Montana Education Statistics 2026: Schools, Enrollment & Spending
NCES reports 147,208 public school students, 842 operating public schools, 476 operating districts, and 10,726 full-time-equivalent teachers in Montana for school year 2024–25. The statewide pupil-teacher ratio was 13.7.
Finance measures use the latest periods available through June 2026. Census data place FY2024 current spending at $13,656 per pupil, while Montana OPI reports a $1.385 billion adopted general fund budget for FY2026.
Montana Education Snapshot
Federal school-system measures use the 2024–25 NCES Common Core of Data. Montana OPI and finance measures retain their own reporting periods.
FY2024 Current Spending per Pupil
Montana compared with the West region and nationwide weighted averages.
Montana’s $13,656 figure covers current operating spending. Capital outlay, debt service, inflation adjustments, and regional price adjustments are excluded.
Chart analysis
- Montana spent $13,656 per pupil in FY2024.
- The nationwide weighted average was $17,619.
- Montana was $3,963, or 22.5%, below the nationwide figure.
- The West region weighted average was $18,166.
- Montana was $4,510, or 24.8%, below the regional figure.
- Dollar values are nominal and do not measure differences in purchasing power.
Montana Public Education Indicator Table
Federal school-system counts use 2024–25 CCD data; state enrollment categories, district structure, staffing references, budgets, and finance measures retain their listed periods.
| Category | Indicator | Value | Unit | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrollment | Public school enrollment | 147,208 | Students | 2024–25 | NCES CCD |
| Enrollment | Private school enrollment | 8,584 | Students | 2023–24 | Montana OPI |
| Enrollment | Homeschool enrollment | 8,524 | Students | 2023–24 | Montana OPI |
| Enrollment | Total nonpublic enrollment | 17,108 | Students | 2023–24 | Montana OPI |
| Schools | Operating public schools | 842 | Schools | 2024–25 | NCES CCD |
| Schools | Elementary schools | 426 | Schools | 2023–24 | Montana OPI |
| Schools | Middle, grade 7–8, and junior high schools | 222 | Schools | 2023–24 | Montana OPI |
| Schools | High schools | 173 | Schools | 2023–24 | Montana OPI |
| Districts | Operating public districts | 476 | Districts | 2024–25 | NCES CCD |
| Districts | Elementary districts | 234 | Districts | FY2025 | Montana OPI |
| Districts | High school districts | 99 | Districts | FY2025 | Montana OPI |
| Districts | K–12 districts | 64 | Districts | FY2025 | Montana OPI |
| Staffing | Teacher FTE | 10,726 | FTE teachers | 2024–25 | NCES CCD |
| Staffing | Classroom, Title I, and special education teachers | 10,862 | Staff | 2022–23 | Montana OPI |
| Staffing | Licensed staff and paraprofessionals | 16,007 | Staff | 2022–23 | Montana OPI |
| Staffing | Pupil-teacher ratio | 13.7 | Students per FTE teacher | 2024–25 | NCES CCD |
| Spending | Montana current spending per pupil | $13,656 | Dollars per pupil | FY2024 | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Spending | West region current spending per pupil | $18,166 | Dollars per pupil | FY2024 | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Spending | U.S. current spending per pupil | $17,619 | Dollars per pupil | FY2024 | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Budget | Adopted district general fund budget | $1.385B | Nominal dollars | FY2026 | Montana OPI |
Table analysis
- NCES reported 147,208 students, 842 operating schools, and 476 operating districts in 2024–25.
- Teacher staffing totaled 10,726 FTE, with a statewide pupil-teacher ratio of 13.7.
- Compared with 2023–24 CCD values, operating schools increased by 21, districts declined by 3, enrollment declined by 2,083, and teacher FTE declined by 102.
- Montana averaged about 175 students per operating school and 309 students per operating district using the 2024–25 federal totals.
- Montana accounted for about 0.30% of U.S. public school membership, 0.85% of operating schools, and 2.48% of operating districts.
- The OPI elementary, middle, and high school counts remain 2023–24 state figures and are not components of the 2024–25 federal operating-school total.
- The FY2025 OPI district-type rows describe state administrative categories and should not be summed with the 2024–25 NCES district total.
- The FY2026 adopted general fund budget was $1.385 billion.
- Periods differ because federal school-system files, state administrative tables, staffing references, and finance systems follow separate release schedules.
Enrollment, School Structure, School Size, and Funding Structure
Federal enrollment and school-structure measures are shown alongside the existing state school-size and finance tables, with each source period retained.
Montana Public School Enrollment Trend
NCES state aggregate enrollment for selected fall years, 1990–2024.
