Mean Family Income and Population Density Explain Private School Popularity by County

It is possible to predict the percentage of students in private school in each county using just two variables: the Mean Family Income and the Population Density. A linear regression using these two explains 87% of the observed variation in private school enrollment.

Income data from "Income in the Past 12 Months (in 2023 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)." American Community Survey, ACS 5-Year Estimates Subject Tables, Table S1901, 2023. Population data from Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties in California: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2024 (CO-EST2024-POP-06). Enrollment data from California Department of Education for 2023-24. Only counties with at least 5,000 K-12 students were included. These 46 counties contain 99.5% of all K-12 students in the state.
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