Enrollment: up 11.4% over ten years
Average daily membership, grades K to 12, is the count the state funds on. Murfreesboro City Schools had 7,981 in 2015-16 and 8,888 in 2024-25. Peak was 8,992 in 2023-24. Tennessee as a whole moved +0.4% over the same ten years.
Source: Tennessee Department of Education, Annual Statistical Report, Table 7 (average daily membership K to 12), school years 2015-16 to 2024-25. Rounded to whole students.
Where the money comes from
In 2024-25, 38.3% of Murfreesboro City Schools' revenue receipts were local, 51.4% state and 10.3% federal, against a Tennessee mix of 39.0% local, 49.1% state and 12.0% federal. In 2015-16 the local share was 41.9%. The local share is what rides on Rutherford County's property tax rate and the city appropriation, which is the next section.
- 2015-16 L 42 S 45 F 13
- 2016-17 L 41 S 46 F 14
- 2017-18 L 39 S 47 F 14
- 2018-19 L 42 S 48 F 10
- 2019-20 L 43 S 47 F 10
- 2020-21 L 41 S 45 F 14
- 2021-22 L 40 S 41 F 19
- 2022-23 L 39 S 45 F 17
- 2023-24 L 37 S 49 F 14
- 2024-25 L 38 S 51 F 10
local (L) state (S) federal (F) percent of revenue receipts, excluding non-revenue receipts such as bond proceeds
Source: Tennessee Department of Education, Annual Statistical Report, Table 19 (revenue receipts by source), school years 2015-16 to 2024-25. Percentages are the Department's own.
TISA, the state formula, FY2025-26
Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement funds a base amount per student plus weights, and splits the total between a state share and a required local contribution. For Murfreesboro City Schools the State Board's final FY2025-26 allocation is $87,425,734 on 8,888 ADM, which is $9,836 per student: $7,388 state and $2,448 local contribution (75.1% state).
| FY2024-25 | FY2025-26 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total TISA allocation | $84,969,631 | $87,425,734 |
| Base funding | $63,620,313 | $64,838,257 |
| Weighted funding | $18,060,918 | $19,267,726 |
| Direct funding | $3,288,400 | $3,319,751 |
| State share | $63,167,696 | $65,664,720 |
| Local contribution | $21,801,935 | $21,761,014 |
| ADM in the formula | 8,992.27 | 8,888.04 |
| Allocation per ADM | $9,449 | $9,836 |
| State share per ADM | $7,025 | $7,388 |
Source: Tennessee State Board of Education, FY2024-25 TISA Allocations (August 16, 2024) and FY2025-26 TISA Final Allocations (August 15, 2025). Per-ADM figures divide the allocation by the ADM in the same document. Census SAIPE 2024 estimates 2,098 of 15,433 children aged 5 to 17 in the district's area (13.6%) live in poverty, which is the main driver of the federal share and of the TISA weights.
Spending per pupil: $13,779 in 2024-25
Current operating expenditure per enrolled student was $10,002 in 2018-19 and $13,779 in 2024-25 (+37.8%). Tennessee's figure moved +39.2% to $13,866, so Murfreesboro City Schools spent $87 less per student than the state average in 2024-25. Operating expenditure was $123.0 million in 2024-25; it leaves out capital projects and debt service.
| Year | Enrollment, Oct 1 | Per pupil | Tennessee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 8,480 | $10,002 | $9,959 |
| 2019-20 | 8,724 | $10,472 | $10,047 |
| 2020-21 | 8,570 | $11,528 | $10,820 |
| 2021-22 | 8,903 | $11,739 | $11,474 |
| 2022-23 | 8,968 | $12,090 | $12,293 |
| 2023-24 | 8,972 | $12,908 | $13,658 |
| 2024-25 | 8,929 | $13,779 | $13,866 |
Source: Tennessee Department of Education, Annual Statistical Report, Table 51 (current operating expenditures per enrollment), school years 2018-19 to 2024-25, the years published under the Department's current calculation method. Earlier years divided by average daily attendance and are not comparable, so they are not shown.
Rutherford County's certified rate, which the local share rides on
The local share above is mostly Rutherford County property tax and the City of Murfreesboro appropriation. The county's certified rate is 1.8762 per $100 assessed in 2025, after a reset of 27% in 2022. A reset is the certified-rate rollback after reappraisal, not a cut: the rate falls because the appraisals rose, and school revenue is meant to come out level. The year after a reset is the one place a change is a real increase. Open City of Murfreesboro's own page for the bill on a $300,000 home and the retail base.
Rutherford County reset its rate in 2022, with 18 others
Peer groups are always by size. Nobody groups counties by reappraisal year, yet that is the group whose budget conversation matches yours this year. Tennessee's certified tax rate law rolls the county rate down after a reappraisal, so a drop is a reset, not a cut. The one place a change is a real increase is the year right after. Tap a county in the cohort list to draw its line over yours.
Rutherford County raised the rate the year after a reset in 2023, which is the one place a change is an unambiguous real increase.
The 2022 cohort, county rate 2025. Tap to overlay.
* someone from this county is at TGFOA 2026. Up to four overlays at once. Reset years are inferred from the rate path; the Comptroller's reappraisal schedule is the authoritative list.
Two report card measures
The State Report Card publishes dozens of measures. These two are current, defined the same way for every district, and do not need a footnote to compare: the share of students who missed 10% or more of the days they were enrolled (all students, all grades), and the share of the ninth-grade cohort who graduated in four years (state definition).
| Measure | Year | Murfreesboro system | Tennessee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chronically absent | 2023-24 | 11.8% | 18.9% |
| Chronically absent | 2024-25 | 11.1% | 18.3% |
Murfreesboro City Schools serves grades K to 6; Rutherford County Schools runs the high schools, so there is no graduation cohort.
Source: Tennessee Department of Education data downloads, district and state chronic absenteeism files for 2023-24 and 2024-25, and district and state graduation rate files for the classes of 2024 and 2025 (state rate; the federal rate is also published and runs lower).
Compare with another system
The other systems in the room first, then the five nearest by enrollment among all Tennessee districts. Same files, same year, every row.