Corrected: An earlier version of this article incorrectly described how many public school students attend suburban schools. It is a plurality of students.
How many K-12 public schools, districts, and students are there? What does the American student population look like? And how much are we, as a nation, spending on the education of these youth?
These data points bring perspective to the implications and potential impacts of education policies. The Education Week library provides answers to these questions, and some other enlightening facts, below.
This page will be updated when new federal data becomes available. Federal data is typically released several years after it is collected.
SCHOOLS AND DISTRICTS
How many schools are there in the U.S.?
There are 128,961 public and private K-12 schools in the U.S., according to from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Here鈥檚 how they break down:
- All: 128,961
- Prekindergarten, elementary, and middle schools: 88,909
- Secondary and high schools: 27,155
- Other, ungraded, and not applicable/not reported: 12,897
Here鈥檚 what this looks like in chart form:
How many are traditional public schools, public charter schools, or private schools?
While charter schools are often the topic of debate, they make up only a small portion of all schools.
- Traditional public schools: 91,390 (2022-23, )
- Public charter schools: 7,998 (2022-23, )
- Private schools: 30,492 (2019-20, * 2022-23 figures are not available yet)
For more on charters, including how they work and who oversees them, read this explainer.
Among public schools, how many high schools are there in the U.S.?
- Total public schools: 99,388
- Secondary and high schools: 23,810
- Middle schools: 16,298
- Elementary schools: 52,474
- Prekindergarten: 1,570
- Other, ungraded, and not applicable/not reported: 5,236
(2022-23, )
What is the average public school size?
The average public school enrollment is 514 students, according to data from 2022. That鈥檚 down 8 students from the average school size in 2012, according to .
What is the average public school size by type of location?
- City: 560 students
- Suburban: 638 students
- Town: 436 students
- Rural: 372 students
(2022, )
How many schools offer online courses?
According to , 28.7 percent of public schools, including charters, offered at least one course entirely online before the pandemic. Almost a third (30.6 percent) of charter schools offered an entire course online, versus 28.5 percent of traditional public schools. Only 17.3 percent of private schools offered at least one course entirely online before the pandemic.
How many virtual schools are there?
According to , there are 691 virtual schools in the U.S. The NCES defines virtual schools as 鈥渉aving instruction during which students and teachers are separated by time and/or location and interact via internet-connected computers or other electronic devices.鈥�
How many school districts are there?
There are 13,318 regular school districts in the U.S. (2022-23, )
Note: Regular districts exclude regional education service agencies and supervisory union administrative centers, state-operated agencies, federally operated agencies, and other types of local education agencies, such as independent charter schools.
What is the most common size for a school district?
In , the plurality of regular school districts (23.9 percent) had 1,000 to 2,499 students enrolled. In the 1979-80 school year, in contrast, small school districts were the largest category, making up 26.5 percent of all districts.
How has the size of school districts changed over time?
The number of regular school districts in the U.S. decreased from 15,944 in 1979-80 to 13,318 in . In that time, the percent of districts that were large (over 25,000 students) grew from 1.1 percent of districts to 2 percent. The percent of very small districts (with enrollment under 300 students), decreased from 26.5 percent to 19.2 percent in that same period.
Where are the largest school districts in the U.S.?
Big cities like New York and Los Angeles lead the list of the largest school districts, as identified by . But the rest of the top 10 may surprise you:
| Rank | District name | State | Enrollment | |
| 1 | New York City | NY | 859,514 | |
| 2 | Los Angeles Unified | CA | 435,958 | |
| 3 | Chicago | IL | 329,836 | |
| 4 | Miami-Dade County | FL | 328,589 | |
| 5 | Clark County | NV | 315,787 | |
| 6 | Broward County | FL | 256,037 | |
| 7 | Hillsborough County | FL | 224,149 | |
| 8 | Orange County | FL | 203,224 | |
| 9 | Houston | TX | 194,607 | |
| 10 | Palm Beach County | FL | 187,943 |
STUDENTS
How many students attend public schools?
In America鈥檚 public schools, there are 48.7 million students, based on for the fall of 2024.
How many students attend charter schools?
According to , over 3.71 million students, or 7.6 percent of all public school students, attend charter schools.
How many students attend private schools? What are the religious affiliations of those schools?
In total, almost 5.5 million students attend private schools, according to data.
- 33.4% of those in Catholic schools
- 25.5% in nonsectarian (non-religious) schools
- 13.4% in un-affiliated religious schools
- 14.3% in conservative Christian schools
- 13.6% in other religiously affiliated schools
How many students are homeschooled?
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a huge increase in the rates of home schooling in the U.S. Even after the first year of the pandemic, in the 2020-21 school year, 5.4 percent of all students were home-schooled, according to the August 2021 .
In 2019, only 3.23 percent of all students were home-schooled, 2019 data.
So who are the nation鈥檚 home schoolers? This overview of home schooling includes more information on the topic.
Where do most students attend school鈥攖he city, the suburbs or rural areas?
According to , a plurality of public school students attend suburban schools, but enrollment in urban schools is not far behind.
- Suburban: 38.9% of public school students
- City: 29.7% of public school students
- Rural: 20.3% of public school students
- Town: 10.8% of public school students
Meanwhile, as of 2019-20, most private school students .
- City: 42.7% of private school students
- Suburban: 40.4% of private school students
- Rural: 10.8% of private school students
- Town: 6.1% of private school students
What are the demographics of public school students?
