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U.S. Education Data

U.S. Public Schools by State 2026: Counts, Charts & Statistics

Operating public school counts are based on the NCES Common Core of Data final 2024–25 release, Final Version 1a. The 2026 label marks the publication cycle; the latest complete state table is school year 2024–25.

The count covers public elementary and secondary schools operating at the start of the reported school year. District of Columbia is included with the 50 states for a 51-jurisdiction state table.

Data type: School count Coverage: 50 states + District of Columbia Latest source year: 2024–25 Final Version 1a Unit: Operating public schools Primary source: NCES CCD

School Count Snapshot

National totals and state distribution measures use the same NCES 2024–25 Final Version 1a state summary table.

U.S. operating public schools
99,073
50 states + District of Columbia
Operating districts
19,183
Operating districts in the NCES state table
Largest state count
10,303
California ranks first by operating schools
Smallest jurisdiction count
236
Delaware has the lowest count in the 51-row table
U.S. public school enrollment
49,269,882
Student membership, Pre-K through grade 13
Students per school
497.3
National membership divided by operating schools

State School Count Map Grid

Each state chip shows operating public schools in the NCES 2024–25 table. The five count bins divide the 51 jurisdictions into ordered groups.

236–676 706–1,106 1,277–1,823 1,900–2,557 2,705–10,303
AL 1,532 AK 488 AZ 2,432 AR 1,106 CA 10,303 CO 1,900 CT 1,007 DE 236 DC 245 FL 4,186 GA 2,329 HI 296 ID 796 IL 4,398 IN 1,919 IA 1,318 KS 1,341 KY 1,550 LA 1,308 ME 589 MD 1,408 MA 1,823 MI 3,468 MN 2,741 MS 1,019 MO 2,451 MT 842 NE 1,097 NV 735 NH 501 NJ 2,557 NM 879 NY 4,810 NC 2,705 ND 514 OH 3,543 OK 1,781 OR 1,291 PA 2,932 RI 313 SC 1,277 SD 706 TN 1,913 TX 9,192 UT 1,097 VT 304 VA 2,126 WA 2,543 WV 676 WI 2,190 WY 360

California and Texas remain the only states above 9,000 operating public schools. The lowest count tier runs from 236 to 676 schools.

State Count Spread
  • The gap between the largest and smallest jurisdictions is 10,067 operating schools.
  • The highest count bin begins at 2,705 schools and contains 10 states.

Largest 15 State Public School Counts

Horizontal bar chart of the 15 jurisdictions with the largest operating public school counts.

Top 5: California, Texas, New York, Illinois, Florida
Scale note: The chart is a visual summary; the full 51-row state table is the source of record.

The five largest states by count account for 32,889 operating public schools, or 33.2% of the U.S. total.

Large-State Concentration
  • The top 15 states account for 61.2% of operating public schools.
  • The 15th-ranked state, Georgia, reports 2,329 schools.

Full State Ranking by Operating Public Schools

The table includes all 50 states and District of Columbia. Ranks are sorted by operating public schools, with state name used as the tie-breaker.

