U.S. Education Data
Largest School Districts in Illinois 2026: Enrollment Rankings & Charts
Illinois' 200 largest public school districts are ranked by 2024–25 district enrollment from the 2025 Illinois Report Card data series. The 2026 edition label does not imply that the ranking uses a completed 2025–26 Report Card dataset.
Enrollment rank measures student count only. Illinois includes districts with different grade spans and organization types, so rank should not be read as a measure of school quality or as a like-for-like K–12 service comparison.
Illinois District Enrollment Statistics
Derived from the 200 ranked district rows shown in the full table.
Districts ranked
200
Largest districts in the published ranking set
Top-200 enrollment
1,349,591
Sum of the displayed district counts
Median enrollment
3,642
Median within the top-200 subset
Rank 200 cutoff
1,995
Rochester Community Unit School District 3A
Top-20 share
47.4%
Share of enrollment within the top-200 subset
Top 20 Illinois Districts on the Full Enrollment Scale
The main chart keeps one common scale so the size gap between Chicago and the rest of the ranking remains visible.
District Enrollment Ranking, Ranks 1–20
2024–25 Illinois Report Card district enrollment
Chicago Public School District 299 is retained on the same axis as every other district. A second chart isolates ranks 2–20 so differences within the next tier remain readable.
Data analysis
- Chicago Public School District 299 enrolls 323,047 students, about 9.6 times School District U-46's 33,525.
- Community Unit School District 300, ranked sixth at 20,392 students, is the last district in the top 200 above 20,000.
Largest 200 Illinois School Districts by Enrollment
Districts are ordered by 2024–25 enrollment. Equal enrollment values share the same rank, with the following rank number skipped.
| Rank | District | City | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago Public School District 299 | Chicago | 323,047 |
| 2 | School District U-46 | Elgin | 33,525 |
| 3 | Rockford School District 205 | Rockford | 28,162 |
| 4 | Indian Prairie School District 204 | Aurora | 25,932 |
| 5 | Plainfield School District 202 | Plainfield | 24,411 |
| 6 | Community Unit School District 300 | Algonquin | 20,392 |
| 7 | Oswego Community Unit School District 308 | Oswego | 16,601 |
| 8 | Naperville Community Unit School District 203 | Naperville | 15,899 |
| 9 | Schaumburg Community Consolidated School District 54 | Schaumburg | 15,266 |
| 10 | Valley View Community Unit School District 365U | Romeoville | 14,529 |
| 11 | Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 | Waukegan | 13,551 |
| 12 | Peoria School District 150 | Peoria | 12,857 |
| 13 | Springfield School District 186 | Springfield | 12,795 |
| 14 | Township High School District 211 | Palatine | 12,292 |
| 15 | McLean County Unit School District 5 | Normal | 12,219 |
| 16 | Aurora East Unit School District 131 | Aurora | 12,043 |
| 17 | Township High School District 214 | Arlington Heights | 11,737 |
| 18 | St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 | St. Charles | 11,610 |
| 19 | Community Unit School District 200 | Wheaton | 11,503 |
| 20 | Palatine Community Consolidated School District 15 | Palatine | 11,249 |
| 21 | Aurora West Unit School District 129 | Aurora | 10,982 |
| 22 | Champaign Community Unit School District 4 | Champaign | 10,465 |
| 23 | Joliet Public School District 86 | Joliet | 9,295 |
| 24 | Cicero School District 99 | Cicero | 8,621 |
| 25 | Huntley Community School District 158 | Algonquin | 8,358 |
| 26 | Elmhurst School District 205 | Elmhurst | 8,209 |
| 27 | Barrington Community Unit School District 220 | Barrington | 7,881 |
| 28 | Decatur School District 61 | Decatur | 7,740 |
| 29 | Glenbard Township High School District 87 | Glen Ellyn | 7,649 |
| 30 | J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 | Cicero | 7,572 |
| 31 | Consolidated High School District 230 | Orland Park | 7,485 |
| 32 | Belvidere Consolidated Unit School District 100 | Belvidere | 7,458 |
