Last updated: 2026-09-03
School District Numbers: What They Are and How to Find Yours
There is no single school district number
People search for a “school district number” for very different reasons, and they are usually looking for different numbers without realising it. A district can simultaneously carry a federal identifier, a state identifier, and — in a handful of states — a tax district code, none of which match.
Working out which one you need is almost always the actual problem.
The federal identifier: NCES LEAID
The National Center for Education Statistics assigns every local education agency in the country a seven-digit LEAID. The first two digits are the state FIPS code, so every Alabama district starts 01 and every Wyoming district starts 56.
This is the identifier used in federal datasets, research, and most national comparisons, including the ratings on this site. It is stable over time, which makes it the right key for matching a district across different years of data. It is almost never the number a tax form or an enrolment packet is asking for.
State district identifiers
Each state education agency maintains its own district numbering, used on state report cards, funding formulas and accountability reports. These are unrelated to the federal LEAID and follow no common format — some are four digits, some six, some include letters.
If you are reading a state report card or filling in a state education form, this is the number in question. State departments of education publish directories mapping district names to their codes.
School district income tax codes
A small number of states levy an income tax at the school district level, and those states issue a separate code for tax filing. Ohio is the most prominent example: residents of a taxing district must report a four-digit school district number on their state return, and filing with the wrong one is a common and expensive error.
Pennsylvania, Iowa and Kentucky also have school-district-level taxes in various forms, each with their own identifiers and rules. If your reason for searching is a tax return, you want your state's official tax-district lookup and nothing else — a district's federal or state education code will not be accepted, and a neighbouring district's code will produce a misfiled return.
One practical warning specific to tax codes: your district for tax purposes is determined by where you lived during the tax year, which may not be where you live now, and residency is judged by physical address rather than mailing address.
Why the codes do not match each other
The systems were built independently, by different levels of government, at different times, for different purposes. Federal identifiers exist to make national statistics comparable. State identifiers exist to administer state funding. Tax codes exist to route revenue.
There is no authoritative universal crosswalk between all three that is maintained publicly and kept current, which is why looking up a district number is more annoying than it ought to be.
How to find the right one
Start from the document that is asking. A state tax return wants the state's tax district code; a state accountability report wants the state education code; an academic dataset wants the NCES LEAID.
Then use the matching official source: your state department of taxation for tax codes, your state department of education for education codes, and the NCES Common Core of Data for federal identifiers. If you only know your district by name, be careful — district names repeat across counties within a single state, so match on county as well as name.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the school district number the same as the district code on my tax return?
Usually not. Tax-filing district numbers are issued by the state department of taxation and exist only in states that levy a school district income tax. They are separate from both federal NCES identifiers and state education codes.
What is an NCES LEAID?
A seven-digit federal identifier for a local education agency. The first two digits are the state FIPS code. It is used in national datasets and is stable across years, which makes it useful for matching district records over time.
Can two districts have the same name?
Yes, and within the same state. District names repeat across counties frequently, which is why any lookup by name should also match on county before you trust the result.
Which states have a school district income tax?
Ohio is the best-known, with a four-digit district number required on the state return. Pennsylvania, Iowa and Kentucky levy school-district-level taxes in various forms. Rules and identifiers differ in each, so use the state's own lookup.
Not sure which district serves your address? Look it up by zip code or street address →