U.S. Average Public School Size by State 2026: Statistics & Charts
Average public school size is calculated by dividing student membership by the number of operating public elementary and secondary schools in each state and the District of Columbia. The 2026 edition uses final 2024–25 Common Core of Data figures released in December 2025. NCES has since released preliminary 2025–26 directory files, but those files do not include the student-membership counts required for this calculation.
The result describes how enrollment is distributed across each state’s public school network. It is not class size, building capacity, pupil-teacher ratio, or a measure of school quality.
National School-Size Statistics
Calculated from 49,269,882 students and 99,073 operating public schools reported for the 2024–25 school year.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia, ranked by the 2024–25 calculated average.
Bar length represents total state student membership divided by the number of operating public schools. The value is a state-system ratio rather than the median size of individual schools.
State distribution findings
- 20 of 51 jurisdictions are above the U.S. average of 497.3 students per operating school.
- Seven of the ten highest state averages are in the South Census region.
- No Southern jurisdiction appears among the ten lowest averages.
- The highest-to-lowest ratio is 4.28 to 1.
State Ranking for the 2024–25 School Year
Ranks use unrounded calculations. The table remains the full data record when chart scripts are unavailable.
| Rank | State | Students per school | Operating schools | Student membership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | 749.1 | 2,329 | 1,744,662 |
| 2 | Florida | 683.1 | 4,186 | 2,859,600 |
| 3 | Nevada | 649.7 | 735 | 477,563 |
| 4 | Maryland | 633.2 | 1,408 | 891,525 |
| 5 | Utah | 624.1 | 1,097 | 684,604 |
| 6 | South Carolina | 623.9 | 1,277 | 796,780 |
| 7 | Texas | 603.3 | 9,192 | 5,545,640 |
| 8 | Delaware | 602.4 | 236 | 142,156 |
| 9 | Virginia | 591.4 | 2,126 | 1,257,315 |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | 576.9 | 2,932 | 1,691,456 |
| 11 | North Carolina | 575.0 | 2,705 | 1,555,418 |
| 12 | Hawaii | 564.4 | 296 | 167,071 |
| 13 | California | 563.5 | 10,303 | 5,805,510 |
| 14 | New Jersey | 545.5 | 2,557 | 1,394,971 |
| 15 | Indiana | 542.0 | 1,919 | 1,040,190 |
| 16 | New York | 525.4 | 4,810 | 2,527,258 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 524.6 | 1,913 | 1,003,622 |
| 18 | Louisiana | 509.8 | 1,308 | 666,840 |
| 19 | Connecticut | 504.9 | 1,007 | 508,402 |
| 20 | Massachusetts | 502.4 | 1,823 | 915,932 |
| 21 | Alabama | 490.2 | 1,532 | 751,060 |
| 22 | Ohio | 470.1 | 3,543 | 1,665,566 |
| 23 | Colorado | 455.3 | 1,900 | 865,077 |
| 24 | Arizona | 453.9 | 2,432 | 1,103,894 |
| 25 | Arkansas | 444.2 | 1,106 | 491,239 |
| 26 | Rhode Island | 434.4 | 313 | 135,978 |
| 27 | Washington | 430.4 | 2,543 | 1,094,502 |
| 28 | Kentucky | 424.0 | 1,550 | 657,263 |
| 29 | Mississippi | 423.8 | 1,019 | 431,864 |
| 30 | Oregon | 422.2 | 1,291 | 545,088 |
| 31 | Illinois | 419.0 | 4,398 | 1,842,881 |
| 32 | Michigan | 410.6 | 3,468 | 1,423,933 |
| 33 | Idaho | 396.5 | 796 | 315,626 |
| 34 | Oklahoma | 391.6 | 1,781 | 697,358 |
| 35 | District of Columbia | 384.5 | 245 | 94,211 |
| 36 | Iowa | 382.6 | 1,318 | 504,292 |
| 37 | Wisconsin | 368.1 | 2,190 | 806,065 |
| 38 | Missouri | 362.7 | 2,451 | 889,059 |
| 39 | Kansas | 359.2 | 1,341 | 481,626 |
| 40 | West Virginia | 358.2 | 676 | 242,155 |
| 41 | New Mexico | 349.4 | 879 | 307,110 |
| 42 | New Hampshire | 327.7 | 501 | 164,153 |
| 43 | Minnesota | 319.7 | 2,741 | 876,182 |
| 44 | Nebraska | 301.4 | 1,097 | 330,622 |
| 45 | Maine | 284.1 | 589 | 167,309 |
| 46 | Vermont | 267.8 | 304 | 81,398 |
| 47 | Alaska | 266.1 | 488 | 129,876 |
| 48 | Wyoming | 249.8 | 360 | 89,915 |
| 49 | North Dakota | 233.1 | 514 | 119,792 |
| 50 | South Dakota | 199.8 | 706 | 141,065 |
| 51 | Montana | 174.8 | 842 | 147,208 |
Ranking structure
- The median jurisdiction value is 434.4, which is 62.9 students below the pooled U.S. ratio.
