Mississippi Education Statistics 2026: Schools, Enrollment & Spending
Mississippi public schools enrolled 436,523 students across 1,032 operating schools and 152 districts in the 2023–24 school year. The system reported 33,694 full-time-equivalent teachers.
Fiscal year 2024 finance data place current spending at $12,324 per pupil. Federal sources supplied 22.7% of total public elementary-secondary revenue.
Mississippi Education Snapshot
School statistics and finance statistics retain their respective reporting periods.
Public School Enrollment Trend
Fall public elementary-secondary enrollment declined from 492,586 students in 2013 to 436,523 in 2023.
Mississippi Enrollment, Fall 2013–Fall 2023
Annual fall student membership reported through the NCES Common Core of Data
The largest one-year movement in the displayed series occurred between fall 2019 and fall 2020. The table retains every annual value used by the chart.
Trend analysis
- Enrollment declined from 492,586 in 2013 to 436,523 in 2023.
- The ten-year reduction totaled 56,063 students.
- Fall 2020 enrollment was 23,375 students below fall 2019.
- Enrollment decreased by 29,479 students, or 6.3%, between 2019 and 2023.
- The fall 2022-to-2023 decline was 3,762 students, or 0.9%.
Mississippi Public School System Indicators
A consolidated state profile using the latest compatible NCES and Census releases available in 2026.
| Indicator | Value | Unit | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public school enrollment | 436,523 | Students | Fall 2023 | NCES CCD |
| Operating public schools | 1,032 | Schools | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Operating public school districts | 152 | Districts | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Teachers | 33,694 | FTE teachers | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Pupil-teacher ratio | 13.0 | Students per teacher | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Regular schools | 867 | Schools | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Career and technical schools | 96 | Schools | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Alternative education schools | 67 | Schools | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Special education schools | 2 | Schools | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Charter schools | 10 | Schools; subset of types | 2023–24 | NCES CCD |
| Current spending per pupil | $12,324 | Nominal dollars per pupil | FY2024 | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Federal revenue share | 22.7% | Percent of total revenue | FY2024 | U.S. Census Bureau |
Table analysis
- The system reported 436,523 students and 33,694 FTE teachers.
- The statewide pupil-teacher ratio was 13.0 students per teacher.
- Dividing enrollment by the district count produces an average of about 2,872 students per district.
- Dividing enrollment by all operating schools produces about 423 students per school.
- Regular schools represented 84.0% of the 1,032 operating schools.
- Career and technical schools represented 9.3%; alternative schools represented 6.5%.
- The 10 charter schools are a status subset and should not be added to the four school-type counts.
- School counts and enrollment use school-year data; spending indicators use fiscal-year data.
School Structure and Enrollment History
Regular-school level classifications and annual enrollment totals add detail to the statewide counts.
Regular Schools by Level
NCES classifications for regular operating schools with reported membership, 2023–24
| School level | Schools | Average membership | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prekindergarten | 7 | 206 | 2023–24 |
| Elementary | 436 | 448 | 2023–24 |
| Middle | 184 | 459 | 2023–24 |
| High school | 198 | 669 | 2023–24 |
| Secondary | 4 | 327 | 2023–24 |
| Other or ungraded | 38 | 561 | 2023–24 |
Table analysis
- The six level categories contain 867 regular schools.
- Elementary schools form the largest category with 436 schools.
- High schools reported the largest average membership at 669 students.
- The level table excludes exclusively virtual schools, schools with zero or missing membership, and schools without a reported level.
Annual Public School Enrollment
Fall membership reported by Mississippi through the NCES State Nonfiscal Survey
| Year | Enrollment | Annual change | Annual change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 492,586 | Baseline | Baseline |
| 2014 | 490,917 | -1,669 | -0.3% |
| 2015 | 487,200 | -3,717 | -0.8% |
| 2016 | 483,150 | -4,050 | -0.8% |
| 2017 | 478,321 | -4,829 | -1.0% |
| 2018 | 471,298 | -7,023 | -1.5% |
| 2019 | 466,002 | -5,296 | -1.1% |
| 2020 | 442,627 | -23,375 | -5.0% |
| 2021 | 442,000 | -627 | -0.1% |
| 2022 | 440,285 | -1,715 | -0.4% |
| 2023 | 436,523 | -3,762 | -0.9% |
Trend analysis
- Every annual interval in the displayed series recorded lower enrollment.
