Largest School Districts in North Carolina 2026: Enrollment Rankings & Charts
Wake County Schools ranks first in North Carolina's FY 2025–26 district table with 161,321 funded average daily membership (ADM), followed by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools at 141,894. The ranking covers all 115 traditional local education agencies (LEAs) reported by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
The ranking uses funded ADM, the membership measure used for state allotments. It is not a raw enrollment headcount. Under the current funding-in-arrears method, the funded figure starts with the prior-year Best 1 of 2 ADM and adds current-year growth when applicable, while a current-year decline does not reduce the funded base.
North Carolina District Enrollment Scale
The statewide funded ADM table ranges from large metropolitan systems to districts with fewer than 500 funded students.
15 Largest North Carolina School Districts by Funded ADM
FY 2025–26 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction funded average daily membership.
The chart summarizes the first 15 positions in the full 115-district ranking. Funded ADM can differ from live operational ADM or a point-in-time enrollment count.
Enrollment concentration
- Wake County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg together account for 22.1% of traditional LEA funded ADM.
- The gap between second-ranked Charlotte-Mecklenburg and third-ranked Guilford County is 75,752 funded ADM.
- The five largest districts account for 34.1% of the statewide traditional LEA total.
2025–26 North Carolina School District Ranking by Funded ADM
All 115 traditional LEAs are included. Rank is based only on FY 2025–26 funded ADM, from highest to lowest.
| Rank | District | Funded ADM |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wake County Schools | 161,321 |
| 2 | Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools | 141,894 |
| 3 | Guilford County Schools | 66,142 |
| 4 | Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools | 50,598 |
| 5 | Cumberland County Schools | 48,419 |
| 6 | Union County Public Schools | 40,929 |
| 7 | Johnston County Public Schools | 37,079 |
| 8 | Cabarrus County Schools | 35,169 |
| 9 | Durham Public Schools | 31,079 |
| 10 | Gaston County Schools | 30,616 |
| 11 | Onslow County Schools | 27,141 |
| 12 | New Hanover County Schools | 24,599 |
| 13 | Pitt County Schools | 23,918 |
| 14 | Alamance-Burlington Schools | 22,368 |
| 15 | Buncombe County Schools | 22,052 |
| 16 | Iredell-Statesville Schools | 20,812 |
| 17 | Public Schools of Robeson County | 20,389 |
| 18 | Harnett County Schools | 19,855 |
| 19 | Davidson County Schools | 17,732 |
| 20 | Rowan-Salisbury Schools | 17,591 |
| 21 | Wayne County Public Schools | 17,125 |
| 22 | Catawba County Schools | 15,762 |
| 23 | Randolph County School System | 14,830 |
| 24 | Cleveland County Schools | 14,024 |
| 25 | Brunswick County Schools | 13,688 |
| 26 | Nash County Public Schools | 12,992 |
| 27 | Moore County Schools | 12,948 |
| 28 | Henderson County Schools | 12,581 |
| 29 | Craven County Board of Education | 11,838 |
| 30 | Lincoln County Schools | 11,459 |
| 31 | Burke County Schools | 11,206 |
| 32 | Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools | 11,114 |
| 33 | Rockingham County Schools | 10,885 |
| 34 | Pender County Schools | 10,737 |
| 35 | Caldwell County Schools | 10,331 |
| 36 | Wilson County Schools | 10,256 |
| 37 | Duplin County Schools | 9,578 |
| 38 | Lee County Schools | 9,161 |
| 39 | Chatham County Schools | 8,812 |
| 40 | Stanly County Schools | 8,719 |
| 41 | Hoke County Schools | 8,503 |
| 42 | Wilkes County Schools | 8,238 |
| 43 | Lenoir County Public Schools | 8,136 |
| 44 | Franklin County Schools | 7,880 |
| 45 | Sampson County Schools | 7,826 |
| 46 | Carteret County Public Schools | 7,750 |
| 47 | Rutherford County Schools | 7,186 |
| 48 | Surry County Schools | 7,124 |
| 49 | Orange County Schools | 6,915 |
| 50 | Haywood County Schools | 6,370 |
| 51 | Richmond County Schools | 6,339 |
| 52 | Granville County Schools | 6,287 |
| 53 | Edgecombe County Public Schools | 6,188 |
| 54 | Davie County Schools | 6,012 |
| 55 | Mooresville Graded School District | 5,794 |
| 56 | Beaufort County Schools | 5,465 |
| 57 | Stokes County Schools | 5,457 |
| 58 | Kannapolis City Schools | 5,362 |
| 59 | McDowell County Schools | 5,359 |
| 60 | Scotland County Schools | 5,221 |
| 61 | Columbus County Schools | 5,220 |
| 62 | Yadkin County Schools | 4,976 |
| 63 | Vance County Schools | 4,957 |
| 64 | Dare County Schools | 4,790 |
| 65 | Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools | 4,628 |
| 66 | Watauga County Schools | 4,565 |
| 67 | Currituck County Schools | 4,532 |
| 68 | Asheboro City Schools | 4,421 |
| 69 | Macon County Schools | 4,398 |
| 70 | Person County Schools | 4,331 |
| 71 | Alexander County Schools | 4,201 |
| 72 | Asheville City Schools | 3,824 |
| 73 | Bladen County Schools | 3,783 |
| 74 | Hickory City Schools | 3,634 |
| 75 | Montgomery County Schools | 3,443 |