| 33 | Moline-Coal Valley School District 40 | Moline | 7,209 |
| 34 | Yorkville Community Unit School District 115 | Yorkville | 7,097 |
| 35 | Edwardsville Community Unit School District 7 | Edwardsville | 7,030 |
| 36 | Crystal Lake Community Consolidated School District 47 | Crystal Lake | 6,872 |
| 37 | Lincoln Way Community High School District 210 | New Lenox | 6,639 |
| 38 | Joliet Township High School District 204 | Joliet | 6,621 |
| 39 | DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 | DeKalb | 6,584 |
| 40 | Wheeling Community Consolidated School District 21 | Wheeling | 6,239 |
| 41 | Rock Island School District 41 | Rock Island | 6,211 |
| 42 | Maine Township High School District 207 | Park Ridge | 6,197 |
| 43 | Quincy School District 172 | Quincy | 6,169 |
| 44 | Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 | Woodstock | 6,111 |
| 45 | Evanston Community Consolidated School District 65 | Evanston | 6,047 |
| 46 | Harlem Unit School District 122 | Machesney Park | 6,045 |
| 47 | Round Lake Community Unit School District 116 | Round Lake | 6,006 |
| 48 | Collinsville Community Unit School District 10 | Collinsville | 5,974 |
| 49 | Community Consolidated School District 59 | Elk Grove Village | 5,819 |
| 50 | Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 | Lake Zurich | 5,718 |
| 51 | Granite City Community Unit School District 9 | Granite City | 5,617 |
| 52 | Oak Park Elementary School District 97 | Oak Park | 5,501 |
| 53 | Alton Community Unit School District 11 | Alton | 5,455 |
| 54 | Community High School District 218 | Oak Lawn | 5,367 |
| 55 | Arlington Heights School District 25 | Arlington Heights | 5,359 |
| 56 | Community High School District 155 | Crystal Lake | 5,196 |
| 57 | Orland School District 135 | Orland Park | 5,127 |
| 58 | Batavia Unit School District 101 | Batavia | 5,117 |
| 59 | Central Community Unit School District 301 | Burlington | 5,018 |
| 60 | Northfield Township High School District 225 | Glenview | 4,975 |
| 61 | Geneva Community Unit School District 304 | Geneva | 4,964 |
| 62 | New Lenox School District 122 | New Lenox | 4,935 |
| 63 | Danville Community Consolidated School District 118 | Danville | 4,900 |
| 64 | Dunlap Community Unit School District 323 | Dunlap | 4,805 |
| 65 | Downers Grove Grade School District 58 | Downers Grove | 4,721 |
| 66 | Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125 | Lincolnshire | 4,719 |
| 67 | Bloomington School District 87 | Bloomington | 4,699 |
| 68 | Bremen Community High School District 228 | Midlothian | 4,666 |
| 69 | Belleville Township High School District 201 | Belleville | 4,625 |
| 70 | Park Ridge Consolidated Community School District 64 | Park Ridge | 4,614 |
| 71 | Community High School District 99 | Downers Grove | 4,598 |
| 72 | Niles Township Community High School District 219 | Skokie | 4,577 |
| 73 | East St. Louis School District 189 | East St. Louis | 4,558 |
| 74 | Woodland Community Consolidated School District 50 | Gurnee | 4,526 |
| 75 | Des Plaines Community Consolidated School District 62 | Des Plaines | 4,488 |
| 76 | Crete-Monee Community Unit School District 201-U | Crete | 4,486 |
| 77 | Ball-Chatham Community Unit School District 5 | Chatham | 4,462 |
| 78 | Kankakee School District 111 | Kankakee | 4,455 |
| 79 | Mascoutah Community Unit School District 19 | Mascoutah | 4,318 |
| 80 | Minooka Community Consolidated School District 201 | Minooka | 4,317 |
| 81 | Glenview Community Consolidated School District 34 | Glenview | 4,270 |
| 82 | Thornton Township High School District 205 | South Holland | 4,255 |
| 83 | Proviso Township High School District 209 | Forest Park | 4,175 |
| 84 | Urbana School District 116 | Urbana | 4,134 |
| 85 | Wauconda Community Unit School District 118 | Wauconda | 4,093 |
| 86 | Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview School District 89 | Melrose Park | 4,018 |
| 87 | McHenry Community Consolidated School District 15 | McHenry | 4,008 |
