Average Public School Size by State (NCES)
The average US public school enrolls about 511 students, but the typical school is more than three times larger in Georgia (751) than in Montana (177). PlainSchools ranks all 51 state systems by average school size from official NCES data.
Research period:
Key finding
Across the 95,891 US public schools that report enrollment to the federal Common Core of Data, the average school enrolls about 511 students. But the typical school is far bigger in some states than others.
Schools are largest on average in Georgia, at about 751 students each, and smallest in Montana, at about 177, a difference of more than three to one. The pattern tracks geography: big consolidated schools in populous states, small local schools across the rural Plains and Mountain West.
Research question
How big is the typical US public school, and how much does average school size differ by state? Across all 51 state systems, where do students attend large, consolidated schools, and where are schools small and local?
Methodology
For each state we take every public school's reported enrollment from the NCES Common Core of Data and compute the simple average, so each school counts once. That measures the size of the typical school, rather than the size the typical student attends. States with fewer than 20 reporting schools are excluded, and schools with no enrollment recorded are left out.
Average school size blends every grade level, so a state's figure partly reflects how many small elementary schools it has relative to large high schools. Figures are recomputed live from the database on every request, so nothing here is hand-entered.
See the methodology page for source vintage and full details.
States with the largest schools
Top 10 by average enrollment per school (NCES CCD)
All 51 state systems, ranked
Average enrollment per school, largest first. Every state links to its full profile; figures update with each NCES release.
| # | State | Avg. students per school | Schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | 751 | 2,315 |
| 2 | Florida | 704 | 4,029 |
| 3 | Virginia | 671 | 1,869 |
| 4 | Nevada | 648 | 742 |
| 5 | South Carolina | 646 | 1,215 |
| 6 | Maryland | 640 | 1,383 |
| 7 | Utah | 638 | 1,068 |
| 8 | Delaware | 630 | 223 |
| 9 | Texas | 606 | 9,061 |
| 10 | California | 578 | 10,006 |
| 11 | North Carolina | 571 | 2,703 |
| 12 | Pennsylvania | 568 | 2,930 |
| 13 | Hawaii | 566 | 295 |
| 14 | Indiana | 554 | 1,865 |
| 15 | Alabama | 545 | 1,369 |
| 16 | New Jersey | 540 | 2,509 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 539 | 1,844 |
| 18 | New York | 521 | 4,812 |
| 19 | Louisiana | 507 | 1,330 |
| 20 | Arizona | 505 | 2,186 |
| 21 | Massachusetts | 501 | 1,831 |
| 22 | Mississippi | 497 | 877 |
| 23 | Connecticut | 489 | 1,005 |
| 24 | Illinois | 480 | 3,845 |
| 25 | Kentucky | 467 | 1,395 |
| 26 | Ohio | 467 | 3,586 |
| 27 | Arkansas | 460 | 1,069 |
| 28 | Colorado | 453 | 1,923 |
| 29 | Washington | 443 | 2,465 |
| 30 | Rhode Island | 440 | 309 |
| 31 | Oregon | 421 | 1,277 |
| 32 | Idaho | 405 | 778 |
| 33 | Michigan | 405 | 3,399 |
| 34 | Oklahoma | 392 | 1,778 |
| 35 | District of Columbia | 384 | 243 |
| 36 | Missouri | 382 | 2,321 |
| 37 | Iowa | 375 | 1,326 |
| 38 | West Virginia | 375 | 648 |
| 39 | Wisconsin | 370 | 2,205 |
| 40 | Minnesota | 365 | 2,391 |
| 41 | Kansas | 353 | 1,354 |
| 42 | New Mexico | 349 | 873 |
| 43 | New Hampshire | 328 | 500 |
| 44 | Nebraska | 324 | 1,010 |
| 45 | Maine | 292 | 570 |
| 46 | Vermont | 269 | 289 |
| 47 | Alaska | 264 | 496 |
| 48 | Wyoming | 255 | 351 |
| 49 | North Dakota | 237 | 499 |
| 50 | South Dakota | 202 | 698 |
| 51 | Montana | 177 | 826 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (public-school enrollment). State averages computed by PlainSchools as the simple mean of school enrollments. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (public-school enrollment). State averages computed by PlainSchools as the simple mean of school enrollments.
What the data shows
School size follows the map
The states with the largest schools, led by Georgia at about 751 students each, are mostly populous Sun Belt and Southeastern states that build large, consolidated campuses. The states with the smallest schools, including Montana at about 177, are sparsely populated states across the Plains and Mountain West, where long distances make a one-room-town school more practical than a regional one. The national average is about 511 students per school.
Bigger is not better, and smaller is not worse
School size is a trade-off, not a grade. A small school can offer closer relationships, easier access to staff, and a tighter community; a large school can offer more advanced courses, more sports and activities, and specialists a small school cannot staff. Families tend to weigh the two against their own child, not against a national average.
Why this matters
Size shapes the daily experience of school, from class sizes and course catalogs to how well a student can be known by name. It sits alongside the enrollment, class size, and program data on each profile. Use each state, district, and school page to see how local school sizes compare.
What this analysis cannot tell us
Average school size here is the simple mean of every school's enrollment within a state, so each school counts once regardless of how many students it serves; it describes the size of the typical school, not the size the typical student attends (a few large schools can hold most of a state's students). The figure also blends grade levels: elementary schools are usually smaller than high schools, so a state's average partly reflects its mix of school types as well as its settlement pattern. Small schools are common in rural, sparsely populated states because long distances make consolidation impractical; larger schools are common in populous Sun Belt and Southeastern states that build big, consolidated campuses. School size is a trade-off, not a quality ranking: small schools can offer closer attention and a stronger community, while large schools can offer more courses, sports, and specialised staff. Enrollment is from the NCES Common Core of Data; states with fewer than 20 reporting schools are excluded.
States with the smallest schools
The 10 states with the lowest average enrollment per school (NCES CCD)
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (public-school enrollment): https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/
Cite this analysis
PlainSchools. (2026). Average Public School Size by State (NCES). https://plainschools.com/research/average-school-size-by-state/