| 76 | Jackson County Public Schools | 3,344 |
| 77 | Transylvania County Schools | 3,161 |
| 78 | Cherokee County Schools | 2,935 |
| 79 | Clinton City Schools | 2,900 |
| 80 | Anson County Schools | 2,899 |
| 81 | Lexington City Schools | 2,835 |
| 82 | Greene County Schools | 2,707 |
| 83 | Roanoke Rapids City Schools | 2,601 |
| 84 | Newton Conover City Schools | 2,586 |
| 85 | Ashe County Schools | 2,573 |
| 86 | Martin County Schools | 2,555 |
| 87 | Hertford County Schools | 2,225 |
| 88 | Thomasville City Schools | 2,087 |
| 89 | Madison County Schools | 2,071 |
| 90 | Yancey County Schools | 2,064 |
| 91 | Halifax County Schools | 2,036 |
| 92 | Caswell County Schools | 2,033 |
| 93 | Polk County Schools | 1,990 |
| 94 | Whiteville City Schools | 1,989 |
| 95 | Camden County Schools | 1,914 |
| 96 | Swain County Schools | 1,804 |
| 97 | Perquimans County Schools | 1,746 |
| 98 | Mount Airy City Schools | 1,725 |
| 99 | Mitchell County Schools | 1,716 |
| 100 | Avery County Schools | 1,694 |
| 101 | Edenton-Chowan Schools | 1,673 |
| 102 | Bertie County Schools | 1,611 |
| 103 | Warren County Schools | 1,503 |
| 104 | Gates County Schools | 1,373 |
| 105 | Alleghany County Schools | 1,287 |
| 106 | Clay County Schools | 1,281 |
| 107 | Elkin City Schools | 1,239 |
| 108 | Northampton County Schools | 1,179 |
| 109 | Pamlico County Schools | 1,095 |
| 110 | Graham County Schools | 1,067 |
| 111 | Washington County Schools | 1,001 |
| 112 | Jones County Schools | 962 |
| 113 | Weldon City Schools | 634 |
| 114 | Hyde County Schools | 444 |
| 115 | Tyrrell County Schools | 436 |
District size spread
- The 20 largest districts contain 859,703 funded ADM, or 62.7% of the traditional LEA total.
- The remaining 95 districts account for 512,136, or 37.3%.
- The first-ranked district is about 30 times the statewide district median of 5,362 funded ADM.
How North Carolina District Enrollment Is Concentrated
The rank groups separate the largest systems from the long distribution of medium and small LEAs.
Share of Traditional LEA Funded ADM by Rank Group
The 115 districts are grouped by position in the FY 2025–26 ranking.
Ranks 1–5 contain 468,374 funded ADM; ranks 6–10 contain 174,872; ranks 11–20 contain 216,457; and ranks 21–115 contain 512,136.
Rank-group distribution
- The top 20 districts represent 62.7% of traditional LEA funded ADM while accounting for 17.4% of district systems.
- Ranks 21–115 contain more than one-third of funded ADM despite covering 95 of the 115 districts.
District Size Bands
District counts and student scale differ sharply across the six funded ADM ranges.
What the 2026 Ranking Measures
The scope and ADM definition matter when comparing these values with other North Carolina district lists.
Traditional districts only
The ranking covers North Carolina's 115 traditional LEAs. Charter schools, lab schools, regional schools, and other independent public school units are not treated as school districts in the ranking.
Funded ADM, not a raw headcount
NCDPI's FY 2025–26 funded ADM combines the prior-year allotment base with current-year growth when applicable. Districts with lower current ADM are not reduced below that funded base, so funded ADM can exceed current operational membership.
A size ranking, not a quality ranking
Rank position reflects only the selected membership measure. It does not rank academic performance, graduation outcomes, staffing levels, district finances, or school quality.
Data Sources and Measurement
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget, March 2026, “Funded Average Daily Membership — FY 2025–26.”
NCDPI School Business Services defines Best 1 of 2 ADM by comparing Month 1R and Month 2 ADM by grade and using the higher grade-level value across the public school unit.
NCDPI's B12 dashboard reports FY 2025–26 Best 1 of 2 ADM and historical comparisons. Operational ADM should not be substituted silently for the funded ADM values used in this ranking.
The School Attendance and Student Accounting Manual defines ADM from membership days and reporting interval days, explains LEA aggregation, and excludes Pre-K from the LEA total ADM calculation.
Ranking method: the 115 LEA values in the FY 2025–26 funded ADM table were sorted from highest to lowest. Percentage shares and concentration measures use 1,371,839, the sum of the 115 traditional LEA rows. Summary percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
Coverage: the NCDPI source table reports Charter & Lab Schools separately. Those independent public school units are excluded from the district ranking and from the 1,371,839 LEA denominator.
The FY 2025–26 budget table states that funded ADM includes the allotted ADM from the prior-year Best 1 of 2 calculation plus current-year ADM growth when applicable. A district that loses students can therefore retain a funded ADM above its current operational ADM. Comparisons with district lists using enrollment headcount, Month 1 enrollment, Month 2 ADM, NCES enrollment, or the live B12 dashboard should keep the measurement basis visible.