Illinois Education Statistics 2026: Schools, Enrollment & Spending
Illinois operated 4,400 public elementary and secondary schools serving 1,846,264 students in the 2023–24 NCES Common Core of Data. The state reported 136,492 teacher full-time equivalents and a pupil-teacher ratio of 13.5.
Fiscal year 2024 Census data place Illinois current operating spending at $21,776 per pupil. School structure, enrollment, and finance figures retain their official reporting periods because the federal collections do not use one shared reference year.
Illinois Education Snapshot
Latest nationally comparable school, enrollment, staffing, and current-spending measures available by June 2026.
Illinois Public School Enrollment, Fall 2019–Fall 2023
NCES student membership declined each year in the five-point series.
Enrollment fell from 1,943,117 in fall 2019 to 1,846,264 in fall 2023. Exact annual counts remain visible in the enrollment table.
Trend analysis
- Enrollment decreased by 96,853 students, or 5.0%, from fall 2019 to fall 2023.
- The largest annual decline occurred from fall 2019 to fall 2020: 56,980 students.
- The fall 2022–fall 2023 decrease was 5,978 students, or 0.3%.
Illinois School, Enrollment, Staffing, and Finance Indicators
Each row identifies its unit and official reporting period. Finance and nonfiscal school data are separate federal collections.
| Indicator | Value | Unit | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating public schools | 4,400 | Schools | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Operating districts | 1,031 | LEAs | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Student membership | 1,846,264 | Students | Fall 2023 | NCES CCD |
| Teacher count | 136,492 | FTE | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Pupil-teacher ratio | 13.5 | Students per FTE | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Regular schools | 3,859 | Schools | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Special education schools | 230 | Schools | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Career and technical schools | 38 | Schools | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Alternative education schools | 273 | Schools | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Charter-status schools | 133 | Schools | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Current spending per pupil | $21,776 | Nominal dollars | FY2024 | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Revenue per pupil, all sources | $24,254 | Nominal dollars | FY2024 | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Federal revenue per pupil | $2,555 | Nominal dollars | FY2024 | U.S. Census Bureau |
| State revenue per pupil | $9,678 | Nominal dollars | FY2024 | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Local revenue per pupil | $12,021 | Nominal dollars | FY2024 | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Enrollment change, 2019–23 | −5.0% | Percent | Fall 2019–fall 2023 | NCES Digest |
| Current-spending position | 11th | 51 jurisdictions | FY2024 | U.S. Census Bureau |
Table analysis
- Illinois accounted for 3.74% of U.S. public school membership in the 2023–24 CCD.
- The state accounted for 4.43% of operating U.S. public schools and 4.20% of teacher FTE.
- There were about 420 students per operating school based on the state totals.
- The pupil-teacher ratio of 13.5 was 1.7 pupils below the U.S. ratio of 15.2.
- Regular schools represented 87.7% of the Illinois operating-school count.
- Charter status covered 133 schools; charter is a status that can overlap an NCES school type.
- Illinois current spending per pupil was $4,157 above the FY2024 national value.
- Dollar values are nominal and are not adjusted for inflation or regional prices.
School Structure, Enrollment Movement, and Finance
Supporting tables separate institution types, annual student counts, revenue sources, and national reference values.
Operating Schools by NCES Type
The four school-type categories sum to the 4,400-school total.
Regular schools form the largest category. Charter status is reported separately because it can overlap these types.
Chart analysis
- 3,859 regular schools made up 87.7% of the total.
- Alternative education accounted for 273 schools, or 6.2%.
- Special education and career-technical schools together accounted for 268 schools.
FY2024 Revenue per Pupil by Source
Federal, state, and local revenue sum to $24,254 per pupil.
Local revenue was the largest source on a per-pupil basis in the Census FY2024 finance data.
Chart analysis
- Local revenue was $12,021 per pupil, or 49.56% of all-source revenue.
- State revenue was $9,678 per pupil, or 39.90%.
- Federal revenue was $2,555 per pupil, or 10.53%.
Illinois Enrollment Trend Table
Fall membership counts use the same NCES series for each year.
| Fall year | Enrollment | Change count | Change rate | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1,943,117 | Series base | Series base | NCES Digest |
| 2020 | 1,886,137 | −56,980 | −2.9% | NCES Digest |
| 2021 | 1,868,482 | −17,655 | −0.9% | NCES Digest |
| 2022 | 1,852,242 | −16,240 | −0.9% | NCES Digest |
| 2023 | 1,846,264 | −5,978 | −0.3% | NCES Digest |
Trend analysis
- Every annual movement in the five-year series was negative.
- The annual decline narrowed from 56,980 students in 2020 to 5,978 in 2023.
- Fall 2023 membership was 95.0% of the fall 2019 count.
- Counts include prekindergarten through grade 13 and exclude adult education students.
