School District
A special-purpose government entity that administers public schools within a defined geographic boundary, tracked by the Census Bureau in relation to ZIP codes.
The Census Bureau recognizes approximately 13,000 school districts in the United States, classified into three types: elementary, secondary, and unified (covering all grades). Each district has a Census-assigned GEOID and boundary polygon.
School district data is frequently linked to ZIP codes in real estate and education databases. Homebuyers often search by ZIP code and want to know which school district serves that area. Because school district boundaries rarely align with ZIP codes, a single ZIP may be served by multiple districts, and a single district may span dozens of ZIP codes.
The Census Bureau publishes school district demographic profiles from the American Community Survey, including child population, household income, and education spending data.