U.S. Education Data

U.S. School Districts by State 2026: Counts, Charts & Rankings

Operating district counts range from 1 statewide system in Hawaii to 2,099 operating districts in California. The 2026 reference view uses NCES Common Core of Data school year 2024–25 Final Version 1a, the latest official complete table for the 50 states and District of Columbia.

District count is a governance-structure measure, not an enrollment-size measure. Maryland and Florida report few operating districts because many systems are countywide, while several Midwest and Northeast states report many local agencies.

Data type: Operating public elementary-secondary districts Coverage: 50 states + District of Columbia Latest source year: 2024–25 Unit: District count Main visual: Horizontal bar + state grid

District Count Snapshot

Counts are reported by NCES as operating districts providing services at the start of the 2024–25 school year. U.S. totals below cover the 50 states and District of Columbia.

U.S. total

19,183

99,073 operating schools and 49,269,882 student members are reported in the same NCES table.

Highest count

California: 2,099

10.9% of the U.S. district total.

Lowest count

Hawaii: 1

A single statewide operating district in the NCES table.

Median jurisdiction

223

Oregon sits at the median count among 51 rows.

Top 10 share

52.8%

The 10 highest-count states account for 10,130 districts.

Average size

2,568.4 students

National student membership divided by operating district count.

Largest State District Counts

The main chart shows the 20 states with the most operating districts. The complete 51-row ranking follows in the full table.

Top 20 states by operating district count

NCES CCD, school year 2024–25.

California, Texas, New York, Ohio, and Illinois form the highest-count group. The chart is a visual summary; the ranking table contains all states and District of Columbia.

District concentration among high-count states

The top five states account for 6,499 districts, or 33.9% of the U.S. total.
The top 20 states account for 14,456 districts, or 75.4% of the U.S. total.
Oklahoma is 10th with 579 operating districts; Minnesota follows with 567.

State grid by district-count band

Each chip shows the state abbreviation and the reported 2024–25 operating district count.

1–99 100–199 200–399 400–699 700+

AL159

AK53

AZ686

AR307

CA2,099

CO273

CT207

DE46

DC71

FL83

GA253

HI1

ID191

IL1,029

IN454

IA344

KS337

KY177

LA189

ME275

MD25

MA421

MI882

MN567

MS152

MO565

MT476

NE280

NV20

NH212

NJ697

NM154

NY1,077

NC356

ND221

OH1,061

OK579

OR223

PA787

RI67

SC94

SD165

TN149

TX1,233

UT155

VT188

VA209

WA341

WV66

WI465

WY62

The grid uses the same five district-count bands summarized later on the page. It is a state-grid display, not a geographic boundary map.

State count spread

The 700+ band contains 7 states but 42.6% of all operating districts.
The 1–99 band contains 11 jurisdictions and 588 districts in total.

Full State Ranking of Operating School Districts

Ranking order uses 2024–25 operating district count only. Ties, if present in a future update, are ordered alphabetically to keep a stable display.