Illinois Public School Types
NCES assigns one instructional type to each operating school; charter status is an overlapping classification.
| Classification | Schools | Share | Count rule | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All operating schools | 4,400 | 100.0% | Total | 2023–24 |
| Regular | 3,859 | 87.7% | School type | 2023–24 |
| Special education | 230 | 5.2% | School type | 2023–24 |
| Career and technical | 38 | 0.9% | School type | 2023–24 |
| Alternative education | 273 | 6.2% | School type | 2023–24 |
| Charter status | 133 | 3.0% | Overlapping status | 2023–24 |
Table analysis
- The four NCES school types add to 4,400 operating schools.
- Nonregular types totaled 541 schools, or 12.3%.
- Charter schools represented 3.0% of all operating schools by count.
- Charter schools should not be added to the four type rows because the status overlaps school type.
FY2024 Spending and Revenue per Pupil
Current spending is an expenditure measure. Federal, state, and local rows are revenue measures.
| Finance measure | Per pupil | Revenue share | Measure type | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current spending | $21,776 | Not a revenue share | Expenditure | FY2024 |
| Revenue, all sources | $24,254 | 100.00% | Revenue | FY2024 |
| Federal revenue | $2,555 | 10.53% | Revenue | FY2024 |
| State revenue | $9,678 | 39.90% | Revenue | FY2024 |
| Local revenue | $12,021 | 49.56% | Revenue | FY2024 |
| U.S. current spending | $17,619 | Not a revenue share | Reference expenditure | FY2024 |
Table analysis
- Illinois current spending was $21,776 per pupil.
- The Illinois value was 23.6% above the U.S. value of $17,619.
- Local and state sources supplied 89.47% of all-source revenue per pupil.
- Local revenue exceeded state revenue by $2,343 per pupil.
- Revenue and current spending are not interchangeable measures.
- Figures are not adjusted for regional price differences.
Illinois Compared with U.S. Public School Totals
Structure and staffing comparisons use 2023–24 CCD values; spending comparisons use FY2024 Census values.
| Measure | Illinois | United States | Comparison | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating schools | 4,400 | 99,297 | 4.43% of U.S. | 2023–24 |
| Operating districts | 1,031 | 19,186 | 5.37% of U.S. | 2023–24 |
| Student membership | 1,846,264 | 49,404,386 | 3.74% of U.S. | Fall 2023 |
| Teacher FTE | 136,492 | 3,253,091 | 4.20% of U.S. | 2023–24 |
| Pupil-teacher ratio | 13.5 | 15.2 | 1.7 lower | 2023–24 |
| Current spending per pupil | $21,776 | $17,619 | 23.6% higher | FY2024 |
Table analysis
- Illinois held 3.74% of U.S. student membership but 4.20% of teacher FTE.
- The state held a larger share of U.S. operating districts than of U.S. enrollment.
- Illinois reported about 420 students per operating school, compared with about 498 nationally.
- The current-spending comparison is nominal and does not measure service quality or student outcomes.
What the Illinois Education Data Shows
The measures describe system scale, reported staffing, enrollment movement, and public school finance under federal data definitions.
Enrollment movement
Illinois enrollment declined 5.0% from fall 2019 to fall 2023. The annual loss became smaller across the last three intervals in the series.
School structure
The CCD operating-district count includes all reported LEA types. It should not be treated as a count limited to conventional local school districts.
Spending level
FY2024 current spending covers operating costs and excludes capital outlay, debt service, and non-pre-K–12 programs under the Census definition.
Revenue mix
Local revenue was the largest FY2024 source per pupil. Revenue totals and expenditure totals answer different finance questions and should remain separate.
Source and Methodology
NCES CCD 2023–24 Summary Table 2
NCES CCD 2023–24 Summary Table 3
NCES Digest 2024, Table 203.20
2024 Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Data
Census Table GS00SCHFIN05
Illinois Report Card Data Library
NCES school and district totals include entities providing services at the start of 2023–24. Student membership includes prekindergarten through grade 13 and excludes adult education students; teachers are full-time equivalents. NCES school type is based on instructional emphasis. Charter is a separate status and can overlap a school type.
Census FY2024 current spending covers operational costs for public pre-K–12 education and excludes capital outlay, debt service, and non-pre-K–12 programs. Dollar values are nominal. Revenue-source shares were calculated from the published per-pupil amounts and may differ by 0.01 percentage point because of rounding.
The 2026 title identifies the publication edition, not a single data year. School structure and enrollment use 2023–24 CCD data; finance uses FY2024 data released in May 2026. The two collections use different reporting definitions and should not be merged into an implied statewide total.
Current spending per pupil is a finance indicator, not a direct measure of school quality or student outcomes. The FY2024 position of 11th is based only on nominal current spending per pupil across the 50 states and District of Columbia; it is not adjusted for regional prices, student needs, district structure, or service mix.