- 31 jurisdictions fall below the national ratio, while 20 exceed it.
- A state can move higher through a larger student total, a smaller operating-school count, or a combination of both.
- District of Columbia is included as a separate jurisdiction.
Regional School-Size Patterns
Regional values pool student membership and operating schools before calculating the ratio. They are not simple averages of state values.
Pooled regional student membership divided by pooled operating-school counts.
The South has the highest pooled regional ratio. The West remains close to the U.S. figure because high- and low-average states offset one another.
| Region | Jurisdictions | Operating schools | Student membership | Students per school | Difference from U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South | 17 | 34,589 | 19,828,708 | 573.3 | +76.0 |
| Northeast | 9 | 14,836 | 7,586,857 | 511.4 | +14.1 |
| West | 13 | 23,962 | 11,733,044 | 489.7 | -7.7 |
| Midwest | 12 | 25,686 | 10,121,273 | 394.0 | -103.3 |
Regional contrasts
- The South reports a pooled ratio of 573.3, about 76.0 students above the U.S. figure.
- The Northeast is also above the national ratio at 511.4.
- The West is near the national level at 489.7, despite wide differences among its states.
- The Midwest reports the lowest pooled regional ratio at 394.0.
State Distribution by Average School Size
The bands group state-system averages. They do not count individual schools by enrollment size.
Size-band distribution
- The 350–449 band contains the most jurisdictions, with 16.
- Only six jurisdictions sit at the outer ends of the distribution: four below 250 and two at 650 or more.
What the Ranking Measures
The ratio describes the scale of each state’s public school network. It does not evaluate instructional conditions or student outcomes.
Average school size is not class size
A state ratio of 600 students per school does not mean 600 students share a classroom. Classroom enrollment depends on grade, course, staffing, and scheduling.
School counts shape the result
Two states with similar student membership can report different averages when one operates more schools. The denominator is part of the measure.
Rank does not measure quality
The ranking uses one structural indicator. It does not include achievement, graduation, staffing, spending, safety, or access to programs.
State averages hide local spread
Large urban campuses and small rural schools can exist within the same state. A statewide ratio cannot show the median school, enrollment percentiles, or district-level variation.
Data Sources and Measurement
National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2024–25 Final Version 1a state summary of operating schools and student membership.
December 2025, publication NCES 2026005.
50 states and District of Columbia; 99,073 operating schools and 49,269,882 students.
Student membership divided by operating public elementary and secondary schools.
Prekindergarten through grade 13. Adult education students are excluded from the reported membership total.
Four U.S. Census regions: Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.
Operating schools are those providing services at the start of the reported school year. Values are displayed to one decimal place, while ranks use unrounded ratios. The U.S. figure is a pooled ratio rather than the unweighted mean of 51 jurisdiction values. Because the numerator comes from state education agency membership totals and the denominator includes all operating public schools, the result can differ from an average calculated only from individual regular-school records with reported enrollment. NCES released preliminary 2025–26 directory files in July 2026, but those files provide directory and operational-status information rather than the student-membership counts needed to recalculate these ratios, so the 2024–25 final files remain the latest complete basis for this table.