May 20, 2026 · Updated May 20, 2026
Long Island school districts plan to spend an average of $41,934 per student in 2026-2027, the highest figure in New York State and more than double the statewide average of $18,979. Roslyn in North Hempstead ranked No. 3 nationally, Syosset No. 2, and a dozen Long Island districts landed in the country's top 100. Here is what the spending covers and where the pressure is headed.
Long Island school districts plan to spend an average of $41,934 per student in the 2026-2027 school year — the highest figure in New York State and more than double the statewide average of $18,979, according to an analysis by the Empire Center for Public Policy.
The number reflects a decade of spending that has consistently outpaced inflation and every other region in the state. For Long Island taxpayers, it shows up on property tax bills every year. For students in districts like Roslyn, Syosset and Jericho, it has produced school systems now ranked among the best in the country.
Nassau County districts plan to spend $42,350 per student in the coming school year, up from $40,420 this year. Suffolk County's figure is $41,410, an increase from $39,665 in 2025-2026. Both counties are well above even the non-New York City state average of $37,033 per student among the 668 districts outside the Big Five city systems.
For a typical Long Island district with 2,500 students, the gap between the regional average and the statewide average works out to roughly $57 million in additional annual spending. That money flows to salaries, benefits, transportation, special education services and — increasingly — charter school tuition payments that districts are required to transfer for each student who attends a charter school.
Twelve Long Island school districts landed in Niche's 2026 ranking of the country's top 100 school districts. Syosset Central School District, in Nassau County, jumped three positions to reach No. 2 in the nation. Roslyn Union Free School District, which serves the communities of Roslyn, Roslyn Heights, Roslyn Estates and East Hills in the Town of North Hempstead, rose 12 places to No. 3 nationally — the district's highest ranking on record. Half Hollow Hills, in western Suffolk, ranked No. 9. Jericho, also in Nassau, ranked No. 10, giving Long Island four of the country's top 10 school districts in a single year.
The rankings factor in state test scores, graduation rates, teacher quality metrics and student-to-teacher ratios. Long Island's high staffing levels — ratios of 10 to 12 students per teacher in many districts, against a national norm of closer to 16 — are directly tied to the per-pupil spending figures.
Roslyn's rise to No. 3 carries particular weight. The district spent years under scrutiny after a high-profile embezzlement scandal in 2004 that cost the community millions of dollars. Two decades of administrative rebuilding and sustained academic investment produced a school system now ranked among the best in the country.
District administrators across Nassau and Suffolk cite a consistent list of cost drivers: collective bargaining salary schedules with annual step increases, rising pension and health benefit costs, transportation mandates, special education placements governed by individualized education plans and the growing drain of charter school tuition transfers.
Teacher compensation on Long Island is among the highest in the country. A teacher in a Nassau County district who started at $60,000 in 2010 may now earn $120,000 or more after 15 years of service and a master's degree, before any negotiated cost-of-living adjustments. These numbers compound quickly across large district payrolls.
Charter school tuition has become a growing pressure point. When a student attends a charter school, the resident district is required to transfer a per-pupil allocation to the charter. For districts with significant charter enrollment, this means millions of dollars leaving the operating budget annually without a proportional reduction in fixed staffing or building costs.
A 2026 Hofstra University analysis found that per-pupil spending averages mask significant disparities within the region. High-need districts, particularly in western Nassau and Suffolk, spend below the Long Island average while managing larger caseloads of students with disabilities and English language learners.
Long Island school budgets go to a public vote each May, and this year roughly 40 districts sought to pierce the state's 2 percent property tax levy cap. South Country Central School District in Brookhaven proposed the highest override on Long Island — 8 percent above the allowable levy limit. Greenport and Shelter Island Union Free School Districts in Suffolk each sought 5 percent overrides, citing operating pressures disproportionate to their small enrollment bases.
Piercing the cap requires 60 percent voter approval, a higher threshold than the simple majority needed for an under-cap budget. Districts that fall short of 60 percent must adopt a contingency budget holding the levy increase at or below the cap.
Long Island's per-pupil spending has grown faster than inflation every year since 2016. In the 2016-2017 school year, the regional average was approximately $24,000 per student. By 2026-2027, that figure has increased by roughly 75 percent over a decade — a compound annual growth rate well above overall inflation for the same period.
For homeowners in North Hempstead and across Nassau County, school taxes represent the largest single line item on the property tax bill, often exceeding county and town taxes combined. A homeowner paying $14,000 in annual property taxes may direct $7,000 or more specifically to the local school district — a figure that rises with each budget vote.
The districts with the strongest academic outcomes — Syosset, Roslyn, Great Neck, Manhasset — are also among the highest spenders. Whether that reflects the efficiency of high spending or the demographic advantage of affluent communities is a question state education researchers have debated without resolution. What the data shows is that Long Island families are paying more per student than anywhere else in the state, and in many places, they are getting a measurably strong return on that investment.
Full school spending data is available through the Empire Center's annual report at empirecenter.org. Individual district budget documents are posted on each district's website and filed with the New York State Education Department.
