Back to School By the Numbers

Monday is the first day of school for students in . Their counterparts in have a partial week of school completed.

With students heading back for another year of reading, writing and arithmetic, we thought it would be interesting to look at some back to school facts.

Shopping for back to school clothes, buying apples for lunch and enrolling students in school are things people do, but also numbers the government tallies.

While the U.S. Census Bureau is known for gathering information every 10 years from households across the United States, they are also fact finders, gathering data and numbers about a variety of topics, including back to school.

$7.4 billion: The amount of money spent at family clothing stores in August 2010.

55.5 million: The projected number of students who will be enrolled in the nation's elementary through high schools (pre-kindergarten - 12th grade) this fall.

77 million: The number of children and adults enrolled in school throughout the country in Oct. 2009. This includes students enrolled from nursery school to college.

74 percent: Percentage of children 3 to 6 who were enrolled and attended all day kindergarten as of Oct. 2009.

11 percent: Projected percentage of elementary through high school students (pre-kindergarten to 12th grade) enrolled in private schools this fall.

31.3 million: The average number of children participating each month in the National School Lunch Program in 2009.

7.2 million: The number of teachers in the United States in 2009. Almost 3 million taught at the elementary and middle school level. The remaining number included those teaching at the postsecondary, secondary, preschool, kindergarten levels, special education and other teachers or instructors.

$65,800: The average annual salary for the highest paid teachers in the country, public school teachers in California as of the 2007-2008 school year.

$36,700: The average annual salary for teachers in South Dakota, the lowest paid teachers.

9.21 billion: The nation's total apple production, in pounds, in 2010. There is a good chance the apples you send in the kid’s lunch were grown in Washington state, which accounted for more than half of the nation’s total production.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Facts for Features, Back to School 2011-2012