Public school students in Texas spent an average of 7.3 hours a day at school in 2011-12, the longest of any state with reportable data, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). In California, the average was 6.2 hours. That is a gap of 1.1 hours, or 66 minutes, every school day.
The national average was 6.7 hours, or about 6 hours and 42 minutes. In 2007-08, the earlier year in the same NCES table, it was 6.6 hours. Both figures come from the federal Schools and Staffing Survey, in which public schools reported the length of their own day.
The numbers are old. NCES prepared the table in May 2013, and its most recent edition, in the 2019 Digest of Education Statistics, still uses the 2011-12 survey. Treat each state's figure as a snapshot of that year.
School day length by state
The longest averages in 2011-12 were in Texas (7.3 hours), Louisiana and Mississippi (7.2 each), then Colorado, Nebraska, and Tennessee (7.1 each). Fifteen of the 48 states with usable 2011-12 data averaged 7 hours or more. Ten of those 15 are in the South, as the Census Bureau draws the region.
At the short end were California (6.2 hours), Washington (6.3), and Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Rhode Island (6.4 each). The 2011-12 estimates for the District of Columbia, Hawaii, and Maryland did not meet NCES reporting standards, so the table shows only their 2007-08 averages.
Small daily gaps add up. NCES also reported average hours in the school year. Mississippi led at 1,312 hours and Idaho was lowest at 1,110, a difference of 202 hours. At the national average of 6.7 hours a day, that is about 30 school days (202 divided by 6.7 is 30.1). Texas logged 1,297 hours to California's 1,121, a gap of 176 hours.
Idaho's low total comes from a short year more than a short day. Its schools averaged 6.7 hours a day, right at the national mark, but only 166 days, per the same table. The rules behind day counts are covered in allk12's guide to how long the school year is in each state.
The two ends of the list are also the two largest public school systems. California had 5,790,305 students in 10,351 operating public schools in 2024-25, and Texas had 5,545,640 students in 9,624 schools, according to allk12's analysis of NCES data. Together that is 11,335,945 students, or 23.1% of the 49,070,752 enrolled across the 50 states and DC.
| State | Avg. hours in school day, 2011-12 | Avg. hours in school year, 2011-12 | Avg. hours in school day, 2007-08 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States (average) | 6.7 | 1,203 | 6.6 |
| Alabama | 7.0 | 1,271 | 7.0 |
| Alaska | 6.7 | 1,183 | 6.5 |
| Arizona | 6.7 | 1,201 | 6.4 |
| Arkansas | 7.0 | 1,261 | 6.9 |
| California | 6.2 | 1,121 | 6.2 |
| Colorado | 7.1 | 1,215 | 7.0 |
| Connecticut | 6.6 | 1,201 | 6.5 |
| Delaware | 7.0 | 1,269 | 6.7 |
| District of Columbia | Not met | Not met | 6.9 |
| Florida | 6.6 | 1,193 | 6.4 |
| Georgia | 7.0 | 1,242 | 6.8 |
| Hawaii | Not met | Not met | 6.3 |
| Idaho | 6.7 | 1,110 | 6.6 |
| Illinois | 6.5 | 1,151 | 6.5 |
| Indiana | 6.8 | 1,226 | 6.8 |
| Iowa | 6.7 | 1,213 | 6.9 |
| Kansas | 7.0 | 1,245 | 7.0 |
| Kentucky | 6.8 | 1,211 | 6.7 |
| Louisiana | 7.2 | 1,283 | 7.1 |
| Maine | 6.6 | 1,156 | 6.5 |
| Maryland | Not met | Not met | 6.6 |
| Massachusetts | 6.4 | 1,157 | 6.5 |
| Michigan | 6.8 | 1,196 | 6.6 |
| Minnesota | 6.4 | 1,111 | 6.3 |
| Mississippi | 7.2 | 1,312 | 7.0 |
| Missouri | 6.9 | 1,197 | 6.7 |
| Montana | 6.6 | 1,189 | 6.8 |
| Nebraska | 7.1 | 1,257 | 6.9 |
| Nevada | 6.5 | 1,164 | 6.3 |
| New Hampshire | 6.6 | 1,181 | 6.5 |
| New Jersey | 6.6 | 1,201 | 6.4 |
| New Mexico | 6.9 | 1,216 | 6.8 |
