DistrictAPI vs Education Data
A side-by-side look at the DistrictAPI and Education Data MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose DistrictAPI for education work as a local process; choose Education Data for education as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose DistrictAPI when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Education domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
DISTRICTAPI_KEY. - You want tools like
lookup_district_by_address, get_district, search_districts.
Choose Education Data when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Education domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
education_find_schools, education_find_districts, education_district_finance.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Education | Education |
| Quality signal | 51/100 · Good | 53/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | DISTRICTAPI_KEY | None listed |
| Verified owner |
Tools & capabilities
DistrictAPI tools 6
lookup_district_by_addressFind the district serving a US street addressget_districtGet full district profile by NCES LEA IDsearch_districtsSearch districts by name and/or stateget_district_schoolsList all schools in a districtget_schoolGet full school profile by NCES school IDfind_schools_near_addressFind schools within a radius of an address
Education Data tools 4
education_find_schoolsFind US K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOLS by state, with optional city or name filter. Keyless federal data (NCES Common Core of Data via the Urban Institute). Returns each school's NCES id, name, district, city, enrollment, charter/magnet status, grade range, and free/reduced-price lunch counts. Use for "public…education_find_districtsFind US PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS (local education agencies) by state, with optional name filter. Keyless federal data (NCES Common Core of Data). Returns each district's LEA id, name, county, city, number of schools, enrollment, and teacher counts. Use for "school districts in <state>", "how big is…education_district_financeSchool district FUNDING AND SPENDING — revenue by source (federal / state / local) and expenditure by function, plus computed PER-PUPIL spending. Keyless federal data (NCES CCD school district finance survey, F-33). Use for "how much does <district> spend per student", "school funding by district i…education_child_povertyCHILD POVERTY by school district — Census SAIPE estimates of the number and percentage of school-age children (5-17) in poverty, which drive federal Title I funding. Keyless. Use for "child poverty rate in <district>", "poorest school districts in <state>", "how many students in poverty in <distric…
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
DistrictAPI
{
"mcpServers": {
"districtapi": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"districtapi-mcp"
],
"env": {
"DISTRICTAPI_KEY": "YOUR_DISTRICTAPI_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Education Data
{
"mcpServers": {
"education-data-2": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-education-data"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
DistrictAPI is categorized under Education and uses a local stdio subprocess. Education Data belongs to Education and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick DistrictAPI for education work and Education Data for education.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
DistrictAPI has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Education Data has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add districtapi and education-data-2 as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, DistrictAPI has a quality signal of 51/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Education Data has 53/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.