Rank State Schools Districts Students Teachers Students / school Schools / district Pupil / teacher Region Year
1 California 10,303 2,099 5,805,510 267,944 563.5 4.9 21.7 West 2024–25
2 Texas 9,192 1,233 5,545,640 371,144 603.3 7.5 14.9 South 2024–25
3 New York 4,810 1,077 2,527,258 218,424 525.4 4.5 11.6 Northeast 2024–25
4 Illinois 4,398 1,029 1,842,881 137,812 419.0 4.3 13.4 Midwest 2024–25
5 Florida 4,186 83 2,859,600 155,946 683.1 50.4 18.3 South 2024–25
6 Ohio 3,543 1,061 1,665,566 100,363 470.1 3.3 16.6 Midwest 2024–25
7 Michigan 3,468 882 1,423,933 86,462 410.6 3.9 16.5 Midwest 2024–25
8 Pennsylvania 2,932 787 1,691,456 129,658 576.9 3.7 13.0 Northeast 2024–25
9 Minnesota 2,741 567 876,182 58,560 319.7 4.8 15.0 Midwest 2024–25
10 North Carolina 2,705 356 1,555,418 97,257 574.8 7.6 16.0 South 2024–25
11 New Jersey 2,557 697 1,394,971 117,868 545.6 3.7 11.8 Northeast 2024–25
12 Washington 2,543 341 1,094,502 61,269 430.4 7.5 17.9 West 2024–25
13 Missouri 2,451 565 889,059 70,411 362.7 4.3 12.6 Midwest 2024–25
14 Arizona 2,432 686 1,103,894 61,859 453.9 3.5 17.8 West 2024–25
15 Georgia 2,329 253 1,744,662 124,125 749.1 9.2 14.1 South 2024–25
16 Wisconsin 2,190 465 806,065 59,308 368.1 4.7 13.6 Midwest 2024–25
17 Virginia 2,126 209 1,257,315 94,345 591.4 10.2 13.3 South 2024–25
18 Indiana 1,919 454 1,040,190 67,718 542.0 4.2 15.4 Midwest 2024–25
19 Tennessee 1,913 149 1,003,622 — 524.6 12.8 — South 2024–25
20 Colorado 1,900 273 865,077 53,489 455.3 7.0 16.2 West 2024–25
21 Massachusetts 1,823 421 915,932 77,221 502.4 4.3 11.9 Northeast 2024–25
22 Oklahoma 1,781 579 697,358 43,050 391.6 3.1 16.2 South 2024–25
23 Kentucky 1,550 177 657,263 42,762 424.0 8.8 15.4 South 2024–25
24 Alabama 1,532 159 751,060 43,161 490.2 9.6 17.4 South 2024–25
25 Maryland 1,408 25 891,525 63,071 633.2 56.3 14.1 South 2024–25
26 Kansas 1,341 337 481,626 36,411 359.2 4.0 13.2 Midwest 2024–25
27 Iowa 1,318 344 504,292 36,217 382.6 3.8 13.9 Midwest 2024–25
28 Louisiana 1,308 189 666,840 48,637 509.8 6.9 13.7 South 2024–25
29 Oregon 1,291 223 545,088 31,294 422.2 5.8 17.4 West 2024–25
30 South Carolina 1,277 94 796,780 57,886 623.9 13.6 13.8 South 2024–25
31 Arkansas 1,106 307 491,239 39,398 444.2 3.6 12.5 South 2024–25
32 Nebraska 1,097 280 330,622 24,201 301.4 3.9 13.7 Midwest 2024–25
33 Utah 1,097 155 684,604 31,705 624.1 7.1 21.6 West 2024–25
34 Mississippi 1,019 152 431,864 32,037 423.8 6.7 13.5 South 2024–25
35 Connecticut 1,007 207 508,402 43,004 504.9 4.9 11.8 Northeast 2024–25
36 New Mexico 879 154 307,110 24,781 349.4 5.7 12.4 West 2024–25
37 Montana 842 476 147,208 10,726 174.8 1.8 13.7 West 2024–25
38 Idaho 796 191 315,626 17,787 396.5 4.2 17.7 West 2024–25
39 Nevada 735 20 477,563 24,465 649.7 36.8 19.5 West 2024–25
40 South Dakota 706 165 141,065 10,227 199.8 4.3 13.8 Midwest 2024–25
41 West Virginia 676 66 242,155 18,077 358.2 10.2 13.4 South 2024–25
42 Maine 589 275 167,309 15,162 284.1 2.1 11.0 Northeast 2024–25
43 North Dakota 514 221 119,792 10,411 233.1 2.3 11.5 Midwest 2024–25
44 New Hampshire 501 212 164,153 14,438 327.7 2.4 11.4 Northeast 2024–25
45 Alaska 488 53 129,876 6,858 266.1 9.2 18.9 West 2024–25
46 Wyoming 360 62 89,915 7,427 249.8 5.8 12.1 West 2024–25
47 Rhode Island 313 67 135,978 10,557 434.4 4.7 12.9 Northeast 2024–25
48 Vermont 304 188 81,398 7,882 267.8 1.6 10.3 Northeast 2024–25
49 Hawaii 296 1 167,071 12,215 564.4 296.0 13.7 West 2024–25
50 District of Columbia 245 71 94,211 8,607 384.5 3.5 10.9 South 2024–25
51 Delaware 236 46 142,156 9,627 602.4 5.1 14.8 South 2024–25
State System Structure
  • School count and student membership do not move in the same order. Florida has fewer operating schools than New York but more students.
  • Tennessee teacher FTE and pupil/teacher ratio are not available in the NCES 2024–25 table; no replacement value is estimated here.

Regional and Distribution Statistics

Regional totals use U.S. Census Bureau region groupings applied to the NCES 2024–25 state-level table.

Operating Public Schools by Census Region

Regional totals aggregate state counts into South, Midwest, West, and Northeast.

The South has the largest regional count with 34,589 operating public schools.

