Updated June 2026
Are Schools Good Where You Live?
These pages give a federal-data snapshot of public schools for every U.S. state and for the 200 largest US school districts. Each answer page summarizes NCES enrollment data and the district-level EDFacts proficiency rate where reported, without inventing letter grades or composite scores.
The answer pages on this site are quick-reference summaries — one page per state, one page per district — built directly from the federal data. Source files: the NCES Common Core of Data for enrollment and demographics, and EDFacts for proficiency and graduation rates. Researchers can pull the same fields programmatically through the Urban Institute Education Data API.
We deliberately do not assemble the federal data into a single letter grade or score. Every school in the country is sitting in a state that sets its own diploma requirements and assessment cut scores, and a district whose proficiency rate covers every campus uniformly. Reducing all of that to "B+" hides more than it reveals. The answer pages give you the federal numbers and the caveats, and let you draw your own conclusion.
Browse by State (50 + DC)
Each state page summarizes the entire state\'s public-school landscape: total schools, total enrollment, average district-level proficiency, the largest schools and districts, and a directory of every reporting district inside the state.
Browse by Largest District
The 100 largest US public school districts by enrollment. Every district with two or more schools has its own answer page; navigate via the relevant state page to find smaller districts. Across the directory we cover 200 districts in total.
What the Answer Pages Will Tell You
For a state: how many public schools the state runs, how many districts those schools sit in, total enrollment, the average district-level proficiency rate, and a quick-reference list of the state\'s largest schools and districts.
For a district: total schools and enrollment, the district\'s EDFacts proficiency rate (which applies to every school in the district), the four-year adjusted-cohort graduation rate where published, and the district\'s largest schools by enrollment.
A few honest caveats: EDFacts proficiency and graduation rates are reported at the district level, not the individual school. We apply the district number to every school in that district so that the comparison is at least consistent — but a strong school inside a struggling district will look worse than it is, and vice versa. NCES publishes the most recent year of CCD data with about a one-year lag. Privacy suppression hides results for very small subgroups, which appears as missing data rather than zero.
Methodology
Each answer page joins NCES Common Core of Data records with the most recent EDFacts proficiency and graduation rates for the relevant district. We display federal numbers as published — no normalization, no weighting, no synthetic letter grade. Read the full methodology page for field definitions and the refresh cadence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "are schools good?" actually mean here?
It means: what does federal data show about public schools in this state or district? We answer with the figures NCES and EDFacts publish — enrollment, grade range, charter / magnet / Title I flags, district-level proficiency rate, four-year graduation rate. We don't answer the larger qualitative question (which families and educators are better positioned to assess) with a single rating.
How are state answer pages different from district answer pages?
State pages aggregate every public school in the state into a single snapshot — total schools, total enrollment, average proficiency rate, and a list of the largest schools and districts. District pages drill in to the district level: total schools, total enrollment, district-level EDFacts proficiency rate (which applies to every school in that district as a uniform descriptor), and the largest schools inside the district.
Why are only the 100 largest districts linked here?
Every state has its own top-100 districts; the cross-state list above shows the 100 largest in the nation by enrollment, since they cover the largest share of US students. To find smaller districts, go to the relevant state page and drill in — every district with two or more schools has its own answer page.
What about the EDFacts privacy suppression?
EDFacts suppresses results for very small districts to protect student privacy. When that happens we display "no proficiency data published for this district" rather than zero or a guess. Suppression is more common in rural districts with small tested cohorts.
Can I compare two state answer pages directly?
You can compare them, but treat the proficiency rates carefully. Each state sets its own assessment cut scores, so a 60% proficiency rate in one state may not mean the same thing as a 60% rate in another. Within-state comparisons are cleaner; cross-state comparisons need the cut-score caveat.
How current is the data on the answer pages?
NCES and EDFacts each release annually, with about a one-year lag. The figures behind these answer pages reflect the most recent federal releases; this directory was regenerated in June 2026.
These pages give a federal-data snapshot of public schools for every U.S. state and for the 200 largest US school districts. Each answer page summarizes NCES enrollment data and the district-level EDFacts proficiency rate where reported, without inventing letter grades or composite scores.