| 88 | Triad Community Unit School District 2 | Troy | 3,993 |
| 89 | Troy Community Consolidated School District 30C | Plainfield | 3,895 |
| 90 | Kaneland Community Unit School District 302 | Maple Park | 3,854 |
| 91 | O'Fallon Community Consolidated School District 90 | O'Fallon | 3,837 |
| 92 | Galesburg Community Unit School District 205 | Galesburg | 3,819 |
| 93 | Hinsdale Township High School District 86 | Hinsdale | 3,801 |
| 94 | DuPage High School District 88 | Addison | 3,743 |
| 95 | North Shore School District 112 | Highland Park | 3,695 |
| 96 | East Maine School District 63 | Des Plaines | 3,686 |
| 97 | Marion Community Unit School District 2 | Marion | 3,662 |
| 98 | Sycamore Community Unit School District 427 | Sycamore | 3,655 |
| 99 | Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C | Homer Glen | 3,648 |
| 100 | Lyons Township High School District 204 | La Grange | 3,645 |
| 101 | Lockport Township High School District 205 | Lockport | 3,638 |
| 102 | New Trier Township High School District 203 | Northfield | 3,610 |
| 103 | Freeport School District 145 | Freeport | 3,597 |
| 104 | North Chicago School District 187 | North Chicago | 3,555 |
| 105 | Hinsdale Community Consolidated School District 181 | Clarendon Hills | 3,546 |
| 106 | Grayslake Consolidated Community School District 46 | Grayslake | 3,501 |
| 107 | Kirby School District 140 | Tinley Park | 3,478 |
| 108 | Evanston Township High School District 202 | Evanston | 3,476 |
| 109 | Hawthorn Community Consolidated School District 73 | Vernon Hills | 3,466 |
| 110 | Glen Ellyn School District 41 | Glen Ellyn | 3,462 |
| 111 | Mahomet-Seymour Community Unit School District 3 | Mahomet | 3,441 |
| 112 | Leyden Community High School District 212 | Franklin Park | 3,418 |
| 113 | Kildeer Countryside Community Consolidated School District 96 | Buffalo Grove | 3,405 |
| 114 | Warren Township High School District 121 | Gurnee | 3,394 |
| 115 | Addison School District 4 | Addison | 3,371 |
| 116 | Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123 | Oak Lawn | 3,355 |
| 117 | North Palos School District 117 | Palos Hills | 3,326 |
| 118 | Community Consolidated School District 93 | Bloomingdale | 3,299 |
| 119 | Oak Park and River Forest District 200 | Oak Park | 3,276 |
| 120 | Wilmette School District 39 | Wilmette | 3,258 |
| 121 | Morton Community Unit School District 709 | Morton | 3,217 |
| 122 | West Chicago Elementary School District 33 | West Chicago | 3,211 |
| 122 | Belleville School District 118 | Belleville | 3,211 |
| 124 | Burbank School District 111 | Burbank | 3,185 |
| 125 | Sterling Community Unit School District 5 | Sterling | 3,160 |
| 126 | Libertyville Community High School District 128 | Vernon Hills | 3,154 |
| 127 | Villa Park School District 45 | Villa Park | 3,135 |
| 128 | Jacksonville School District 117 | Jacksonville | 3,131 |
| 129 | Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215 | Lansing | 3,088 |
| 130 | Pekin Public School District 108 | Pekin | 3,072 |
| 131 | Bloom Township High School District 206 | Chicago Heights | 3,012 |
| 132 | Berwyn South School District 100 | Berwyn | 3,002 |
| 133 | Township High School District 113 | Highland Park | 3,000 |
| 134 | Lombard School District 44 | Lombard | 2,976 |
| 135 | Cahokia Community Unit School District 187 | Cahokia | 2,957 |
| 136 | Mattoon Community Unit School District 2 | Mattoon | 2,927 |
| 137 | Cook County School District 130 | Blue Island | 2,897 |
| 138 | Elmwood Park Community Unit School District 401 | Elmwood Park | 2,880 |
| 139 | Woodridge School District 68 | Woodridge | 2,872 |
| 140 | La Grange School District 102 | La Grange Park | 2,861 |
| 141 | Minooka Community High School District 111 | Channahon | 2,851 |
| 142 | Waterloo Community Unit School District 5 | Waterloo | 2,715 |
| 143 | Highland Community Unit School District 5 | Highland | 2,710 |
| 144 | Deerfield School District 109 | Deerfield | 2,709 |
| 145 | Lemont-Bromberek Combined School District 113A | Lemont | 2,661 |
