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Education (K-12) · 2024–25 school year

Mississippi Public Schools

Public K-12 education statistics for Mississippi 431,206 students in 1,042 schools in 2024–25, with enrollment history back to 1986 and county-level detail from 2002.

431,206
Students (2024)
1,042
Public schools
30,650
Teachers (FTE)
73.2%
Free/reduced lunch
Student enrollment, by school year19862024
19862024
StatisticValueSchool year
Student enrollment431,206202425
Public schools1,042202425
Teachers (full-time equivalent)30,650202425
Pupil-teacher ratio13.9202425
Free/reduced-price lunch students73.2%202425
School poverty rate (MEPS)25.3%202223
Charter school enrollment0.9%202425
High school graduation rate89.4%202223
Math proficiency (of tested)47.0%202122
Reading proficiency (of tested)41.7%202122
Chronically absent students30.2%202122
White students40.6%202425
Black students44.9%202425
Hispanic students6.9%202425
Asian students1.1%202425

Not every statistic is collected every year — each row shows its most recent available school year (amber when older than 202425). Blank/absent means not collected or below reliability floors, never zero. Some universal-meals states no longer report free/reduced-price lunch — school poverty (MEPS) is the better lens there. A 0% charter share in a state without a charter-school law is a true zero.

Mississippi state report card

Outcomes reported directly by Mississippi’s education agency — often more current than the federal series above. Because each state uses its own tests, definitions, and reporting windows, these figures are not comparable state-to-state; each row notes how Mississippi measures it.

MeasureLatestSchool year
Math proficiency (state test)
How Mississippi measures this

MAAP (Mississippi Academic Assessment Program) Mathematics, spring 2025: statewide Grand Total across grades 3-8 Math plus the Algebra I end-of-course test. Percent of total testers scoring Level 4 (Proficient) or Level 5 (Advanced) out of 5 performance levels. Published as a 0-1 proportion (0.5450161955...) in the 'Level 4 & 5' column of the State Summary sheet; converted to 0-100 percent (x100). Numerator = Level 4 (75,649) + Level 5 (42,807) testers; denominator = Total Testers Grand Total.

54.5%2024–25
Reading / ELA proficiency (state test)
How Mississippi measures this

MAAP (Mississippi Academic Assessment Program) English Language Arts, spring 2025: statewide Grand Total across grades 3-8 ELA plus the English II end-of-course test. Percent of total testers scoring Level 4 (Proficient) or Level 5 (Advanced) out of 5 performance levels. Published as a 0-1 proportion (0.4743640299...) in the 'Level 4 & 5' column of the State Summary sheet; converted to 0-100 percent (x100). Numerator = Level 4 (67,182) + Level 5 (36,273) testers; denominator = Total Testers Grand Total.

47.4%2024–25

Source: MississippiDepartment of Education (public reporting), 2026 collection. Not comparable across states — proficiency reflects different assessments and cut scores; graduation, dropout, and college-going use each state’s own cohort definitions and windows. Absent rows mean the state doesn’t publish that measure in a comparable file.

Mississippi schools by county

Students enrolled, 2024–25.

DeSoto County34,934Harrison County30,521Hinds County29,975Jackson County22,712Rankin County22,454Madison County16,170Lee County14,808Jones County11,313Forrest County10,857Lauderdale County10,325Lamar County10,318Lowndes County8,512Pearl River County8,456Lafayette County7,617Warren County6,610Washington County6,208Pontotoc County5,865Pike County5,717Scott County5,627Alcorn County5,626Hancock County5,598Lincoln County5,327Panola County5,323Union County5,135Oktibbeha County4,880Bolivar County4,415Monroe County4,387George County4,049Prentiss County3,973Leflore County3,921Grenada County3,863Marshall County3,762Tate County3,758Neshoba County3,729Tippah County3,623Coahoma County3,518Marion County3,433Newton County3,408Copiah County3,397Itawamba County3,275Yazoo County3,040Wayne County2,977Attala County2,925Tishomingo County2,844Sunflower County2,807Simpson County2,797Adams County2,714Chickasaw County2,709Smith County2,538Stone County2,532Clay County2,528Covington County2,492Winston County2,413Leake County2,408Clarke County2,377Holmes County2,300Jasper County2,110Calhoun County1,989Webster County1,717Walthall County1,698Lawrence County1,674Greene County1,621Tunica County1,598Perry County1,433Yalobusha County1,364Tallahatchie County1,345Noxubee County1,321Choctaw County1,233Jefferson Davis County1,217Franklin County1,147Claiborne County1,135Humphreys County1,130Jefferson County1,083Montgomery County1,069Amite County914Benton County909Kemper County888Quitman County835Carroll County734Wilkinson County694Sharkey County548

Mississippi schools — FAQ

How many students attend public school in Mississippi?+

431,206 students were enrolled in Mississippi's 1,042 public K-12 schools in the 2024–25 school year, taught by 30,650 full-time-equivalent teachers (NCES Common Core of Data).

What share of Mississippi students get free or reduced-price lunch?+

73.2% of Mississippi public school students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024–25 — a common proxy for student economic need.

What is Mississippi's high school graduation rate?+

89.4% of Mississippi's adjusted cohort graduated in the 2022–23 school year — the federal EDFacts adjusted cohort graduation rate. Graduation rates run from 2010–11 onward.

Where does this data come from?+

Core statistics (enrollment, schools, teachers, poverty, demographics) come from the National Center for Education Statistics — the Common Core of Data, EDFacts, and the Civil Rights Data Collection. The most recent graduation rates and the state report-card outcomes (proficiency, college-going, dropout, chronic absenteeism) come directly from state education agencies, which publish sooner than the federal series. Full source and license details are on the methodology page. pumsdata is independent and not affiliated with NCES or any state agency.

Who lives here: Mississippi census profile — income, demographics, education, and housing for the state and every neighborhood-scale area, from the Census ACS.

Other states

Data: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (CCD, EDFacts, CRDC) and ED Data Express, plus current-year graduation and report-card outcomes from state education agencies. Full source and license details on the methodology page.