Largest school districts in the United States

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August 14, 2018
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Largest school districts in the United States

For many students, enrolling in elementary school begins a 12-year journey with the same group of people. Elementary schools feed into a few middle schools, and those middle schools feed into a couple of high schools. The sizes of different school districts vary enormously across the country, with several that are particularly populous.

While larger districts may have bigger budgets and more resources, they also face a number of challenges potentially relating to larger student-teacher ratios, or a less-personal student experience. In some cases, however, these large districts can be impressive and successful.

Stacker took a look at data from Niche in which school districts are ranked by the number of students in each district. Also included on each slide are each district’s number of schools, number of students and overall Niche grade.

Read on to see which school districts around the country are the biggest.

ALSO: Click here to see the best public high school in every state.

#50. Katy Independent School District

Location: Katy, TX

Number of schools: 69

Number of students: 72,952

Overall Niche grade: A+

#49. Fort Bend Independent School District

Location: Sugar Land, TX

Number of schools: 79

Number of students: 73,115

Overall Niche grade: A

#48. Guilford County Schools

Location: Greensboro, NC

Number of schools: 126

Number of students: 73,133

Overall Niche grade: B+

#47. Fresno Unified School District

Location: Fresno, CA

Number of schools: 110

Number of students: 73,460

Overall Niche grade: C+

#46. Milwaukee School District

Location: Milwaukee, WI

Number of schools: 160

Number of students: 75,749

Overall Niche grade: C

#45. Loudoun County Public Schools

Location: Ashburn, VA

Number of schools: 93

Number of students: 76,202

Overall Niche grade: A+

#44. Greenville County School District

Location: Greenville, SC

Number of schools: 96

Number of students: 76,315

Overall Niche grade: A-

#43. Alpine School District

Location: American Fork, UT

Number of schools: 86

Number of students: 76,938

Overall Niche grade: B+

#42. Long Beach Unified School District

Location: Long Beach, CA

Number of schools: 88

Number of students: 77,812

Overall Niche grade: B

#41. Anne Arundel County Public Schools

Location: Annapolis, MD

Number of schools: 124

Number of students: 80,387

Overall Niche grade: B

#40. Austin Independent School District

Location: Austin, TX

Number of schools: 132

Number of students: 83,648

Overall Niche grade: A

#39. Baltimore City Public Schools

Location: Baltimore, MD

Number of schools: 186

Number of students: 83,666

Overall Niche grade: C-

#38. Metro Nashville Public Schools

Location: Nashville, TN

Number of schools: 167

Number of students: 85,598

Overall Niche grade: B

#37. Jefferson County School District No. R-1

Location: Golden, CO

Number of schools: 165

Number of students: 86,731

Overall Niche grade: B

#36. Fort Worth Independent School District

Location: Fort Worth, TX

Number of schools: 149

Number of students: 87,080

Overall Niche grade: B

#35. Prince William County Public Schools

Location: Manassas, VA

Number of schools: 92

Number of students: 87,793

Overall Niche grade: A

#34. Denver Public Schools

Location: Denver, CO

Number of schools: 191

Number of students: 90,235

Overall Niche grade: B-

#33. Albuquerque Public Schools

Location: Albuquerque, NM

Number of schools: 163

Number of students: 90,566

Overall Niche grade: C+

#32. Lee County Public Schools

Location: Fort Myers, FL

Number of schools: 125

Number of students: 91,309

Overall Niche grade: B

#31. Fulton County Schools

Location: Atlanta, GA

Number of schools: 106

Number of students: 95,641

Overall Niche grade: B+

#30. Jefferson County Public Schools

Location: Louisville, KY

Number of schools: 176

Number of students: 100,627

Overall Niche grade: B

#29. Dekalb County Schools

Location: Stone Mountain, GA

Number of schools: 135

Number of students: 101,389

Overall Niche grade: C

#28. Polk County Public Schools

Location: Bartow, FL

Number of schools: 164

Number of students: 101,635

Overall Niche grade: B-

#27. Pinellas County Schools

Location: Largo, FL

Number of schools: 175

Number of students: 103,495

Overall Niche grade: B+

#26. Northside Independent School District (San Antonio)

Location: San Antonio, TX

Number of schools: 123

Number of students: 105,110

Overall Niche grade: A

#25. Baltimore County Public Schools

Location: Towson, MD

Number of schools: 174

Number of students: 111,138

Overall Niche grade: B

#24. Cobb County Schools

Location: Marietta, GA

Number of schools: 111

Number of students: 112,708

Overall Niche grade: A-

#23. Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District

Location: Houston, TX

Number of schools: 87

Number of students: 113,936

Overall Niche grade: A

#22. Shelby County Schools

Location: Memphis, TN

Number of schools: 234

Number of students: 114,487

Overall Niche grade: B-

#21. Prince George's County Public Schools

Location: Upper Marlboro, MD

Number of schools: 214

Number of students: 128,936

Overall Niche grade: C

#20. Duval County Public Schools

Location: Jacksonville, FL

Number of schools: 218

Number of students: 129,192

Overall Niche grade: C+

#19. San Diego Unified School District

Location: San Diego, CA

Number of schools: 229

Number of students: 129,380

Overall Niche grade: B+

#18. Philadelphia City School District

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Number of schools: 218

Number of students: 134,044

Overall Niche grade: C+

#17. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Location: Charlotte, NC

Number of schools: 170

Number of students: 146,211

Overall Niche grade: B

#16. Montgomery County Public Schools

Location: Rockville, MD

Number of schools: 207

Number of students: 156,380

Overall Niche grade: A

#15. Wake County Schools

Location: Cary, NC

Number of schools: 181

Number of students: 157,761

Overall Niche grade: A-

#14. Dallas Independent School District

Location: Dallas, TX

Number of schools: 244

Number of students: 158,604

Overall Niche grade: B+

#13. Gwinnett County Public Schools

Location: Lawrenceville, GA

Number of schools: 136

Number of students: 176,052

Overall Niche grade: B+

#12. Hawaii Department of Education

Location: Honolulu, HI

Number of schools: 292

Number of students: 181,589

Overall Niche grade: C+

#11. Fairfax County Public Schools

Location: Falls Church, VA

Number of schools: 222

Number of students: 185,828

Overall Niche grade: A+

#10. Palm Beach County School District

Location: West Palm Beach, FL

Number of schools: 282

Number of students: 189,322

Overall Niche grade: B

#9. Orange County Public Schools

Location: Orlando, FL

Number of schools: 264

Number of students: 196,951

Overall Niche grade: B

#8. Hillsborough County Public Schools

Location: Tampa, FL

Number of schools: 315

Number of students: 211,923

Overall Niche grade: B

#7. Houston Independent School District

Location: Houston, TX

Number of schools: 287

Number of students: 215,627

Overall Niche grade: B

#6. Broward County Public Schools

Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL

Number of schools: 368

Number of students: 269,098

Overall Niche grade: B-

#5. Clark County School District

Location: Las Vegas, NV

Number of schools: 376

Number of students: 325,331

Overall Niche grade: B-

#4. Miami-Dade County Public Schools

Location: Miami, FL

Number of schools: 535

Number of students: 357,579

Overall Niche grade: B-

#3. Puerto Rico Department of Education

Location: Hato Rey, PR

Number of schools: 1,463

Number of students: 366,746

Overall Niche grade: NG

#2. Chicago Public Schools

Location: Chicago, IL

Number of schools: 595

Number of students: 387,311

Overall Niche grade: B-

#1. Los Angeles Unified School District

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Number of schools: 1,021

Number of students: 639,337

Overall Niche grade: C

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