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Digest of Education Statistics
2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 214.10. Number of public school districts and public and private elementary and secondary schools: Selected school years, 1869-70 through 2021-22
School year Regular public school districts1 Total, all public and private schools Public schools Private schools2
Total, all public schools3 Total, schools with reported grade spans4 Schools with any grade in prekindergarten through grade 85 Schools with any grade in grades 7 through 126 Total, all private schools3 Schools with any grade in prekinder-garten through grade 87 Schools with any grade in grades 7 through 12
Total One-teacher8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1869-70 --- --- 116,312 --- --- --- --- ---   ---   ---  
1879-80 --- --- 178,122 --- --- --- --- ---   ---   ---  
1889-90 --- --- 224,526 --- --- --- --- ---   ---   ---  
1899-1900 --- --- 248,279 --- --- --- --- ---   ---   ---  
1909-10 --- --- 265,474 --- --- 212,448 --- ---   ---   ---  

1919-20
--- --- 271,319 --- --- 187,948 --- ---   ---   ---  
1929-30 --- --- 248,117 --- 238,306 148,712 23,930 ---   9,275 9 3,258 9
1939-40 117,108 --- 226,762 --- --- 113,600 --- ---   11,306 9 3,568 9
1949-50 83,718 --- --- --- 128,225 59,652 24,542 ---   10,375 9 3,331 9
1959-60 40,520 --- --- --- 91,853 20,213 25,784 ---   13,574 9 4,061 9

1961-62
35,676 125,634 107,260 --- 81,910 13,333 25,350 18,374   14,762 9 4,129 9
1963-64 31,705 --- 104,015 --- 77,584 9,895 26,431 ---   ---   4,451 9
1965-66 26,983 117,662 99,813 --- 73,216 6,491 26,597 17,849 9 15,340 9 4,606 9
1967-68 22,010 --- --- 94,197 70,879 4,146 27,011 ---   ---   ---  
1970-71 17,995 --- --- 89,372 65,800 1,815 25,352 ---   14,372 9 3,770 9

1973-74
16,730 --- --- 88,655 65,070 1,365 25,906 ---   ---   ---  
1975-76 16,376 --- 88,597 87,034 63,242 1,166 25,330 ---   ---   ---  
1976-77 16,271 --- --- 86,501 62,644 1,111 25,378 19,910 9 16,385 9 5,904 9
1978-79 16,014 --- --- 84,816 61,982 1,056 24,504 19,489 9 16,097 9 5,766 9
1980-81 15,912 106,746 85,982 83,688 61,069 921 24,362 20,764 9 16,792 9 5,678 9

1982-83
15,824 --- 84,740 82,039 59,656 798 23,988 ---   ---   ---  
1984-85 --- --- 84,007 81,147 58,827 825 23,916 ---   ---   ---  
1986-87 15,713 --- 83,421 82,316 60,811 763 23,481 ---   ---   ---  
1988-89 15,376 --- 83,165 81,579 60,176 583 23,638 ---   ---   ---  
1990-91 15,358 109,228 84,538 82,475 61,340 617 23,460 24,690   22,223   8,989  

1992-93
15,025 --- 84,497 82,896 62,225 430 23,220 ---   ---   ---  
1994-95 14,772 --- 86,221 84,476 63,572 458 23,668 ---   ---   ---  
1996-97 14,841 --- 88,223 86,092 64,785 487 24,287 ---   ---   ---  
1998-99 14,891 --- 90,874 89,259 67,183 463 25,797 ---   ---   ---  
2000-01 14,859 --- 93,273 91,691 69,697 411 27,090 ---   ---   ---  

2001-02
14,559 130,007 94,112 92,696 70,516 408 27,468 35,895   33,191   11,846  
2002-03 14,465 --- 95,615 93,869 71,270 366 28,151 ---   ---   ---  
2003-04 14,383 130,407 95,726 93,977 71,195 376 28,219 34,681   31,988   11,188  
2004-05 14,205 --- 96,513 95,001 71,556 338 29,017 ---   ---   ---  
2005-06 14,166 132,436 97,382 95,731 71,733 326 29,705 35,054   32,127   12,184  

2006-07
13,856 --- 98,793 96,362 72,442 313 29,904 ---   ---   ---  
2007-08 13,838 132,656 98,916 97,654 73,011 288 30,542 33,740   30,808   11,870  
2008-09 13,809 --- 98,706 97,119 72,771 237 29,971 ---   ---   ---  
2009-10 13,625 132,183 98,817 97,521 72,870 217 30,381 33,366   30,590   11,941  
2010-11 13,588 --- 98,817 97,767 73,223 224 30,681 ---   ---   ---  

2011-12
13,567 129,189 98,328 97,357 73,000 205 30,668 30,861   28,184   11,165  
2012-13 13,515 --- 98,454 97,331 73,037 196 30,623 ---   ---   ---  
2013-14 13,491 131,890 98,271 97,290 73,223 193 30,256 33,619   30,919   11,110  
2014-15 13,601 --- 98,176 97,601 73,420 165 30,528 ---   ---   ---  
2015-16 13,584 132,853 98,277 97,586 73,546 197 30,828 34,576   31,630   12,669  

2016-17
13,598 --- 98,158 97,434 73,620 203 30,597 ---   ---   ---  
2017-18 13,551 130,930 98,469 97,568 73,686 188 30,160 32,461   29,616   12,371  
2018-19 13,452 --- 98,755 98,064 74,192 185 30,458 ---   ---   ---  
2019-20 13,349 128,961 98,469 97,868 74,302 187 30,407 30,492   27,662   11,815  
2020-21 13,335 --- 98,577 97,847 74,309 171 30,274 ---   ---   ---  
2021-22 13,318 --- 99,239 98,625 75,069 166 30,793 ---   ---   ---  
---Not available.
1Regular districts exclude regional education service agencies and supervisory union administrative centers, state-operated agencies, federally operated agencies, and other types of local education agencies, such as independent charter schools.
2Data for most years prior to 1976-77 are partly estimated. Prior to 1995-96, excludes schools whose highest grade offered was kindergarten.
3Includes schools not classified by grade span, which are not shown separately.
4Includes prekindergarten, elementary, middle, secondary, and high schools.
5Excludes schools whose lowest grade offered was grade 7 or grade 8. However, includes schools whose only grade offered was grade 7 or grade 8.
6Excludes schools whose only grade offered was grade 7 or grade 8.
7Excludes schools whose lowest grade offered was grade 7 or grade 8.
8Excludes alternative schools, academies, hospitals, virtual schools, prisons, and juvenile detention facilities.
9These data cannot be compared directly with the data for years after 1980-81.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1870 through 1910; Biennial Survey of Education in the United States, 1919-20 through 1949-50; Statistics of State School Systems, 1951-52 through 1967-68; Statistics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Systems, 1970-71 through 1980-81; Statistics of Public and Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Day Schools, 1968-69; Statistics of Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1970-71; Private Schools in American Education; Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Private School Questionnaire," 1987-88 and 1990-91; Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 1989-90 through 2019-20; and Common Core of Data (CCD), "Local Education Agency Universe Survey" and "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 1982-83 through 2021-22. (This table was prepared October 2022.)

2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest