There are 100,119 operating public schools in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to allk12's analysis of the National Center for Education Statistics' 2024-25 school directory. Together they enroll about 49.1 million students. Another 991 public schools operate in Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories.
California has the most, with 10,351. Texas is close behind at 9,624, even though the two states enroll a similar number of students, about 5.8 million in California and 5.5 million in Texas. Delaware has the fewest of any state, with 238.
Public schools by level and type
- Elementary schools: 55,408
- Middle schools: 16,148
- High schools: 24,086
- Other or combined grades: 4,477, such as K-12 schools
Of the 100,119 schools, 8,214 are charter schools, which are publicly funded but run independently of a traditional district. Another 1,741 are virtual schools that teach students online. For more on how charters work, see our explainer on what a charter school is.
Number of public schools in every state
| Rank | State | Public schools | Charter schools | Students |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 10,351 | 1,289 | 5,790,305 |
| 2 | Texas | 9,624 | 1,098 | 5,545,640 |
| 3 | New York | 4,832 | 350 | 2,503,633 |
| 4 | Illinois | 4,399 | 131 | 1,843,051 |
| 5 | Florida | 4,219 | 751 | 2,856,531 |
| 6 | Ohio | 3,545 | 340 | 1,661,295 |
| 7 | Michigan | 3,474 | 368 | 1,369,973 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 2,939 | 177 | 1,666,699 |
| 9 | Minnesota | 2,781 | 316 | 876,122 |
| 10 | North Carolina | 2,736 | 226 | 1,551,337 |
| 11 | Arizona | 2,628 | 620 | 1,111,429 |
| 12 | New Jersey | 2,558 | 86 | 1,355,569 |
| 13 | Washington | 2,553 | 17 | 1,096,565 |
| 14 | Missouri | 2,464 | 82 | 885,243 |
| 15 | Georgia | 2,329 | 96 | 1,744,185 |
| 16 | Wisconsin | 2,193 | 225 | 806,876 |
| 17 | Virginia | 2,139 | 7 | 1,257,315 |
| 18 | Indiana | 1,919 | 134 | 1,037,604 |
| 19 | Tennessee | 1,913 | 114 | 1,002,363 |
| 20 | Colorado | 1,900 | 260 | 865,055 |
| 21 | Massachusetts | 1,824 | 73 | 915,932 |
| 22 | Oklahoma | 1,784 | 73 | 698,184 |
| 23 | Kentucky | 1,550 | 0 | 655,997 |
| 24 | Alabama | 1,535 | 26 | 751,060 |
| 25 | Maryland | 1,409 | 50 | 891,570 |
| 26 | Kansas | 1,342 | 7 | 477,077 |
| 27 | Iowa | 1,323 | 7 | 497,396 |
| 28 | Louisiana | 1,313 | 146 | 666,950 |
| 29 | Oregon | 1,293 | 128 | 539,626 |
| 30 | South Carolina | 1,278 | 105 | 796,780 |
| 31 | Utah | 1,110 | 146 | 684,739 |
| 32 | Arkansas | 1,106 | 110 | 491,268 |
| 33 | Nebraska | 1,098 | 0 | 330,483 |
| 34 | Mississippi | 1,032 | 10 | 433,124 |
| 35 | Connecticut | 1,010 | 22 | 490,969 |
| 36 | New Mexico | 920 | 99 | 310,878 |
| 37 | Montana | 851 | 0 | 147,535 |
| 38 | Idaho | 806 | 85 | 315,433 |
| 39 | Nevada | 744 | 106 | 474,721 |
| 40 | South Dakota | 727 | 0 | 146,873 |
| 41 | West Virginia | 683 | 7 | 242,155 |
| 42 | Maine | 593 | 11 | 166,401 |
| 43 | North Dakota | 533 | 0 | 123,013 |
| 44 | New Hampshire | 506 | 46 | 163,154 |
| 45 | Alaska | 492 | 31 | 127,890 |
| 46 | Wyoming | 364 | 8 | 90,108 |
| 47 | Rhode Island | 314 | 42 | 133,879 |
| 48 | Vermont | 303 | 0 | 77,547 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 298 | 40 | 167,071 |
| 50 | Washington, D.C. | 244 | 125 | 93,993 |
| 51 | Delaware | 238 | 24 | 142,156 |
Operating public schools in the 2024-25 school year, including charter and virtual schools. Source: allk12 analysis of NCES Common Core of Data.
The count of schools does not track enrollment closely. New York has more than twice as many schools as Georgia but only about 760,000 more students. Montana has 851 public schools for about 148,000 students, while Nevada has 744 for more than 470,000.
You can see the student count for each state in our public school students by state list, and every school in each state on its state page.
Sources
School counts and enrollment from allk12's analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data, 2024-25. Operating schools are those listed in the most recent NCES school directory.