The series uses NCES State Nonfiscal Survey counts. The fall 2024 endpoint is the 2024–25 CCD membership value. OPI enrollment totals may differ because reporting coverage and extraction dates are not identical.
| Fall year | Enrollment | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 152,974 | — | NCES CCD |
| 2000 | 154,875 | +1.2% | NCES CCD |
| 2011 | 142,349 | −8.1% | NCES CCD |
| 2012 | 142,908 | +0.4% | NCES CCD |
| 2013 | 144,129 | +0.9% | NCES CCD |
| 2014 | 144,532 | +0.3% | NCES CCD |
| 2015 | 145,319 | +0.5% | NCES CCD |
| 2016 | 146,375 | +0.7% | NCES CCD |
| 2017 | 149,474 | +2.1% | NCES CCD |
| 2018 | 148,844 | −0.4% | NCES CCD |
| 2019 | 149,917 | +0.7% | NCES CCD |
| 2020 | 146,252 | −2.4% | NCES CCD |
| 2021 | 150,195 | +2.7% | NCES CCD |
| 2022 | 150,733 | +0.4% | NCES CCD |
| 2023 | 149,291 | −1.0% | NCES CCD |
| 2024 | 147,208 | −1.4% | NCES CCD |
Trend analysis
- Enrollment reached the selected-series high of 154,875 in fall 2000.
- The selected-series low was 142,349 in fall 2011.
- Enrollment rose by 3.4% between fall 2011 and fall 2024.
- Fall 2020 enrollment declined by 2.4% from 2019.
- Enrollment rebounded by 2.7% in fall 2021.
- Fall 2024 enrollment was 1.4% below fall 2023.
- The fall 2024 count remained 3.8% below the fall 1990 count.
- Changes for 2000 and 2011 compare with the prior selected year rather than a one-year interval.
2024–25 Federal School Structure
NCES assigns one instructional type to each operating public school. Montana reported no applicable charter-school count because state law does not authorize public charter schools under the CCD definition.
| Measure | Montana | U.S. | Montana share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating schools | 842 | 99,073 | 0.85% |
| Regular schools | 838 | 90,249 | 0.93% |
| Special education schools | 2 | 1,859 | 0.11% |
| Career and technical schools | 0 | 1,587 | 0.00% |
| Alternative education schools | 2 | 5,378 | 0.04% |
| Student membership | 147,208 | 49,269,882 | 0.30% |
| Students per operating school | 174.8 | 497.3 | 35.2% of U.S. value |
Table analysis
- Regular schools represented 99.5% of Montana's 842 operating public schools.
- Montana had about 175 students per operating school, compared with about 497 nationally.
- Montana's share of U.S. operating schools was 0.85%, while its share of U.S. student membership was 0.30%.
- The difference between school-count share and enrollment share is consistent with Montana's large number of small schools.
School Size Distribution
Montana OPI’s 2023–24 size table covers 820 schools and 148,585 reported public school students. It remains a separate state distribution table and is not recalculated from the 2024–25 CCD totals.
| School size | Schools | School share | Enrollment | Enrollment share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 or more | 59 | 7.20% | 50,345 | 33.88% |
| 250–499 | 158 | 19.27% | 54,955 | 36.99% |
| 100–249 | 170 | 20.73% | 28,066 | 18.89% |
| 50–99 | 120 | 14.63% | 8,469 | 5.70% |
| Fewer than 50 | 313 | 38.17% | 6,750 | 4.54% |
| Total | 820 | 100.00% | 148,585 | 100.00% |
Table analysis
- 313 schools enrolled fewer than 50 students.
- Schools below 50 students represented 38.17% of schools but served 4.54% of students.
- The 250–499 band enrolled the largest number of students at 54,955.
- Schools with at least 250 students served 70.87% of statewide enrollment.
- Those two larger size bands represented 26.47% of schools.
- The size table covers 820 schools; the OPI school-type table separately reports 821 schools.
Funding Source Shares, FY2021–FY2025
Sources supporting statewide public school district expenditures.
The stacked values show each source as a percentage of statewide district expenditure funding. Federal relief funding affected the earlier years.
| Fiscal year | State | Local property tax | County | Local non-tax | Federal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | 40.63% | 28.99% | 8.35% | 2.98% | 19.05% |
| FY2022 | 39.69% | 27.87% | 7.87% | 3.45% | 21.12% |
| FY2023 | 40.30% | 27.82% | 7.99% | 5.25% | 18.64% |
| FY2024 | 39.41% | 28.32% | 8.20% | 6.04% | 18.03% |
| FY2025 | 42.84% | 28.92% | 8.50% | 6.44% | 13.30% |
Funding analysis
- State funding supplied the largest FY2025 share at 42.84%.