- The largest annual decline was 23,375 students between 2019 and 2020.
- The smallest annual decline was 627 students between 2020 and 2021.
- Enrollment remained below 450,000 in each year from 2020 through 2023.
- The 2023 total was 11.4% below the 2013 total.
Current Spending per Pupil, FY2021–FY2024
Nominal public elementary-secondary current spending reported by the U.S. Census Bureau
Current spending excludes capital outlay and debt-related expenditure. Dollar values are not adjusted for inflation or regional price differences.
Chart analysis
- Current spending rose from $10,170 per pupil in FY2021 to $12,324 in FY2024.
- The four-year nominal increase was $2,154 per pupil, or 21.2%.
- The largest displayed annual increase was $1,109 between FY2022 and FY2023.
- The FY2023-to-FY2024 increase was $231, or 1.9%.
Mississippi Spending Trend Table
| Fiscal year | Current spending per pupil | Dollar change | Percent change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $10,170 | Baseline | Baseline |
| 2022 | $10,984 | +$814 | +8.0% |
| 2023 | $12,093 | +$1,109 | +10.1% |
| 2024 | $12,324 | +$231 | +1.9% |
Table analysis
- All four values are nominal current-spending amounts.
- FY2024 spending was 21.2% above the FY2021 amount before inflation adjustment.
- FY2023 recorded the largest percentage increase in the displayed period at 10.1%.
- The table does not measure capital construction, debt service, or the purchasing power of each dollar.
Mississippi and U.S. Finance Comparison
Current spending per pupil and federal revenue share, FY2024
| Geography | Current spending per pupil | Federal revenue share | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | $12,324 | 22.7% | FY2024 |
| United States | $17,619 | 11.6% | FY2024 |
Table analysis
- Mississippi current spending was $5,295 per pupil below the national figure.
- The Mississippi amount was 30.1% below the U.S. amount.
- Mississippi had the fifth-lowest current-spending value among the 50 states in FY2024.
- Mississippi's federal revenue share exceeded the national share by 11.1 percentage points.
- At 22.7%, Mississippi reported the highest federal revenue share among the states.
What the Mississippi Data Shows
The indicators describe system size, enrollment movement, school organization, and reported public-school finances.
Enrollment scale
Fall enrollment declined in every annual interval shown from 2013 through 2023. The series describes headcount movement and does not identify the reasons for that movement.
School classifications
Regular, special education, career and technical, and alternative schools are mutually exclusive school types. Charter is a separate status classification that overlaps those types.
Spending measure
Current spending covers day-to-day educational operations. It differs from total expenditure because capital outlay, debt service, and other noncurrent items are excluded.
Federal revenue
The federal share measures the portion of total school-system revenue supplied by federal sources. It is not a measure of total spending or federal dollars per student.
Reporting periods
NCES school statistics use school year 2023–24 and fall 2023 membership. Census finance statistics use fiscal year 2024.
Price differences
The dollar figures are nominal. They are not adjusted for inflation, state purchasing power, employee costs, or regional price levels.
Source and Methodology
Schools, districts, enrollment, and teachers
NCES Common Core of Data, State Nonfiscal Survey and Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey, school year 2023–24.
School types
NCES CCD operating-school counts by regular, special education, career and technical, alternative, and charter classifications.
School levels
NCES CCD regular-school level assignments and average student membership for 2023–24.
Enrollment history
NCES Digest of Education Statistics, Table 203.20. Annual values represent fall public elementary-secondary enrollment.
Fiscal year 2024 finance data
U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Annual Survey of School System Finances, released May 7, 2026.
Finance definitions and collection
The Census survey covers revenues, expenditures, debt, and assets of public elementary-secondary school systems.
Method: State totals are reproduced from the cited official tables. Annual changes, category shares, and state-to-national differences are calculated from those published values. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. School-year indicators are not merged into the fiscal-year finance measure.
Spending rank reflects current expenditure per pupil only. It does not measure academic quality, student outcomes, resource adequacy, local purchasing power, capital investment, or differences in student needs. Enrollment changes and spending changes are presented as separate trends and do not establish causation.