs by Sector	Not Applicable
Sector Share of Total Jobs	Decreasing
Average Salary by Sector	Not Applicable
Change in Average Salary by Sector	Not Applicable
People Entering/Leaving County/Region for Work	Increasing
Public Assistance	Maintaining
Spending for Local Governments	Maintaining
Spending for Counties	Maintaining
Spending for School Districts	Maintaining
Quality Early Childhood Centers	Not Applicable
Prekindergarten Participation	Increasing
Students Eligible for Free/Reduced Price Lunch	Increasing
English Language Learners	Increasing
Students Receiving Special Education Services	Increasing
Per Student Spending	Maintaining
Historically Underperforming Student Performance on Grade 3 English	Decreasing
Historically Underperforming Student Performance on Grade 3 Math	Increasing
Historically Underperforming Student Performance on Grade 8 English	Decreasing
Historically Underperforming Student Performance on Grade 8 Math	Decreasing
Student Performance on High School English	Decreasing
Student Performance on High School Math	Maintaining
High School Cohort Graduation Rate	Increasing
Education Levels of Adults, by Race/Ethnicity	Maintaining
Brain Drain/Gain	Increasing
Plans of High School Graduates	Decreasing
Median Household Income	Maintaining
Median Household Income by Household Type	Maintaining
Living Wage	Maintaining
People Living in Poverty	Increasing
Working Poor	Maintaining
People Receiving Federal Food Assistance	Increasing
People Enrolled in Medicaid Managed Care	Increasing
People Without Health Insurance	Decreasing
Physically Inactive Adults	Not Applicable
Adults Who are Overweight or Obese	Not Applicable
Students in 7-12 Overweight or Obese	Increasing
Vacant Housing Units	Increasing
Homeownership Rates	Decreasing
Housing Affordability for Homeowners	Maintaining
Housing Affordability for Homeowners by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Housing Affordability for Renters	Increasing
Housing Affordability for Renters, by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Age of Housing Stock	Decreasing
Single-Family Home Sales	Increasing
Median Single-Family Home Sale Price	Maintaining
Tourism Spending	Maintaining
Voter Registration Rate	Decreasing
Voter Participation Rate	Decreasing
Average Charitable Giving	Maintaining
Contributions as a Percentage of Income	Maintaining
Households With Internet Access	Increasing
Dams	Not Applicable
Violent Crimes	Maintaining
Property Crimes	Decreasing
Incarceration Rates	Maintaining
Drug Abuse Offenses	Increasing
Drug Abuse Arrests	Increasing
Protection from Domestic Abuse	Maintaining
Means of Transportation to Work	Maintaining
Average Travel Time to Work	Increasing
Crashes Involving Alcohol	Decreasing
Households Without Vehicles	Decreasing

INDICATORS

TREND | BERKS COUNTY