- Local property taxes supplied 28.92% in FY2025.
- Federal funding peaked at 21.12% in FY2022.
- The federal share fell by 7.82 percentage points between FY2022 and FY2025.
- The state share rose by 3.15 percentage points over the same interval.
- Local non-tax revenue rose from 3.45% to 6.44%.
District General Fund Budgets
Adopted general fund budgets and their broad revenue components, FY2022–FY2026.
| Fiscal year | Total budget | State amount | State share | Local amount | Local share | Other amount | Other share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2022 | $1.196B | $832.5M | 69.6% | $348.6M | 29.2% | $14.6M | 1.2% |
| FY2023 | $1.234B | $870.4M | 70.5% | $350.2M | 28.4% | $13.4M | 1.1% |
| FY2024 | $1.264B | $873.6M | 69% | $369.7M | 29% | $20.9M | 2% |
| FY2025 | $1.298B | $922.0M | 71% | $351.2M | 27% | $22.4M | 2% |
| FY2026 | $1.385B | $1.000B | 73% | $346.0M | 25% | $32.2M | 2% |
Budget analysis
- The adopted general fund budget rose from $1.196 billion in FY2022 to $1.385 billion in FY2026.
- The four-year nominal increase was 15.8%.
- The FY2026 budget was 6.7% above FY2025.
- State revenue reached approximately $1.0 billion in FY2026.
- The state share increased from 69.6% in FY2022 to 73% in FY2026.
- The local share declined from 29.2% to 25% over the same period.
- Component amounts and shares are rounded in the source and may not reproduce totals exactly.
What the Montana Data Shows
The measures describe system scale, distribution, staffing, and reported finance levels.
Small-School Structure
The 2023–24 OPI size table shows schools enrolling fewer than 50 students as the largest size band by school count. The 2024–25 CCD totals average about 175 students per operating school statewide.
Enrollment Movement
NCES enrollment recovered after the fall 2020 decline, reached 150,733 in fall 2022, and then decreased to 149,291 in fall 2023 and 147,208 in fall 2024.
Funding Mix
The federal share declined after FY2022 while the state share reached 42.84% of statewide district expenditure funding in FY2025.
Different Finance Measures
Census current spending per pupil and the OPI general fund budget measure different scopes. They should not be treated as interchangeable totals.
Source and Methodology
Federal School-System Counts
NCES CCD 2024–25 Summary Table 2 supplies operating schools, operating districts, student membership, teacher FTE, and the pupil-teacher ratio. NCES CCD 2023–24 Summary Table 2 supplies the prior-year values used for one-year changes.
Federal School Types
NCES CCD 2024–25 Summary Table 3 supplies regular, special education, career and technical, alternative education, and charter-status counts.
Montana School and Enrollment Detail
Montana Office of Public Instruction, Facts About Montana Education 2024. State school-type, nonpublic enrollment, and school-size values shown on this page retain their 2023–24 period.
Districts and Budgets
Montana Office of Public Instruction, Understanding Montana School Finance FY2026.
Enrollment Trend
National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, Digest of Education Statistics table 203.20.
Current Spending
U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Annual Survey of School System Finances.
Regional Benchmark
U.S. Census Bureau, FY2024 current spending per pupil by region.
Coverage and Units
Enrollment values are student counts. Spending is nominal dollars per pupil. Budget totals are adopted general fund amounts reported in nominal dollars.
The 2026 title identifies the publication edition. It does not imply that every indicator measures calendar year 2026. Main federal school-system measures use 2024–25 CCD Final Version 1a; OPI school-size and state category tables retain their published periods; finance and budget records retain their fiscal years. Student membership includes prekindergarten through grade 13 and excludes adult education students. Teacher counts are full-time equivalents. The 2024–25 U.S. teacher total and pupil-teacher ratio are not published because Tennessee teacher data are unavailable. Percent changes and structural ratios were calculated from unrounded published values when available.
Census current spending excludes capital outlay, debt service, and non-elementary-secondary programs. Values are not adjusted for inflation or regional price differences. OPI’s general fund budget covers a narrower state-defined budget category. The 2024–25 NCES operating-district count includes agencies under federal CCD definitions and should not be substituted for the FY2025 OPI elementary, high school, and K–12 district count. Enrollment totals from OPI and NCES may differ because their reporting systems, inclusion rules, and extraction dates differ. Spending levels alone do not measure school quality or student outcomes.