List of schools in the US: public and private school counts, and how to download the NCES lists

This guide is for companies that sell to K-12 schools and districts: education technology, network and audio-visual installers, school safety and security, furniture, food service equipment, transportation, staffing and professional development. It's also for anyone who needs a list of schools by state or type. It counts public and private schools from the federal sources, shows how to download them, explains how schools buy, and works through an example. For colleges, see our list of universities.

How many schools there are in the US

Public school and district counts cover the 50 states and DC and include schools that were open, new, reopened or changed agency that year.

The Common Core of Data (CCD) is NCES's annual census of public schools and districts, reported by state education agencies. The Private School Survey (PSS) runs every two years. Its 2023-24 public-use file, released in September 2026, has records for the 22,510 schools that responded, and NCES weights them to represent about 30,553 private schools.

Public schools by level and type

Public schools by state

Arizona, outside the top ten by total schools, has the fourth-most charter schools (569).

Private schools

The PSS shows a sector of many small schools. These are NCES's weighted estimates for 2023-24:

The average private school has about 167 K-12 students, so private schools teach roughly 5.1 million in all. California (about 3,090), Florida (2,770), Pennsylvania (2,230), Texas (2,010) and New York (1,670) have the most. Many Catholic schools belong to a diocesan school system, which makes the diocesan schools office a useful first contact.

Districts: where most buying happens

A school spends money, but in public education the district usually decides. NCES counts 19,217 local education agencies in 2024-25:

District size varies enormously. The Census Bureau's 2026 list of government units gives an enrollment figure (for 2024) for each school system:

Nearly half the school systems have fewer than 1,000 students; there, the superintendent may also be the technology buyer. The 271 largest systems teach over a third of students and run formal procurement with purchasing departments, bid portals and board approval for large contracts.

How to download a list of schools

1. Public schools. On the NCES CCD data files page, download the School Directory file for the latest school year. It's a CSV with every public school's name, district, mailing and street address, phone, website, grade span, level, school type and charter status. 69,110 of the 99,088 schools list a website.
2. Districts. From the same page, download the LEA (district) Directory file: name, type, address, phone, website and number of schools.
3. Custom tables. NCES's ELSI table generator builds school or district lists with enrollment, staff and free lunch counts without handling the raw files.
4. Private schools. Download the PSS public-use file. It names the schools that responded, with address, phone, county, religious orientation, level and enrollment.
5. Buying signals. USAC's E-Rate open data lists every FCC Form 470 posted by schools and districts, with the services requested, the date and a contact.

How schools buy

• The board approves; the district buys. Elected school boards approve budgets and large contracts. The superintendent, business official, technology director, curriculum director, facilities director and food service director each own their own budgets. Principals usually control only a small discretionary fund.
• Bids and cooperatives. Purchases above state and local thresholds go to formal bids. Many districts buy through cooperative purchasing contracts that another public agency has already competed, so being on a cooperative contract can shorten a sale.
• E-Rate shapes network buying. The federal E-Rate program discounts internet access (Category 1) and internal connections such as Wi-Fi, switches and cabling (Category 2). To get it, a school or district posts an FCC Form 470 describing what it wants, must wait at least four weeks before signing with a provider, and must make price the primary factor in choosing one.
• The calendar is public. For funding year 2026 (July 2026 to June 2027), 27,952 Form 470s were posted: 17,620 by school districts, 7,078 by individual schools, 2,209 by libraries and library systems and 1,045 by consortia. 15,459 requested Category 2 services. Most were certified between October 2025 and February 2026, with the peak in January and February.

Worked example: a network installer in Wisconsin

Illustrative example. The company and its plan are fictional; the counts come from the NCES CCD for 2024-25 and USAC E-Rate open data, checked on 26 October 2026.

The seller: Lakeshore Networks (lakeshore.example), a 15-person installer of school Wi-Fi and switching in Wisconsin. The question: which districts will buy in the next six months, and how should Lakeshore reach them?

What the data shows. Wisconsin has 420 regular school districts. For funding year 2026, 339 Wisconsin districts posted a Form 470 requesting Category 2 services. Postings for funding year 2027 had started: by 25 October 2026, 38 Wisconsin districts and 35 individual schools had posted.

The plan.

1. Pull new Form 470s every week from USAC's open data, filtered to Wisconsin and Category 2. Each posting gives the services, the quantities and the date the four-week window closes.
2. Bid with a clear, itemized price, because price must be the primary factor in the district's evaluation.
3. Build relationships before the window. For districts that bought in 2026 but haven't posted yet, contact the technology director now about maintenance and next year's plans.
4. Do the arithmetic. If an illustrative 300 Wisconsin districts post Category 2 requests for 2027 and Lakeshore can serve 80 of them geographically, bidding on all 80 and winning an illustrative 15% gives 12 projects.

For the districts that haven't posted, finding the technology director and what's changed (a new building, a referendum, a new superintendent) is the slow part; Bebop researches each district in a list and writes a playbook for it.

Subject: Wi-Fi at [school or district] before the 2027 E-Rate window

Hi [first name],

I saw [district] posted a Form 470 for [service, e.g. wireless access points] last year, and that [something new, e.g. the new middle school opens next fall].

Districts your size tell us the hard part isn't the equipment, it's getting the installation done in the summer window without overtime.

We install and maintain school networks across [region]. If you're planning a 2027 request, would 15 minutes now help you scope it before the form goes out?

[Your name]
[Phone number]

Common mistakes

• Selling to the school when the district buys. Find out who owns the budget before you pitch a principal.
• Missing the E-Rate window. Network projects follow the Form 470 calendar; contact districts before they post, then bid within the four weeks.
• Using an old list. Schools open, close and merge every year; use the latest CCD directory.
• Treating private schools like public ones. They buy through different people, often a head of school and a business manager, and 39% have fewer than 50 students.
• Ignoring service agencies. Regional education service agencies buy on behalf of many small districts.

Next step: once you've chosen the districts to target, profile each one with the account profiling template: who owns the budget, what's changed, and the one question you'd ask.