Here鈥檚 a racial breakdown of the student population in American public schools, :
- White students: 44.7%
- Hispanic students: 28.7%
- Black students: 14.9%
- Asian students: 5.5%
- Two or more race students: 4.9%
- American Indian/Alaska Native students: 0.9%
- Pacific Islander students: 0.4%
Note: Percentages do not total 100 because of rounding.
The 2015-16 school year was the first in which the majority of public schoolchildren were minorities. For a look back at what that milestone meant for schools, revisit this story from 2014.
How many students have internet access at home?
As of 2021, 97.1 percent of children ages 3-18 . However, of the 97.1 percent, 4.5 percent only had internet through a smartphone. In 2021, 2.9 percent of children ages 3-18 lived in a household with no internet at all, down significantly from 5.4 percent in 2019.
How many students graduate high school?
The national graduation rate is 87 percent, .
How has that changed over time?
The graduation rate has increased by 8 percentage points .
How many students graduate in my state?
Hover over a state in this interactive map to see , broken down by demographic groups:
TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS
How many teachers are there in the U.S.?
In America鈥檚 public schools there will be 3.2 million full-time-equivalent teachers in the fall of 2024, according to .
How many principals are there?
There are 91,900 public school principals in the U.S., according to 2020-21 numbers from .
What percent of teachers are women?
Teaching continues to be a profession dominated by women. According to 76.8 percent of teachers are female, while 23.2 percent are male.
What are the racial demographics of teachers?
When it comes to race, America鈥檚 public school teachers look very different from its student population.
- 79.9% White
- 9.4% Hispanic
- 6.1% Black
- 2.4% Asian
- 1.6% Two or more races
- 0.4% American Indian/Alaska Native
- 0.2% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
(2020-21, )
For a more detailed look at the profile of America鈥檚 teaching force, including how many say they鈥檙e likely to leave the profession, see the results of the most recent Merrimack College Teacher Survey.
Read more about the teaching profession in the State of Teaching project with exclusive, nationally representative data from the EdWeek Research Center and on-the-ground reporting from EdWeek journalists.
Who are U.S. public school principals?
Like teachers, most American principals are white and female.
- 56% Female
- 44% Male
- 77.1% White
- 10.4% Black
- 9.3% Hispanic
- 1.3% Two or more races
- 1.0% Asian
- 0.6% American Indian/Alaska Native
- 0.3% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
(2020-21, )
Another finding from : Charter school principals are more diverse. Only 66.6 percent of charter school principals are white, compared with 78.2 percent of traditional school principals. 16.1 percent of charter principals are Black and 13.2 percent are Hispanic, while only 9.8 percent of traditional school principals are Black and 8.9 percent are Hispanic.
What鈥檚 the average U.S. teacher salary?
The estimated average annual salary for teachers is $66,397, according to 2021-22 data .
Of course, teacher salaries vary widely from state to state. Although its findings differ from the federal data, the National Education Association, the nation鈥檚 largest teachers鈥� union, releases an annual ranking of state salaries. Here are 2023-24 numbers.
How does that compare with principals鈥� salaries?
The average public school principal salary in was $113,470 in 2021-22 dollars.
How big are the teachers鈥� unions?
According to , 69.4 percent of teachers are members of a union.
In July 2023, the National Education Association had about 2.3 million full-time-equivalent members who are active educators or, retirees, or community allies.
As of June 2023, the American Federation of Teachers had .
What is the average student to teacher ratio in schools?
On average, in the fall of 2024, there will be 15.2 students assigned to a single teacher in public schools, NCES show.
The state with highest student to teacher ratio is, , Arizona, with 22.8 students for each teacher. The state with lowest student to teacher ratio? Vermont, with 10.5 students for each teacher.
Note: The pupil/teacher ratio includes teachers for students with disabilities and other special teachers, while these teachers are generally excluded from class size calculations.
SUPERINTENDENTS
What are the demographics of school superintendents?
A 2024 survey conducted by AASA, The School Superintendents Association, found that 87 percent of superintendents identify as white, and 73 percent identify as men. The median age of superintendents is 50 years old.
What鈥檚 the average tenure of a big-city superintendent?
48 percent of all superintendent have 5 or fewer years of experience in the position, according to a 2024 survey conducted by AASA.
What鈥檚 the average superintendent salary?
The average superintendent salary was $156,000 in 2024, according to a 2024 survey conducted by AASA. Superintendent salaries haven鈥檛 kept up with inflation鈥攖he median superintendent salary in 2013 was $123,775, which is $162,916 adjusted for inflation.
For more facts about superintendents, read more about the survey.
SCHOOL SPENDING
How much does the U.S. spend on K-12 education?
In 2020-21, $809 billion was spent on public elementary and secondary education by local, state, and federal agencies. State and local governments provided about 89 percent of the funding, while the federal government chipped in around 10.5 percent. The federal government鈥檚 share of education funding was higher than normal due to pandemic relief aid. In 2019-20, only 7.5 percent of total school funding came from the federal government.
For more on where money for education comes from and how it鈥檚 spent, see this article.
How much is spent per pupil?
In fiscal year 2021, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, on average the nation spent $14,347 to educate each student. Adjusted for inflation, education funding per pupil nationwide has risen by about $1,800 in the last decade.
These expenditures varied state to state. New York has the highest per-pupil expenditures in the nation at $26,571. At the other end of the scale, Idaho spent the least at $9,053 per student.
Hover over a state to see its per-pupil spending:
Want to see more education statistics?
Take a look at our special education statistics page.
Email library@educationweek.org with your suggestions or feedback.