| 146 | Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School District 233 | Flossmoor | 2,657 |
| 147 | Frankfort Community Consolidated School District 157C | Frankfort | 2,634 |
| 148 | Chicago Heights School District 170 | Chicago Heights | 2,632 |
| 149 | East Moline School District 37 | East Moline | 2,612 |
| 150 | Charleston Community Unit School District 1 | Charleston | 2,552 |
| 151 | Antioch Community High School District 117 | Lake Villa | 2,550 |
| 152 | Aptakisic-Tripp Community Consolidated School District 102 | Buffalo Grove | 2,542 |
| 153 | Antioch Community Consolidated School District 34 | Antioch | 2,537 |
| 154 | Harvard Community Unit School District 50 | Harvard | 2,503 |
| 155 | O'Fallon Township High School District 203 | O'Fallon | 2,502 |
| 156 | Zion-Benton Township High School District 126 | Zion | 2,481 |
| 157 | Grayslake Community High School District 127 | Grayslake | 2,479 |
| 158 | Lake Park Community High School District 108 | Roselle | 2,466 |
| 159 | Lansing School District 158 | Lansing | 2,461 |
| 160 | Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 | Markham | 2,434 |
| 161 | Berwyn North School District 98 | Berwyn | 2,413 |
| 162 | Geneseo Community Unit School District 228 | Geneseo | 2,405 |
| 163 | Mount Zion Community Unit School District 3 | Mount Zion | 2,400 |
| 164 | Indian Springs School District 109 | Justice | 2,393 |
| 165 | Mannheim School District 83 | Franklin Park | 2,390 |
| 166 | Plano Community Unit School District 88 | Plano | 2,374 |
| 167 | Cary Community Consolidated School District 26 | Cary | 2,368 |
| 168 | Matteson Elementary School District 162 | Richton Park | 2,360 |
| 169 | Jersey Community Unit School District 100 | Jerseyville | 2,357 |
| 170 | Bethalto Consolidated Unit School District 8 | Bethalto | 2,355 |
| 170 | Dixon Unit School District 170 | Dixon | 2,355 |
| 172 | Ridgeland School District 122 | Oak Lawn | 2,354 |
| 173 | Rich Township High School District 227 | Matteson | 2,347 |
| 174 | Community Consolidated School District 146 | Tinley Park | 2,317 |
| 175 | Lake Villa Community Consolidated School District 41 | Lake Villa | 2,316 |
| 176 | Summit Hill School District 161 | Frankfort | 2,309 |
| 177 | Flossmoor School District 161 | Chicago Heights | 2,287 |
| 178 | Herrin Community Unit School District 4 | Herrin | 2,285 |
| 179 | Bourbonnais School District 53 | Bourbonnais | 2,266 |
| 180 | Marquardt School District 15 | Glendale Heights | 2,265 |
| 181 | Mundelein Consolidated High School District 120 | Mundelein | 2,255 |
| 182 | Glen Ellyn Community Consolidated School District 89 | Glen Ellyn | 2,239 |
| 183 | Effingham Community Unit School District 40 | Effingham | 2,196 |
| 184 | McHenry Community High School District 156 | McHenry | 2,187 |
| 185 | Libertyville School District 70 | Libertyville | 2,160 |
| 186 | Taylorville Community Unit School District 3 | Taylorville | 2,146 |
| 187 | Carterville Community Unit School District 5 | Carterville | 2,143 |
| 188 | East Richland Community Unit School District 1 | Olney | 2,125 |
| 189 | Coal City Community Unit School District 1 | Coal City | 2,121 |
| 190 | Zion Elementary School District 6 | Zion | 2,106 |
| 191 | Palos Community Consolidated School District 118 | Palos Park | 2,104 |
| 192 | Dolton School District 149 | Calumet City | 2,102 |
| 193 | Mount Prospect School District 57 | Mount Prospect | 2,092 |
| 194 | Fremont School District 79 | Mundelein | 2,060 |
| 195 | Berkeley School District 87 | Berkeley | 2,054 |
| 196 | Illinois Valley Central Unit School District 321 | Chillicothe | 2,050 |
| 197 | Canton Union School District 66 | Canton | 2,046 |
| 198 | Bensenville School District 2 | Bensenville | 2,009 |
| 199 | Lyons School District 103 | Lyons | 2,003 |
| 200 | Rochester Community Unit School District 3A | Rochester | 1,995 |
Table analysis
- West Chicago Elementary School District 33 and Belleville School District 118 each report 3,211 students and share rank 122.
