Total enrollment
65,550
-5,605 (-8%) vs SY 2020-21
156 schools in Milwaukee School District
Wisconsin · 65,835 students · 1 city
Milwaukee School District in Wisconsin operates 156 K-12 public schools, enrolling about 65,835 students (around 422 per school).
4-year change in Milwaukee School District
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25School count
153
-3 (-2%) vs SY 2020-21
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, enrollment-weighted demographic averages
How Milwaukee School District ranks
Among districts| Measure | This district | In Wisconsin | In the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 22.3% | #241 of 243 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 65,835 | #1 of 290 | #55 of 9,234 |
| Number of schools ranked most first | 155 | #1 of 290 | N/A |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.1:1 | #287 of 290 | #7,203 of 9,044 |
| Free or reduced-price lunch share ranked highest first | 80.8% | #2 of 289 | #1,172 of 8,164 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 66.5% | #9 of 177 | #800 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 Milwaukee School District
State test results across the district's 139 scored schools run from Milwaukee German Immersion at 66.7% proficient to Marshall High at 1.2%, a gap of 65.5 points. That is the 5th widest gap among 113 Wisconsin districts with four or more scored schools.
Since 2017-18, the 151 district schools that reported both years went from 74,168 to 64,909 students (down 12%) and from 3,511 to 3,807 full-time teachers (up 8%), 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 Milwaukee School District
As a population-heavy district in Wisconsin, Milwaukee School District serves 65,835 students across 156 schools.
On the school-mix side, Milwaukee School District is made up of 109 elementary, 8 middle, 34 high schools, and 5 combined or other.
On a per-school basis, Milwaukee School District runs about 422 students per school, 14% higher than the state mean of roughly 370.
Over the past 4-year window. Total public-school enrollment in Milwaukee School District has fell 8% since SY 2020-21, moving from about 71,155 students to 65,550. The school count fell from 156 to 153 across the same 4-year window.
Within the allk12 community for this area, the community for Milwaukee School District discusses enrollment trends, district policy changes, and bus-route updates. Parents, students, and educators in the area can post or comment.