How many high schools are there in the US?

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How many high schools are there in the US?

Hi there! Thank you for your question on the number of high schools in the US. The short version is that there are likely 18,665 US high schools that have no grades lower than 9th. This number includes 16,944 US public high schools, 1,529 US private high schools, and 182 US-owned territories public high schools (there is no data on private high schools for US-owned territories. I have provided you with a spreadsheet that includes data for each state. Below is a deep dive into my research and methodology.

METHODOLOGY
To answer your answer, I reviewed the link you provided, consulted Wonder resources, and conducted a search via Google. Digging a little further into the link you provided, there appears to be an answer to your query:

This information, however, is dated (2001). Thus, I visited the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to find the most recent data. The clearest response to the number of secondary schools in the US dates back to 2013: 24,280 public secondary schools (information on private secondary school is not differentiated, only a lump sum of 30,861 is provided for private schools).

Still, this number is not specific to high schools as you have requested. Thus, I shifted gears and decided to manually calculate the number high schools, using NCES' school search public schools and private schools databases as well as High-Schools.com's database. In the NCES' databases, I searched specifically for schools that had no grades lower that 9th grade. In High-Schools.com's database, I conducted the only possible search, i.e. by state, which provided me with a total number of high schools, total number of public high schools, and total number of private school. I have inputted the data I found in a linked spreadsheet for your convenience.

After inputting all the data I found on every state, I can provide you with the following answers:

According to the NCES' databases:
1) There are 16,944 public high schools in the US with no grades lower than 9th (9-12).
2) There are 1,539 private high schools in the US with no grades lower than 9th (9-12).
3) There are 182 public high schools in US-owned territories (e.g. Guam) with no grades lower than 9th (9-12).
4) The result is that there are 18,665 US high schools with no grades lower than 9th (9-12).

According to High-Schools.com's database:
1) There are 33,370 US public high schools.
2) There are 9,264 US private high schools.
3) The result is that there are 42,634* US high schools.

*High-Schools.com's database defines high school as grades 7th through 12th. Thus, this number may be ignored, but may be useful for reference.

CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, based upon available data and my calculations, it appears that there are 18,665 US high schools with no grades lower than 9th, i.e. are 9-12. This total number includes all types of secondary high schools. I have provided you with a spreadsheet that includes all the numerical data found. Thanks for using Wonder! Please, let us know if we can help with anything else!

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