| New York | 6.6 | 1,206 | 6.6 |
| North Carolina | 6.9 | 1,240 | 6.7 |
| North Dakota | 6.5 | 1,159 | 6.6 |
| Ohio | 6.6 | 1,191 | 6.6 |
| Oklahoma | 6.7 | 1,176 | 6.6 |
| Oregon | 6.6 | 1,118 | 6.6 |
| Pennsylvania | 6.7 | 1,212 | 6.4 |
| Rhode Island | 6.4 | 1,150 | 6.3 |
| South Carolina | 7.0 | 1,263 | 6.9 |
| South Dakota | 7.0 | 1,180 | 6.8 |
| Tennessee | 7.1 | 1,272 | 7.0 |
| Texas | 7.3 | 1,297 | 7.2 |
| Utah | 6.5 | 1,165 | 6.3 |
| Vermont | 6.7 | 1,183 | 6.7 |
| Virginia | 6.6 | 1,222 | 6.6 |
| Washington | 6.3 | 1,129 | 6.2 |
| West Virginia | 7.0 | 1,272 | 6.9 |
| Wisconsin | 6.9 | 1,234 | 6.9 |
| Wyoming | 7.0 | 1,209 | 6.9 |
Source: NCES, Digest of Education Statistics, Table 203.90, from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), public school data files for 2007-08 and 2011-12. Averages are reported by schools and carry sampling error. "Not met" means the estimate did not meet NCES reporting standards.
School day vs. instructional time
The NCES figures measure how long school is in session, as each school reported it. The table's note puts it plainly: "Averages reflect data reported by schools rather than state requirements." It adds that a school's reported day may run longer than what the state requires.
Instructional time is the narrower, legal measure. It is the minimum teaching time a state requires, and each state decides what counts. Lunch, recess, and passing periods are counted in some states and left out in others, according to the Education Commission of the States (ECS), whose 50-state comparison is dated January 2023.
Alabama requires 6 hours a day, not counting recess and lunch. Louisiana requires 360 minutes, or 6 hours, not counting recess. Iowa requires 6 hours for grades 1 to 12, excluding lunch but counting passing periods and parent-teacher conferences. California sets 240 minutes, or 4 hours, for grades 4 to 12, per ECS.
California shows how far apart the two measures can sit. Its current 4-hour floor for grades 4 to 12 is 2.2 hours shorter than the 6.2-hour day its schools reported in 2011-12 (6.2 minus 4 is 2.2).
Texas sets no daily minimum, according to ECS. It requires 75,600 minutes a year, which includes time for instruction, intermission, and recess. That works out to 1,260 hours (75,600 divided by 60). The Pew Research Center, which checked the ECS data against state laws in 2023, noted that Texas once "mandated 7 hours per school day," counting intermissions, recesses, and other non-instructional time.
Pew found that 29 states and DC set a minimum number of hours or minutes per school day. For eighth graders, that floor ran from 3 hours in Maryland and Missouri to 6.5 hours in Tennessee. Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, and Texas leave daily length out of state policy, per ECS.
A few states set ceilings instead. In Connecticut, a district may not count more than 7 hours of school work in any one day toward its yearly total, ECS reported. Oregon sets maximum hours per day, 8 for grades K-8 and 8.5 for grades 9-12, according to ECS.
Sources
NCES: Digest of Education Statistics, Table 203.90, School day length and school year length in public schools, by state: 2007-08 and 2011-12
Education Commission of the States: Instructional Time Policies, minimum hours per school day (2023)
Education Commission of the States: Instructional Time Policies, minimum days and hours per school year (2023)
Pew Research Center: In the U.S., 180 days of school is most common, but length of school day varies by state
School counts and enrollment from allk12's analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data, 2024-25.
