Total enrollment
31,797
-208 (-1%) vs SY 2020-21
57 schools in Durham Public Schools
North Carolina · 31,797 students · 2 cities
In North Carolina's Durham Public Schools, public K-12 schools total 57 and serve approximately 31,797 students (an average of 558 per school).
4-year change in Durham Public Schools
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25School count
55
+3 (+6%) vs SY 2020-21
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, enrollment-weighted demographic averages
How Durham Public Schools ranks
Among districts| Measure | This district | In North Carolina | In the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 48.0% | #70 of 112 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 31,797 | #9 of 116 | #207 of 9,234 |
| Number of schools ranked most first | 55 | #7 of 116 | N/A |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.2:1 | #37 of 116 | #5,673 of 9,044 |
| Free or reduced-price lunch share ranked highest first | 98.9% | #32 of 114 | #325 of 8,164 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 70.3% | #18 of 111 | #366 of 6,853 |
Districts need at least 2 schools and 500 students to be ranked. Test proficiency is ranked within the state only, since each state gives a different test. Each rank links to the full list.
Inside Durham Public Schools
State test results across the district's 51 scored schools run from City of Medicine Academy at 90.5% proficient to Y E Smith Elementary at 22.0%, a gap of 68.5 points. That is the 7th widest gap among 104 North Carolina districts with four or more scored schools.
Since 2017-18, the 52 district schools that reported both years went from 33,503 to 30,309 students (down 10%) and from 2,280 to 1,989 full-time teachers (down 13%), as of 2024-25.
Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across each school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25; schools with fewer than 100 students and schools serving specialized populations are left out. Staffing figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data and count only schools that reported students and teachers in both years.
About Durham Public Schools
As a moderately sized district in North Carolina, Durham Public Schools serves 31,797 students across 57 schools.
In terms of grade levels, Durham Public Schools consists of 32 elementary, 9 middle, 14 high schools, and 2 combined or other.
Trend over the past 4 years. Across the same 4-year window, public-school enrollment stayed largely flat: 32,005 students in SY 2020-21 versus 31,797 in SY 2024-25. Durham Public Schools now counts 55 public schools, up from 52 in SY 2020-21.
Within the allk12 community for this area, the community for Durham Public Schools discusses enrollment trends, district policy changes, and bus-route updates. Anyone with firsthand knowledge of these schools is welcome to weigh in.