- Bethalto Consolidated Unit School District 8 and Dixon Unit School District 170 each report 2,355 students and share rank 170.
- Enrollment falls from 3,645 at rank 100 to 1,995 at rank 200, a difference of 1,650 students.
Enrollment Scale Beyond Chicago
Two supporting views separate the second tier of large districts from the distribution of the full top-200 subset.
Ranks 2–20 Without Chicago
A rescaled view of the next 19 largest districts
Removing rank 1 from this visual changes only the axis, not the underlying enrollment values or ranking.
Data analysis
- School District U-46 leads the rescaled group with 33,525 students, 5,363 more than Rockford School District 205.
- Ranks 14–20 occupy a narrow band from 12,292 to 11,249, a spread of 1,043 students.
District Size Bands Within the Top 200
Counts and enrollment shares refer only to the 200 districts in the ranking, not to every Illinois district.
20,000+ students
6 districts
455,469 students · 33.7% of top-200 enrollment
10,000–19,999
16 districts
205,598 students · 15.2%
5,000–9,999
37 districts
242,613 students · 18.0%
2,000–4,999
140 districts
443,916 students · 32.9%
Below 2,000
1 district
1,995 students · 0.1%
Data analysis
- 140 of 200 ranked districts fall between 2,000 and 4,999 students.
- The six districts at or above 20,000 students contain 33.7% of all enrollment represented in the top-200 table.
What Enrollment Rank Does and Does Not Compare
Illinois district structure affects how raw student counts should be interpreted.
Different grade spans share one ranking
Illinois Report Card coverage includes regular operating elementary, high school, and unit districts. A high-school-only district can therefore appear beside a unit district that serves a broader grade span.
Enrollment is a scale measure
The ranking orders districts only by reported student enrollment. It does not rank academic outcomes, finances, staffing, school quality, or district effectiveness.
Data Sources and Measurement
Primary source
Illinois State Board of Education — Report Card Data Library. The 2025 Report Card Public Data Set is listed as updated May 14, 2026.
Enrollment definition
Illinois Report Card — Enrollment. District enrollment is based on the reporting-year count and includes students attending district schools plus district-funded private placements.
District coverage
2025 Illinois Report Card Glossary of Terms. Illinois reports multiple district organization types, including regular operating elementary, high school, and unit districts.
Federal reference
NCES 2024–25 Common Core of Data Universe Files, Version 1a provide federal district-level directory and membership data for the same school-year period.
The ranking uses 2024–25 Illinois district enrollment and covers the largest 200 districts in the verified ranking set. Equal enrollment values use competition ranking, so a tie shares one rank and the next ordinal is skipped. The top-200 total, median, band totals, ratios, and percentages are calculated from the 200 visible HTML rows; percentages are rounded to one decimal place and student counts are shown as whole students. The 2026 title identifies the edition year, while the latest complete Illinois Report Card public dataset used for the ranking is the 2025 Report Card covering 2024–25. Illinois' 2025–26 Fall Enrollment report is a newer reporting product, but it is not substituted for the completed 2025 Report Card series in this ranking.