1
Enrollment
1,343
High
DISTRICT 845 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HARRISBURG CITY SD·NCES 421158006333
Harrisburg High School
2451 Market St, Harrisburg, PA 17103 · (717) 703-4300 · Dauphin County
GRADES 09–12HIGH13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,343 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 1% of Pennsylvania public high schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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 Pennsylvania public high schools
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
74 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.7:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
1,335 students
DISTRICT 104% · STATE 75%
Community
1
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 8 | 1 | 0% |
| Grade 9 | 490 | 36% |
| Grade 10 | 347 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 273 | 20% |
| Grade 12 | 232 | 17% |
Student demographics
57%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 59% · STATE 59% · 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
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
7.3%
PA avg 51.1% . -4.8pp since 2023
Math
1.0%
PA avg 43.0% . -1.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 7 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 1 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are down about 5 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 1 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 7.3% | 1.0% |
| 2023-24 | 12.1% | 2.4% |
% Proficient or Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: PSSA + Keystone. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of PA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
5.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.0%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-29.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 5% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 35% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Harrisburg High School
Harrisburg High School's state test result (5.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harrisburg High School this school | 1,343 | 99.4% | 5.4% |
| William Penn SHS York | 1,681 | 95.7% | 19.4% |
| Frankford High School Philadelphia | 907 | 94.7% | 11.5% |
| Olney High School Philadephia | 1,168 | 99.7% | 15.7% |
| Fels Samuel High School Philadelphia | 1,255 | 98.4% | 15.4% |
| Mastbaum Jules E Area Vocational-Technical School Philadelphia | 651 | 90.3% | 20.1% |
Matched among Pennsylvania 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 Harrisburg High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Dauphin County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 5.4% | #570 of 576 | #14 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 1.0% | #611 of 626 ▼ 5 | #15 of 15 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 7.3% | #623 of 626 ▼ 5 | #15 of 15 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,343 | #102 of 713 | #3 of 16 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.1:1 | #556 of 601 | #14 of 14 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 56.7% | #110 of 604 | #7 of 14 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.4% | #131 of 619 | #2 of 14 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +27.8% | #19 of 221 | #1 of 7 |
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
1,343
+249 (+23%) vs 2020
-34% since 1990-91, when it was 2,043
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
was 13.8:1
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 | 1,343 | 74.3 | 18.1:1 | 99% (1,335) |
| 2023-24 | 1,333 | 75.7 | 17.6:1 | N/A |
| 2022-23 | 1,230 | 76.7 | 16.0:1 | 100% (1,230) |
| 2020-21 | 1,094 | 79 | 13.8:1 | 100% (1,091) |
| 2017-18 | 1,051 | 81.6 | 12.9:1 | 81% (851) |
| 2015-16 | 1,169 | 90 | 13.0:1 | 73% (857) |
| 2010-11 | 1,778 | 127 | 14.0:1 | 70% (1,240) |
| 2000-01 | 1,747 | 112 | 15.6:1 | 54% (951) |
| 1990-91 | 2,043 | 158 | 12.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Harrisburg High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 28% (1,051 to 1,343); teachers down 9% (81.6 to 74.3).
About Harrisburg High School
Harrisburg High School is a large high school in Pennsylvania, located in Harrisburg. The student body numbers 1,343 students, from grades 9 through 12. Average enrollment for high schools in Pennsylvania is about 738, so this school runs 82% bigger than that.
Harrisburg City SD is the local district for Harrisburg High School. It runs 12 schools with 6,462 students.
No single group makes up more than half of enrollment at Harrisburg High School. The largest is Hispanic students, at 49%. The remaining shares are 43% Black, 3% White, and 3% multiracial. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Dauphin County's population at about 12%. Harrisburg High School's diversity index is 57%, against a US figure of 70%.
The school employs the equivalent of 74.3 full-time teachers, for a ratio of 18.1:1. That is 5.3 students per teacher above the 12.8:1 average for high schools in Pennsylvania. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Harrisburg High School is 99%. Public schools in Dauphin County average 59%.
Measured against Pennsylvania public high schools, Harrisburg High School receives an F. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Harrisburg High School scores 29.6 points below its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests: 5.4% actual versus 35.0% predicted. That puts it in the bottom 10% of Pennsylvania schools on BeatsExpectations.
Dauphin County has these Census figures: the median household income is $76,242, roughly 34% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Dauphin County is home to 75 public schools and about 72,718 public school students.
The closest other public school is Marshall Math Science Academy, about 0.2 miles away. Harrisburg High School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Harrisburg High School ranks 7th of 7 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 5.4% against a local average of 25.4%.
NCES describes the area around Harrisburg High School as City: Small, meaning inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
The school enrolled 1,343 students in 2024-25, 249 more than the 1,094 it had in 2020-21. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 13.8:1 to 18.1:1.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Harrisburg High School covering things like sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Dauphin County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
289,593
Census ACS
Median income
$76,242
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
75
72,718 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Harrisburg City SD
- Camp Curtin AcademyMiddle · 724 students
- Benjamin Franklin SchoolElementary · 678 students
- Melrose SchoolElementary · 536 students
- Foose SchoolElementary · 522 students
- Scott at Lincoln SchoolElementary · 484 students
- Marshall Math Science AcademyMiddle · 408 students
Other schools in Harrisburg
- Commonwealth Charter Academy CSCombined · 29,320 students
- Reach Cyber CSCombined · 5,721 students
- Central Dauphin SHSHigh · 1,966 students
- Central Dauphin East SHSHigh · 1,573 students
- Dauphin County Technical SchoolHigh · 1,187 students
- Linglestown Middle SchoolMiddle · 841 students
Other Harrisburg High schools
5 other US public schools in 6 states are named Harrisburg High. Harrisburg High School is the 2nd largest of the 6.
- Harrisburg High School - 01Harrisburg, SD · 1,806 students
- HARRISBURG HIGH SCHOOLHARRISBURG, AR · 516 students
- Harrisburg High SchoolHarrisburg, IL · 491 students
- Harrisburg High SchoolHarrisburg, OR · 260 students
- HARRISBURG HIGHHARRISBURG, MO · 185 students
Nearby schools
- Marshall Math Science Academy0.2 mi · 408
- Melrose School0.7 mi · 536
- Rowland Academy0.9 mi · 353
- Susquehanna Twp Middle School1.0 mi · 820
- Paxtang Elementary School1.1 mi · 281
- Scott at Lincoln School1.1 mi · 484
Frequently asked questions
About Harrisburg High SchoolHow large is Harrisburg High School?
Harrisburg High School enrolls approximately 1,343 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Harrisburg High School serve?
Harrisburg High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many teachers does Harrisburg High School have?
Harrisburg High School employs 74 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Harrisburg High School?
Student demographics at Harrisburg High School are roughly 3% White, 49% Hispanic, 43% Black, 2% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Harrisburg High School?
Harrisburg High School is overseen by Harrisburg City SD in Dauphin County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.