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Georgia Education Data

Largest School Districts in Georgia 2026: Enrollment Rankings & Charts

Gwinnett County ranks first among Georgia's 180 county and independent/city local school systems by Spring 2025 full-time-equivalency enrollment, with 180,296 students in the state source file. Cobb County ranks second at 104,044.

The ranking uses one comparable statewide reporting period: the Spring FTE records in Georgia's complete downloadable 2024–25 Enrollment by Grade Level file. Later 2025–26 count dates appear in the GaDOE live enrollment tool, but those live-cycle figures are not mixed into the full ranking.

Data type: District enrollment Coverage: 180 local systems Latest complete file: 2024–25 Spring FTE Unit: FTE students Ranking basis: Enrollment only

Georgia District Enrollment Statistics

All statistics use the same 180-system local-district scope as the ranking.

Covered enrollment
1,642,043
180 local school systems
Top 10 share
44.29%
727,202 FTE students
Median district
3,318
Midpoint of 180 systems
Systems with 50,000+
5
Spring FTE enrollment

Top 15 Georgia School Systems by Enrollment

Spring 2025 FTE enrollment, 2024–25 school year

The chart shows the first 15 ranks for visual comparison. The HTML ranking contains all 180 local systems in the defined scope.

Enrollment spread
  • Gwinnett County leads Cobb County by 76,252 FTE students.
  • The first 15 systems account for 53.05% of enrollment across the covered local systems.

Full Georgia District Enrollment Ranking

Ranks are ordered from highest to lowest Spring FTE enrollment. Source labels are retained for district names.

Rank District Enrollment Share
1Gwinnett County180,29610.98%
2Cobb County104,0446.34%
3DeKalb County88,4435.39%
4Fulton County84,5615.15%
5Forsyth County54,5493.32%
6Clayton County49,5773.02%
7Atlanta Public Schools48,3132.94%
8Henry County42,4112.58%
9Cherokee County41,1642.51%
10Savannah-Chatham County33,8442.06%
11Paulding County30,9861.89%
12Houston County29,5681.80%
13Columbia County28,0871.71%
14Muscogee County27,8421.70%
15Richmond County27,4321.67%
16Hall County26,7361.63%
17Douglas County25,1931.53%
18Coweta County22,1631.35%
19Bibb County20,3351.24%
20Fayette County19,4071.18%
21Newton County18,0781.10%
22Carroll County15,6740.95%
23Rockdale County14,8350.90%
24Barrow County14,7640.90%
25Walton County14,3110.87%
26Effingham County13,7960.84%
27Bartow County13,3500.81%
28Dougherty County12,3290.75%
29Glynn County12,0820.74%
30Troup County11,6570.71%
31Clarke County11,5040.70%
32Whitfield County11,4200.70%
33Jackson County10,6580.65%
34Bulloch County10,4400.64%
35Bryan County10,2670.63%
36Liberty County10,2280.62%
37Lowndes County10,1430.62%
38Catoosa County9,7490.59%
39Camden County9,4480.58%
40Griffin-Spalding County8,6920.53%
41Marietta City8,4270.51%
42Floyd County8,3980.51%
43Oconee County8,3240.51%
44Gainesville City8,1500.50%
45Colquitt County8,1190.49%
46Walker County8,0820.49%
47Valdosta City7,8370.48%
48Polk County7,4000.45%
49Dalton Public Schools7,1740.44%
50Coffee County7,1710.44%
51Tift County6,9440.42%
52Habersham County6,8590.42%
53Murray County6,1900.38%
54Rome City6,0870.37%
55Laurens County5,9750.36%
56Buford City5,9680.36%
57Gordon County5,9220.36%
58Carrollton City5,6190.34%
59Lee County5,5930.34%
60Ware County5,5600.34%
61Thomas County5,4390.33%
62Harris County5,3430.33%
63City Schools of Decatur5,2180.32%
64Wayne County5,0040.30%
65Madison County4,9130.30%
66Jones County4,7520.29%
67Cartersville City4,4930.27%
68Monroe County4,4920.27%
69Long County4,4600.27%
70Dawson County4,2310.26%
71Grady County4,1690.25%
72Baldwin County4,1570.25%
73Jefferson City4,0900.25%
74Calhoun City3,9740.24%
75Decatur County3,9000.24%
76Gilmer County3,8530.23%
77Thomaston-Upson County3,8450.23%
78Peach County3,8180.23%
79Pickens County3,7850.23%
80Lumpkin County3,6790.22%
81Emanuel County3,6780.22%
82Stephens County3,6540.22%
83White County3,6530.22%
84Hart County3,5550.22%
85Burke County3,5270.21%
86Franklin County3,4720.21%
87Morgan County3,4440.21%
88Pierce County3,4310.21%
89Sumter County3,3800.21%
90Pike County3,3380.20%
91Butts County3,2970.20%
92Tattnall County3,2650.20%
93Haralson County3,2640.20%
94Appling County3,1850.19%
95Brantley County3,1270.19%
96Crisp County3,0740.19%
97Toombs County2,9570.18%
98McDuffie County2,9410.18%
99Berrien County2,8900.18%
100Worth County2,8640.17%
101Union County2,8540.17%
102Elbert County2,8420.17%
103Jeff Davis County2,8050.17%
104Cook County2,7960.17%
105Banks County2,7720.17%
106Putnam County2,7470.17%
107Lamar County2,7180.17%
108Ben Hill County2,6190.16%
109Fannin County2,6190.16%
110Jasper County2,5900.16%
111Washington County2,5880.16%
112Chattooga County2,5850.16%
113Dodge County2,5330.15%
114Thomasville City2,4970.15%
115Greene County2,4250.15%
116Bleckley County2,4150.15%
117Bremen City2,2380.14%
118Oglethorpe County2,2330.14%
119Dublin City2,2300.14%
120Rabun County2,1100.13%
121Brooks County2,0830.13%
122Heard County2,0800.13%
123Vidalia City2,0800.13%
124Meriwether County2,0580.13%
125Candler County2,0110.12%
126Bacon County1,9980.12%
127Screven County1,9860.12%
128Social Circle City1,8940.12%
129Jefferson County1,8820.11%
130Commerce City1,8570.11%
131Jenkins County1,8570.11%
132Dade County1,8510.11%
133Evans County1,6120.10%
134Lanier County1,5320.09%
135Irwin County1,5270.09%
136Charlton County1,5190.09%
137Atkinson County1,4490.09%
138Telfair County1,4180.09%
139Crawford County1,4140.09%
140Early County1,4020.09%
141McIntosh County1,3030.08%
142Seminole County1,2680.08%
143Chickamauga City1,2580.08%
144Marion County1,2190.07%
145Pulaski County1,2140.07%
146Wilkes County1,1930.07%
147Lincoln County1,1890.07%
148Pelham City1,1700.07%
149Trion City1,1670.07%
150Schley County1,1520.07%
151Clinch County1,1440.07%
152Mitchell County1,1270.07%
153Taylor County1,1100.07%
154Wilcox County1,0580.06%
155Turner County1,0270.06%
156Dooly County1,0020.06%
157Macon County9880.06%
158Johnson County9840.06%
159Wilkinson County9540.06%
160Treutlen County9510.06%
161Towns County9160.06%
162Terrell County8900.05%
163Chattahoochee County8850.05%
164Echols County8520.05%
165Montgomery County8250.05%
166Wheeler County7680.05%
167Miller County7120.04%
168Twiggs County6810.04%
169Warren County6240.04%
170Hancock County6100.04%
171Randolph County5580.03%
172Glascock County5480.03%
173Calhoun County4220.03%
174Talbot County3520.02%
175Stewart County3160.02%
176Baker County2810.02%
177Quitman County2690.02%
178Webster County2100.01%
179Clay County1750.01%
180Taliaferro County1590.01%
Statewide scale
  • Average enrollment is 9,122, while the median is 3,318; the higher average reflects the weight of a small group of very large systems.
  • 37 systems enroll at least 10,000 FTE students and account for 73.11% of covered enrollment.

