Schools tracked
95,891
Public dataset · U.S. Department of Education
2026 · NCES federal data
Every public school in America, in plain data
NCES Common Core of Data for every public school in 50 states + DC — enrollment, demographics, chronic absenteeism, free/reduced lunch. No ratings, no opinions. Just data.
95K+ US public schools: raw demographics, resource equity (staffing/AP/discipline), funding data from US Dept of Ed, no ratings.
The equity lens · what the ratings sites don't show
The numbers families actually need — straight from federal records
Most school sites reduce a school to a single grade. We don't. PlainSchools surfaces the resource-equity and funding data the U.S. Department of Education collects but rating sites bury — chronic absenteeism, per-pupil spending, and poverty indicators — for all 95,891 public schools. No scores. No opinions. Just the federal record.
32.1% Chronic absenteeism students missing 15+ days/yr CRDC 2021–22 $19.5K Avg per-pupil spending district median, all states NCES F-33 51.8% Free/reduced lunch avg share of students NCES CCD 15.7:1 Student–teacher ratio national average NCES CCD 7,931 Charter schools of all public K-12 NCES CCD
National figures computed from the federal universe survey · how we calculate this · data updated May 2026
2026 U.S. K-12 landscape
National enrollment, district fragmentation, and state distribution — sourced from NCES Common Core of Data
Districts
17,873
Students
49.0M
Avg ratio
15.7:1
How many public schools does each state have?
Geographic distribution of NCES-reported public K-12 schools across the United States. Darker shading indicates higher school count — select any state to open its districts, schools, and funding data.
Scale: 223–2K 2K–4K 4K–6K 6K–8K 8K–10K
Browse by state
Open any state for its districts, schools, funding equity, and absenteeism — all 50 states and DC.
AL Alabama 1,369 schools AK Alaska 496 schools AZ Arizona 2,186 schools AR Arkansas 1,069 schools CA California 10,006 schools CO Colorado 1,923 schools CT Connecticut 1,005 schools DE Delaware 223 schools DC District of Columbia 243 schools FL Florida 4,029 schools GA Georgia 2,315 schools HI Hawaii 295 schools ID Idaho 778 schools IL Illinois 3,845 schools IN Indiana 1,865 schools IA Iowa 1,326 schools KS Kansas 1,354 schools KY Kentucky 1,395 schools LA Louisiana 1,330 schools ME Maine 570 schools MD Maryland 1,383 schools MA Massachusetts 1,831 schools MI Michigan 3,399 schools MN Minnesota 2,391 schools MS Mississippi 877 schools MO Missouri 2,321 schools MT Montana 826 schools NE Nebraska 1,010 schools NV Nevada 742 schools NH New Hampshire 500 schools NJ New Jersey 2,509 schools NM New Mexico 873 schools NY New York 4,812 schools NC North Carolina 2,703 schools ND North Dakota 499 schools OH Ohio 3,586 schools OK Oklahoma 1,778 schools OR Oregon 1,277 schools PA Pennsylvania 2,930 schools RI Rhode Island 309 schools SC South Carolina 1,215 schools SD South Dakota 698 schools TN Tennessee 1,844 schools TX Texas 9,061 schools UT Utah 1,068 schools VT Vermont 289 schools VA Virginia 1,869 schools WA Washington 2,465 schools WV West Virginia 648 schools WI Wisconsin 2,205 schools WY Wyoming 351 schools
Guides & explainers
Plain-English context for the federal data — how to choose a district, read test scores, and understand absenteeism, funding, and school types.
How to Choose a School District
What data points actually matter when evaluating school districts — beyond ratings and test scores.
Chronic Absenteeism Explained
What chronic absenteeism is, why it predicts outcomes, and how to read the federal data.
Understanding NCES School Data
A plain-English guide to what the National Center for Education Statistics measures and what it means.
How to Read School Test Scores
What proficiency rates and growth scores actually tell you — and the traps to avoid.
School Funding Explained
Per-pupil spending, funding sources, and what "equity" means in the federal F-33 data.
Magnet, Charter & Public Schools
The differences between magnet, charter, and traditional public schools — and how to compare them.
By the numbers · the current federal cycle
The national snapshot, in plain view
One cycle of the federal record, read straight off the data we publish for every school — how class sizes are distributed, what kinds of schools make up the system, and where the attendance crisis actually sits. No index, no grade — the counts themselves.
How class sizes are distributed
Most schools that report staffing land in the 12 – 16:1 band. Counts are schools with a valid NCES student–teacher ratio.
U.S. public schools by student–teacher ratio band, current cycle.
What kinds of schools make up the system
The K-12 universe is more than elementary and high schools — “other / combined” covers K-8, K-12, and ungraded settings that don’t fit one band.
U.S. public schools by reported school level.
The attendance crisis, by the numbers
Chronic absenteeism — missing 15+ days a year — is one of the strongest predictors of outcomes, and the rating sites bury it.
32.1% national average chronic absenteeism
24,275 schools — about 27.3% of those reporting — sit above 40% chronic absenteeism.
Share of reporting schools above the 40% severe-absenteeism line.
These are the counts behind the brand thesis — the federal record, in plain view, not a single score · see the full rankings · how we calculate this
About & data provenance
About PlainSchools
PlainSchools publishes factual data on every public school and district in the United States — straight from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the U.S. Department of Education.
There is no single number that captures a school. So instead of a grade, we present the federal record as-is: enrollment, demographics, student–teacher ratios, chronic absenteeism, and per-pupil funding — the complete picture parents and researchers actually need.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Where does PlainSchools get its school data?
All data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the U.S. Department of Education. This includes the Common Core of Data (CCD) and the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC).
How many schools are in the PlainSchools database?
PlainSchools tracks over 95,800 public and charter schools across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., including K-12 schools, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.
Is PlainSchools free?
Yes, PlainSchools is completely free. You can look up school profiles, check chronic absenteeism data, and use our affordability finder without any account or payment.
What is the chronic absenteeism tracker?
Our chronic absenteeism tracker uses CRDC data to show the percentage of students who miss 15 or more school days per year at each school. Research shows chronic absenteeism is one of the strongest predictors of academic outcomes.