Search table

Rank	State	Code	Region	Districts	Schools	Membership	Students per district	Schools per district	Pupil/teacher ratio
1	California	CA	West	2,099	10,303	5,805,510	2,765.8	4.91	21.7
2	Texas	TX	South	1,233	9,192	5,545,640	4,497.7	7.45	14.9
3	New York	NY	Northeast	1,077	4,810	2,527,258	2,346.6	4.47	11.6
4	Ohio	OH	Midwest	1,061	3,543	1,665,566	1,569.8	3.34	16.6
5	Illinois	IL	Midwest	1,029	4,398	1,842,881	1,790.9	4.27	13.4
6	Michigan	MI	Midwest	882	3,468	1,423,933	1,614.4	3.93	16.5
7	Pennsylvania	PA	Northeast	787	2,932	1,691,456	2,149.2	3.73	13.0
8	New Jersey	NJ	Northeast	697	2,557	1,394,971	2,001.4	3.67	11.8
9	Arizona	AZ	West	686	2,432	1,103,894	1,609.2	3.55	17.8
10	Oklahoma	OK	South	579	1,781	697,358	1,204.4	3.08	16.2
11	Minnesota	MN	Midwest	567	2,741	876,182	1,545.3	4.83	15.0
12	Missouri	MO	Midwest	565	2,451	889,059	1,573.6	4.34	12.6
13	Montana	MT	West	476	842	147,208	309.3	1.77	13.7
14	Wisconsin	WI	Midwest	465	2,190	806,065	1,733.5	4.71	13.6
15	Indiana	IN	Midwest	454	1,919	1,040,190	2,291.2	4.23	15.4
16	Massachusetts	MA	Northeast	421	1,823	915,932	2,175.6	4.33	11.9
17	North Carolina	NC	South	356	2,705	1,555,418	4,369.2	7.60	16.0
18	Iowa	IA	Midwest	344	1,318	504,292	1,466.0	3.83	13.9
19	Washington	WA	West	341	2,543	1,094,502	3,209.7	7.46	17.9
20	Kansas	KS	Midwest	337	1,341	481,626	1,429.2	3.98	13.2
21	Arkansas	AR	South	307	1,106	491,239	1,600.1	3.60	12.5
22	Nebraska	NE	Midwest	280	1,097	330,622	1,180.8	3.92	13.7
23	Maine	ME	Northeast	275	589	167,309	608.4	2.14	11.0
24	Colorado	CO	West	273	1,900	865,077	3,168.8	6.96	16.2
25	Georgia	GA	South	253	2,329	1,744,662	6,895.9	9.21	14.1
26	Oregon	OR	West	223	1,291	545,088	2,444.3	5.79	17.4
27	North Dakota	ND	Midwest	221	514	119,792	542.0	2.33	11.5
28	New Hampshire	NH	Northeast	212	501	164,153	774.3	2.36	11.4
29	Virginia	VA	South	209	2,126	1,257,315	6,015.9	10.17	13.3
30	Connecticut	CT	Northeast	207	1,007	508,402	2,456.0	4.86	11.8
31	Idaho	ID	West	191	796	315,626	1,652.5	4.17	17.7
32	Louisiana	LA	South	189	1,308	666,840	3,528.3	6.92	13.7
33	Vermont	VT	Northeast	188	304	81,398	433.0	1.62	10.3
34	Kentucky	KY	South	177	1,550	657,263	3,713.4	8.76	15.4
35	South Dakota	SD	Midwest	165	706	141,065	854.9	4.28	13.8
36	Alabama	AL	South	159	1,532	751,060	4,723.6	9.64	17.4
37	Utah	UT	West	155	1,097	684,604	4,416.8	7.08	21.6
38	New Mexico	NM	West	154	879	307,110	1,994.2	5.71	12.4
39	Mississippi	MS	South	152	1,019	431,864	2,841.2	6.70	13.5
40	Tennessee	TN	South	149	1,913	1,003,622	6,735.7	12.84	—
41	South Carolina	SC	South	94	1,277	796,780	8,476.4	13.59	13.8
42	Florida	FL	South	83	4,186	2,859,600	34,453.0	50.43	18.3
43	District of Columbia	DC	South	71	245	94,211	1,326.9	3.45	10.9
44	Rhode Island	RI	Northeast	67	313	135,978	2,029.5	4.67	12.9
45	West Virginia	WV	South	66	676	242,155	3,669.0	10.24	13.4
46	Wyoming	WY	West	62	360	89,915	1,450.2	5.81	12.1
47	Alaska	AK	West	53	488	129,876	2,450.5	9.21	18.9
48	Delaware	DE	South	46	236	142,156	3,090.3	5.13	14.8
49	Maryland	MD	South	25	1,408	891,525	35,661.0	56.32	14.1
50	Nevada	NV	West	20	735	477,563	23,878.2	36.75	19.5
51	Hawaii	HI	West	1	296	167,071	167,071.0	296.00	13.7

Administrative scale behind the ranking

Hawaii reports one statewide district, producing a derived average of 167,071.0 student members per district.
Maryland reports 25 operating districts and 35,661.0 student members per district, reflecting its county-based structure.
Florida reports 83 districts and 2,859,600 student members, another case where a low district count coexists with high enrollment.