Enrollment Concentration and District Size

The supporting views separate concentration near the top of the ranking from the wider distribution of local-system size.

Share of Enrollment Held by the Largest Systems

Percent of the 1,642,043 FTE students in the 180-system ranking scope

The top five systems hold 31.17% of covered enrollment; the top 20 hold 59.98%.

Concentration pattern
  • Ranks 11–20 account for 15.70% of covered enrollment.
  • The 160 systems outside the top 20 collectively account for 40.02%.

District Size Distribution

Enrollment bands show how the number of systems differs from the share of students served within each band.

Enrollment band Districts Students Share
Under 1,0002414,9300.91%
1,000–2,4994370,2594.28%
2,500–4,99949167,67510.21%
5,000–9,99927188,69211.49%
10,000–24,99920277,44116.90%
25,000–49,99912411,15325.04%
50,000–99,9993227,55313.86%
100,000+2284,34017.32%
District size distribution
  • The 2,500–4,999 band contains the most systems: 49 districts.
  • The 25,000–49,999 band contains 25.04% of covered enrollment, the largest student share of any single band.
  • 24 systems enroll fewer than 1,000 FTE students and together account for 0.91% of covered enrollment.

Georgia's District Scale Pattern

The ranking reflects enrollment scale, not academic performance, geographic area, or school quality.

Atlanta-Area Systems Lead the Ranking

The first nine positions are held by Atlanta-area systems. Savannah-Chatham County is the highest-ranked system outside that cluster at No. 10.

County Systems Carry Most Enrollment

The covered scope contains 159 county systems and 21 independent/city systems. County systems account for 91.98% of enrollment in the ranking.

Rank Measures Scale Only

A higher position means a larger Spring FTE count. District boundaries, school counts, student outcomes, and county population are separate measures.

Data Sources and Measurement

Primary data source

Governor's Office of Student Achievement downloadable data repository, Enrollment by Grade Level, 2024–25.

Official GOSA downloadable data repository

Source file

Enrollment by Grade Level 2024–25. GOSA describes the dataset as FTE enrollment counts for school systems and schools, disaggregated by grade.

Official 2024–25 CSV

Current GaDOE reference

The live Student Enrollment by Grade Level tool lists later FTE count cycles, including 2025–26 dates. Those live-cycle values are not combined with the full downloadable 2024–25 ranking.

GaDOE Student Enrollment by Grade Level

Coverage

180 traditional local school systems: 159 county systems and 21 independent/city systems. Separate state charter and specialty LEA rows are excluded from the local-district ranking.

Measurement: District totals are calculated by summing the K–12 grade rows marked District and Spring in the 2024–25 file. The ranking uses full-time-equivalency enrollment, not a district-reported opening-day headcount. Percent shares use the 1,642,043 FTE students in the 180-system scope as the denominator. The 2026 label identifies the ranking edition; the measurement period is 2024–25 Spring FTE. Counts are shown as whole students, while shares are rounded to two decimal places.

Reporting scope

Later live FTE count dates are not substituted into individual district rows because doing so would mix reporting periods. The full ranking remains on one complete, comparable statewide source file. Enrollment rank should not be interpreted as a ranking of academic quality, district efficiency, geographic size, or number of schools.