Emma Wilson Elementary

Emma Wilson Elementary, a mid-sized K-5 school in Chico, California, operated by Chico Unified, works with 597 students, covering grades K through 5. That puts it 28% bigger than the typical public school in California, which averages around 465 students.

Emma Wilson Elementary is one of 22 schools operated by Chico Unified, a district that educates 12,260 students overall.

Demographically, Emma Wilson Elementary shows that the most-represented group is White (54%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Other groups include 27% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, 5% Asian, 2% Black. By comparison, Butte County as a whole is about 70% White, so the school skews meaningfully less White than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 20.5:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 61% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

After controlling for student poverty, Emma Wilson Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 43.3% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 42.3%.

Across the wider county, Butte County reports that median household income runs about $67,928, roughly 32% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Butte County runs 96 public schools (combined enrollment of about 29,730 students), of which Emma Wilson Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: Citrus Avenue Elementary, around 1.0 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Emma Wilson Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Emma Wilson Elementary at 4th of 5; the average score across the group is 41.2%.

The campus sits in a metropolitan setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 4%: 621 students in 2018 compared to 597 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share rose from 22% to 27%. Class-load math has fell: from 25.5:1 in 2018 to 20.5:1 in 2025.

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