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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Murphysboro High School administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
565
High
DISTRICT 375 · STATE 834
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MURPHYSBORO CUSD 186·NCES 172761002925
Murphysboro High School
50 Blackwood Dr, Murphysboro, IL 62966 · (618) 687-2336 · Jackson County
GRADES 09–12HIGH32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL565 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 71% of Illinois public high schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Illinois public high schools
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.8:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
97%
550 students
DISTRICT 96% · STATE 56%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 139 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 154 | 27% |
| Grade 11 | 133 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 139 | 25% |
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 51% · STATE 69% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Murphysboro CUSD 186. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of IL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
34.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
15.3%
based on IL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+19.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 35% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 15% typical for Illinois schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 19 points, placing it in Illinois's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Murphysboro High School
Murphysboro High School's state test result (34.7% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murphysboro High School this school | 565 | 97.3% | 34.7% |
| Rantoul Twp High School Rantoul | 901 | 90.5% | 20.1% |
| Cobden High School Cobden | 135 | 95.6% | 39.2% |
| Egyptian Sr High School Tamms | 84 | 98.8% | 16.9% |
| Danville High School Danville | 1,253 | 82.9% | 19.1% |
| Meridian High School Mounds | 206 | 98.5% | 7.2% |
Matched among Illinois high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Murphysboro High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 34.7% | #288 of 573 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 565 | #308 of 708 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.4:1 | #128 of 528 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 47.6% | #202 of 537 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.3% | #10 of 578 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -5.7% | #244 of 358 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
565
-26 (-4%) vs 2020
-23% since 1990-91, when it was 736
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 565 | 45.4 | 12.4:1 | 97% (550) |
| 2023-24 | 604 | 45 | 13.4:1 | 100% (604) |
| 2022-23 | 598 | 46 | 13.0:1 | 99% (594) |
| 2020-21 | 591 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 599 | 42.9 | 14.0:1 | 99% (595) |
| 2015-16 | 595 | 41 | 14.5:1 | 99% (591) |
| 2010-11 | 632 | 45 | 14.0:1 | 54% (342) |
| 2000-01 | 806 | 51 | 15.8:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 736 | 43 | 17.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Murphysboro High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 6% (599 to 565); teachers up 6% (42.9 to 45.4).
About Murphysboro High School
Murphysboro High School is a small high school in Murphysboro, Illinois, (ZIP code 62966). The school had 565 students in grades 9 through 12 in 2024-25. Average enrollment for high schools in Illinois is about 834, so this school runs 32% smaller than that.
Murphysboro CUSD 186 enrolls 1,877 students in 5 schools, including Murphysboro High School.
White students make up a majority at Murphysboro High School, at 70%. The next largest groups are 14% Black, 8% Hispanic, and 7% multiracial. The White share in Jackson County as a whole is similar, at about 73%. The school's diversity index is 48%, meaning two students picked at random have a 48% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Federal records show a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.4:1 at Murphysboro High School, with 45.4 full-time-equivalent teachers. This ratio sits 1.4 below the 13.8:1 average for high schools in Illinois. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, a common measure of family income, is 97%. Across public schools in Jackson County, the average is 73%.
Murphysboro High School is graded B+ by allk12, scoring above 71% of Illinois public high schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Murphysboro High School is 19.4 points above expectations on state tests, given its student poverty level, placing it in the top 10% in Illinois.
Census Bureau estimates for Jackson County show that the median household income is $48,763, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 36% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 11%. There are 32 public schools in Jackson County, enrolling about 6,811 students in all.
The school nearest to Murphysboro High School is Carruthers Elementary School, at a distance of about 0.4 miles. Other public schools within five miles number 4. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 28.0%; Murphysboro High School's is 34.7%, ranking 1st of 6.
Locale: Town: Distant. In NCES terms, the school is in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
Enrollment declined 4% from its 2020-21 level of 591.
If you have questions about school safety, transportation, and start times at Murphysboro High School, you can post them here. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Jackson County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
53,064
Census ACS
Median income
$48,763
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
32
6,811 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Murphysboro CUSD 186
- Carruthers Elementary SchoolElementary · 426 students
- Murphysboro Middle SchoolMiddle · 422 students
- Gen John A Logan Attendance CntrElementary · 400 students
- McElvain SchoolElementary · 64 students
Other schools in Murphysboro
- Carruthers Elementary SchoolElementary · 426 students
- Murphysboro Middle SchoolMiddle · 422 students
- Gen John A Logan Attendance CntrElementary · 400 students
- McElvain SchoolElementary · 64 students
- Cope Alternative SchoolHigh
- Five County Regional AlternativeHigh
Nearby schools
- Carruthers Elementary School0.4 mi · 426
- Murphysboro Middle School1.4 mi · 422
- McElvain School1.8 mi · 64
- Gen John A Logan Attendance Cntr2.7 mi · 400
- Parrish Elementary School6.4 mi · 466
- DeSoto Elementary School7.1 mi · 198
Frequently asked questions
About Murphysboro High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Murphysboro High School?
Murphysboro High School enrolls approximately 565 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Murphysboro High School serve?
Murphysboro High School serves grades 09-12.
How many students per teacher at Murphysboro High School?
Approximately 12.4:1 students per teacher at Murphysboro High School.
How diverse is Murphysboro High School?
Murphysboro High School reports a student body of 70% White, 8% Hispanic, 14% Black, 1% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees Murphysboro High School?
Murphysboro High School is overseen by Murphysboro CUSD 186 in Jackson County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.