Regional System Scale
  • The Midwest reports 6,370 operating districts, the largest regional district total.
  • The regional students-per-school measure ranges from 394.0 in the Midwest to 573.3 in the South.
Rank Region Jurisdictions Schools Share Districts Students Students / school Schools / district
1 South 17 34,589 34.9% 4,148 19,828,708 573.3 8.3
2 Midwest 12 25,686 25.9% 6,370 10,121,273 394.0 4.0
3 West 13 23,962 24.2% 4,734 11,733,044 489.7 5.1
4 Northeast 9 14,836 15.0% 3,931 7,586,857 511.4 3.8
Band Jurisdictions Schools Share States
Under 500 7 2,242 2.3% Alaska, Wyoming, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, District of Columbia, Delaware
500–999 9 6,238 6.3% New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, South Dakota, West Virginia, Maine, North Dakota, New Hampshire
1,000–1,999 18 25,687 25.9% Indiana, Tennessee, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Alabama, Maryland, Kansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon, South Carolina, Arkansas, Nebraska, Utah, Mississippi, Connecticut
2,000–3,999 12 32,017 32.3% Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Washington, Missouri, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Virginia
4,000+ 5 32,889 33.2% California, Texas, New York, Illinois, Florida
School Count Bands
  • The two highest count bands contain 65.5% of all operating public schools.
  • The under 500 band contains 7 jurisdictions and 2.3% of schools.
Group Rank State Schools Districts Students / school Region
Largest counts1California10,3032,099563.5West
Largest counts2Texas9,1921,233603.3South
Largest counts3New York4,8101,077525.4Northeast
Largest counts4Illinois4,3981,029419.0Midwest
Largest counts5Florida4,18683683.1South
Largest counts6Ohio3,5431,061470.1Midwest
Largest counts7Michigan3,468882410.6Midwest
Largest counts8Pennsylvania2,932787576.9Northeast
Largest counts9Minnesota2,741567319.7Midwest
Largest counts10North Carolina2,705356574.8South
Smallest counts42Maine589275284.1Northeast
Smallest counts43North Dakota514221233.1Midwest
Smallest counts44New Hampshire501212327.7Northeast
Smallest counts45Alaska48853266.1West
Smallest counts46Wyoming36062249.8West
Smallest counts47Rhode Island31367434.4Northeast
Smallest counts48Vermont304188267.8Northeast
Smallest counts49Hawaii2961564.4West
Smallest counts50District of Columbia24571384.5South
Smallest counts51Delaware23646602.4South
Count Extremes
  • The smallest-count group begins with Maine at 589 schools.
  • Hawaii reports one operating district, so its schools-per-district value reflects a statewide district structure rather than a typical multi-district state.

School Count Data Notes

School counts describe system scale. They do not measure school quality, program mix, facility size, or student outcomes.

Operating school definition

NCES counts operating schools and districts providing services at the start of the reported school year. Closed, inactive, or planned schools are outside this measure.

Count versus enrollment

A state can rank high by enrollment without the same rank by school count. Students-per-school values show system scale but do not represent classroom size.

District structure effect

Single-district states, county-based systems, and states with many independent agencies can produce very different schools-per-district values.

Publication-cycle label

The 2026 title uses the current publication cycle. The source year is the NCES final 2024–25 school year table, Final Version 1a.

Source and Methodology

Primary data source U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, state summary table for school year 2024–25, Final Version 1a. NCES CCD Table 2
School-type reference NCES CCD table on operating public elementary and secondary schools by school type, charter status, and state for 2024–25. NCES CCD Table 3
Survey files Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey, Local Education Agency Universe Survey, and State Nonfiscal Survey, 2024–25 Final Version 1a. NCES CCD data files
Regional grouping U.S. Census Bureau region groupings: Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Census regions reference

Rows cover the 50 states and District of Columbia. Ranks sort by the number of operating public elementary and secondary schools, descending; state name breaks ties. Students-per-school equals student membership divided by operating schools. Schools-per-district equals operating schools divided by operating districts. Regional totals are computed from state rows after assigning each jurisdiction to a Census region. Displayed derived ratios are rounded to one decimal place. The 51-row totals are 99,073 operating schools, 19,183 operating districts, and 49,269,882 students.

Student membership and teacher counts come from state education agency files. Teachers are full-time equivalent counts. Membership includes prekindergarten through grade 13 and excludes adult education students. NCES does not publish a U.S. teacher total or U.S. pupil/teacher ratio for 2024–25 because Tennessee teacher data are unavailable. The New York district count follows the NCES note that member LEAs within the New York City supervisory union are reported as a single LEA.

Operating public school counts are administrative counts rather than performance measures. State governance, district organization, charter authorization, and school-level reporting can affect school and district counts.