Iowa · NCES CCD 2024-25

Largest Schools in Iowa

The 50 largest public schools in Iowa, ranked by total student enrollment from NCES CCD 2024-25.

Compiled from official source data by PlainSchools. · Updated August 2026

The ranking in one line

Lincoln High School in Des Moines is Iowa's largest public school with 2,364 students enrolled.

2,364
students at Lincoln High School: 26.3:1
student-teacher ratio at the largest school: 1,452
average across the top 50

#	School	Student:Teacher	Level	District	Enrollment
1	Lincoln High SchoolDes Moines	26.3:1	High	Des Moines Independent Comm School District	2,364
2	Linn-Mar High SchoolMarion	17.1:1	High	Linn-Mar Comm School District	2,229
3	Valley High SchoolWest Des Moines	18.1:1	High	West Des Moines Comm School District	2,178
4	Roosevelt High SchoolDes Moines	31.1:1	High	Des Moines Independent Comm School District	2,051
5	East High SchoolDes Moines	20.8:1	High	Des Moines Independent Comm School District	1,952
6	Johnston Senior High SchoolJohnston	20.4:1	High	Johnston Comm School District	1,820
7	Prairie High SchoolCedar Rapids	24.5:1	High	College Comm School District	1,766
8	Pleasant Valley High SchoolBettendorf	18.4:1	High	Pleasant Valley Comm School District	1,731
9	Southeast Polk High SchoolPleasant Hill	13.9:1	High	Southeast Polk Comm School District	1,722
10	West High SchoolWaterloo	17.7:1	High	Waterloo Comm School District	1,696
11	Iowa City High SchoolIowa City	15.9:1	High	Iowa City Comm School District	1,666
12	John F Kennedy High SchoolCedar Rapids	17.2:1	High	Cedar Rapids Comm School District	1,648
13	Marshalltown High SchoolMarshalltown	16:1	High	Marshalltown Comm School District	1,629
14	Northwest High SchoolWaukee	-	High	Waukee Comm School District	1,574
15	North High SchoolSioux City	19.9:1	High	Sioux City Comm School District	1,529
16	West Senior High SchoolIowa City	15.9:1	High	Iowa City Comm School District	1,514
17	Thomas Jefferson High SchoolCedar Rapids	17.5:1	High	Cedar Rapids Comm School District	1,501
18	Hempstead High SchoolDubuque	13.8:1	High	Dubuque Comm School District	1,499
19	East High SchoolSioux City	20.2:1	High	Sioux City Comm School District	1,495
20	Dubuque Senior High SchoolDubuque	11:1	High	Dubuque Comm School District	1,490
21	Ankeny Centennial High SchoolAnkeny	16.7:1	High	Ankeny Comm School District	1,470
22	Iowa Virtual AcademyGuttenberg	58.3:1	Other	Clayton Ridge Comm School District	1,457
23	Ames High SchoolAmes	17.3:1	High	Ames Comm School District	1,440
24	Bettendorf High SchoolBettendorf	14.6:1	High	Bettendorf Comm School District	1,433
25	North High SchoolDes Moines	21.6:1	High	Des Moines Independent Comm School District	1,428
26	Muscatine High SchoolMuscatine	15:1	High	Muscatine Comm School District	1,380
27	Ankeny High SchoolAnkeny	17.4:1	High	Ankeny Comm School District	1,375
28	Waukee High SchoolWaukee	16.8:1	High	Waukee Comm School District	1,375
29	Cedar Falls High SchoolCedar Falls	14.2:1	High	Cedar Falls Comm School District	1,333
30	Abraham Lincoln High SchoolCouncil Bluffs	15.3:1	High	Council Bluffs Comm School District	1,333
31	West High SchoolSioux City	15.8:1	High	Sioux City Comm School District	1,308
32	West High SchoolDavenport	14.8:1	High	Davenport Comm School District	1,304
33	Urbandale High SchoolUrbandale	14.3:1	High	Urbandale Comm School District	1,301
34	Central High SchoolDavenport	14.3:1	High	Davenport Comm School District	1,288
35	Liberty High SchoolNorth Liberty	16.7:1	High	Iowa City Comm School District	1,286
36	Southeast Junior High SchoolIowa City	23.5:1	Middle	Iowa City Comm School District	1,269
37	North High SchoolDavenport	15.5:1	High	Davenport Comm School District	1,190
38	George Washington High SchoolCedar Rapids	15.4:1	High	Cedar Rapids Comm School District	1,182
39	Indianola High SchoolIndianola	18.5:1	High	Indianola Comm School District	1,165
40	Johnston Middle SchoolJohnston	18.1:1	Other	Johnston Comm School District	1,161
41	Thomas Jefferson High SchoolCouncil Bluffs	17.9:1	High	Council Bluffs Comm School District	1,146
42	North Middle SchoolSioux City	15.4:1	Middle	Sioux City Comm School District	1,136
43	Summit Middle SchoolJohnston	16.2:1	Middle	Johnston Comm School District	1,118
44	Northwest Junior High SchoolCoralville	20.6:1	Middle	Iowa City Comm School District	1,113
45	Spring Creek - 6th GradePleasant Hill	32.7:1	Middle	Southeast Polk Comm School District	1,112
46	South Middle SchoolWaukee	18.2:1	Middle	Waukee Comm School District	1,092
47	Southeast Polk Junior HighPleasant Hill	16.5:1	Middle	Southeast Polk Comm School District	1,088
48	Eleanor Roosevelt Middle SchoolDubuque	13.9:1	Middle	Dubuque Comm School District	1,081
49	North Scott High SchoolEldridge	17.4:1	High	North Scott Comm School District	1,081
50	East Middle SchoolSioux City	14.7:1	Middle	Sioux City Comm School District	1,076

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Methodology

Enrollment data comes from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 school year. Schools are ranked by total student enrollment. Student-teacher ratios are calculated from full-time equivalent (FTE) teacher counts reported by each school.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.