Regional and Distribution Views

Regional summaries use U.S. Census region labels for state grouping. Distribution bands group states by reported operating district count.

Operating districts by U.S. Census region

Regional totals sum the 2024–25 state-level rows from the full table.

The Midwest has the largest regional district count, while the South has the largest student membership total.

District count and enrollment scale diverge by region

Midwest states hold 33.2% of operating districts but 20.5% of student membership.
South states and District of Columbia hold 21.6% of districts and 40.2% of membership.

Search table

Region	States/DC	Districts	Share	Membership	Schools	Students per district	Schools per district
Midwest	12	6,370	33.2%	10,121,273	25,686	1,588.9	4.03
West	13	4,734	24.7%	11,733,044	23,962	2,478.5	5.06
South	17	4,148	21.6%	19,828,708	34,589	4,780.3	8.34
Northeast	9	3,931	20.5%	7,586,857	14,836	1,930.0	3.77

Search table

Band	States/DC	Districts	Share	States in band
1–99 districts	11	588	3.1%	South Carolina, Florida, District of Columbia, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Hawaii
100–199 districts	10	1,679	8.8%	Idaho, Louisiana, Vermont, Kentucky, South Dakota, Alabama, Utah, New Mexico, Mississippi, Tennessee
200–399 districts	14	3,838	20.0%	North Carolina, Iowa, Washington, Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska, Maine, Colorado, Georgia, Oregon, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Virginia, Connecticut
400–699 districts	9	4,910	25.6%	New Jersey, Arizona, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Wisconsin, Indiana, Massachusetts
700+ districts	7	8,168	42.6%	California, Texas, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania

State district-count bands

The 200–399 districts band contains the most jurisdictions, with 14.
The 400–699 districts band contains 4,910 districts across 9 states.

District Count Interpretation Notes

The count ranking reflects administrative structure. It does not rank school performance, funding levels, student outcomes, or district service area size.

Administrative structure

Some states organize public education through many local agencies. Others rely on countywide or statewide systems. District count reflects that organization.

Enrollment scale differs

Low district counts can coexist with large enrollment totals. Florida, Maryland, Nevada, and Hawaii show this pattern in the table.

Regional pattern

The Midwest reports the largest district count. The South reports the largest student membership total, so district count and enrollment scale do not move together.

Source-year match

The title uses 2026 for the published reference year. The underlying official source is school year 2024–25 Final Version 1a.

Source and Methodology

Primary source U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), Table 2: operating schools and districts, student membership, teachers, and pupil/teacher ratio by state or jurisdiction, school year 2024–25.

Survey files Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey, Local Education Agency Universe Survey, and State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education, 2024–25 Final Version 1a. Final Version 1a was released in December 2025.

Unit Operating public elementary-secondary districts providing services as of the start of the reported school year.

Coverage U.S. totals and rankings include the 50 states and District of Columbia. Outlying areas, Bureau of Indian Education, and DoDEA rows are excluded from the 51-row ranking.

Derived fields Students per district equals student membership divided by operating districts. Schools per district equals operating schools divided by operating districts. District shares use 19,183 as the denominator.

Reporting notes NCES does not show a 2024–25 teacher count or pupil/teacher ratio for Tennessee, so the table displays an em dash for that ratio. NCES also notes that member LEAs within the New York City supervisory union are reported as a single LEA.

Official links NCES CCD Table 2, 2024–25 · NCES Common Core of Data · CCD data files

Rows are ranked by operating district count in descending order. Student membership follows the NCES state table and includes prekindergarten through grade 13; adult education students are excluded. Teacher counts are full-time equivalents where reported. U.S. totals are 99,073 operating schools, 19,183 operating districts, and 49,269,882 student members. District of Columbia is grouped with the South in regional summaries.