3. Where Are Charter Schools Located?
Top Takeaways
- Most charter schools are in urban areas, with more than 58% of charter schools and students located in cities. Over the last five years, urban enrollment grew by 11.5% (+209,000 students) and suburban enrollment by 14.1% (+127,000), while rural enrollment also increased modestly (+5.7%, +17,000 students). Town enrollment remained roughly steady (-1.2%).
- Charter school demographics reflect local communities. In urban areas, more than 70% of students are Black or Hispanic, while rural and town charter schools enroll higher proportions of White students.
- Charter school enrollment growth is led by both major cities and mid-sized districts. New York City, Fort Bend ISD (TX), and Twin Rivers (CA) had the biggest increases in charter students, while Clarke County (GA) and Cleveland ISD (TX) saw the fastest growth in charter enrollment share between 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Charter School Landscape—Locale
Charter schools have a nationwide presence, serving students in 44 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam as of 2024-25.
- A majority of charter schools (58.5%) are located in urban areas, enrolling 58.4% of all charter students. See Table 3.1 for full enrollment and school counts by locale.
- As of October 2026, 46 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam have charter school laws, and charter schools are open in all of them except North Dakota. North Dakota passed its charter school law in 2025, and its first charter schools are expected to open in fall 2027. Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Vermont do not have charter school laws. Kentucky’s charter school law was overturned by the Kentucky Supreme Court in February 2026 (see our press release).
Table 3.1: 2024-25 Charter School Enrollment and School and Campuses Count by Locale
Charter schools serve different populations depending on where they are located. Black and Hispanic students are most concentrated in urban charters, while White students are more likely to attend rural and town charter schools.
- Urban charters enroll a majority of Black and Hispanic students (73.2%).
- Rural (49.8%) and town (51.0%) charters enroll higher shares of White students.
- Native American, Pacific Islander, and multiracial students are more likely to attend charter schools in towns and rural areas. This may be linked to the presence of charter schools in rural indigenous communities. For more information on rural charter schools, see our detailed look at rural charter schools.
Charter school students in urban areas are more likely to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL).
- In the 2024-25 school year, 71.6% of charter school students in urban areas were eligible for FRPL.
- 52.4% of rural charter students received FRPL. Town and suburban charter schools had similar levels of FRPL students at approximately 56.0% and 53.8%, respectively.
Table 3.2: 2024-25 Charter School Demographics and FRPL by Locale
Charter School Landscape—Geographic School District
The charter footprint continues to grow, reaching 1,549 geographic school districts (13.6% of all districts nationwide) by 2024-25. Because many charters are coded as independent school districts, the “geographic school district” measure shows where charters actually operate within local boundaries.
Since the first charter school opened in 1992, the number of districts with at least one charter school has increased steadily. What began with a single district in 1992-93 has grown to more than 1,500 today, with the share of districts including charters increasing almost every year (see Table 3.3).
Table 3.3: Districts with Charter Schools in their Geographic Area
What Does Charter School Enrollment Growth Look Like in School Districts?
Charters are reshaping education in both the nation’s largest districts and in fast-growing mid-sized districts. The Los Angeles Unified School District and New York City Public Schools have the highest charter school enrollments within their geographic boundaries, while the Orleans Parish School Board (LA) boasts by far the largest percentage of charter school enrollment nationwide at 98.7%.
- Largest enrollments. The Los Angeles Unified School District and New York City Public Schools have the highest numbers of charter students within their geographic boundaries, enrolling more than 140,000 each. Other major charter hubs include Dade County (FL), Philadelphia, Clark County (NV), and Chicago.
- Highest enrollment shares. Orleans Parish (LA) stands out with the nation’s highest concentration of charter enrollment, with 98.7% of its public school students attending charters. Several other districts, such as Indianapolis, San Antonio, Kansas City (MO), and Detroit have charter shares above 40%, underscoring how central charters have become in those local education systems.
- Fastest growth. In 2024-25, New York City Public Schools recorded the largest year-over-year increase in total charter enrollment, adding more than 4,000 students. Fort Bend ISD (TX), Twin Rivers (CA), and Dysart Unified (AZ) also saw significant gains. When measured by charter enrollment share, Clarke County (GA) and Cleveland ISD (TX) posted the fastest growth, reflecting how smaller and mid-sized districts can quickly shift their local school landscape.
Table 3.4: Top 10 Districts by Charter School Enrollment, 2024-25
Table 3.5: Top 10 Districts by Charter School Enrollment Share, 2024–25
| State | School District | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| LA | Orleans Parish | 98.65% |
| IN | Indianapolis Public Schools | 51.82% |
| CA | Twin Rivers Unf | 49.35% |
| TX | San Antonio Isd | 49.23% |
| MO | Kansas City 33 | 47.39% |
| DC | District Of Columbia Pub Schls | 45.52% |
| TX | Edgewood Isd (Central) - San Antonio | 44.39% |
| AZ | Higley Unified District | 43.32% |
| MO | St. Louis City | 40.94% |
| MI | Detroit Public Schools Community District | 40.72% |
Table 3.6: Top 10 Districts by Charter School Enrollment Growth, 2023-24 to 2024-25
| State | School District | Increase |
|---|---|---|
| NY | New York City Public Schools | 4,270 |
| TX | Fort Bend Isd | 3,194 |
| CA | Twin Rivers Unf | 2,530 |
| AZ | Dysart Unified District | 2,404 |
| TX | Corpus Christi Isd | 2,351 |
| PR | Department Of Education | 2,013 |
| FL | Manatee County School District | 1,970 |
| LA | Lafayette Parish | 1,946 |
| NJ | Newark City - (Nj) | 1,878 |
| TX | Cleveland Isd | 1,861 |
Table 3.7: Top 10 Districts by Charter School Enrollment Share Increase, 2023–24 to 2024–25
| State | School District | Increase |
|---|---|---|
| GA | Clarke County - (Ga) | 10.73% |
| TX | Cleveland Isd | 10.52% |
| TX | Manor Isd | 9.93% |
| TX | Los Fresnos Cisd | 9.69% |
| SC | Spartanburg 02 | 8.91% |
| GA | Glynn County | 8.35% |
| MI | Wayne-Westland Community School District | 7.88% |
| NJ | Camden City | 7.68% |
| SC | Anderson 05 | 7.57% |
| TX | Corpus Christi Isd | 6.08% |
Data Notes:
- As we state in the methodology page, the Common Core of Data (CCD) is one of the National Alliance’s primary data sources. In the CCD, many charter schools across the country are coded as their own independent school district since they operate autonomously from the local educational agency (LEA), also referred to as a “school district,” in their area. This can make district-level analysis difficult when trying to understand how a charter school impacts its local school district. For the purposes of including charter schools, the National Alliance proposed a new variable called “geographic school districts,” which is the geographic boundary of the school district in which a charter school is physically located. We identify the geographic school districts for all public schools by mapping the coordinates of schools onto the NCES school district shapefile using ArcGIS.
- The National Alliance reports charter school enrollment levels in two ways: absolute enrollment number and percentage of charter school students within the total public school student population in a given geographic area. The absolute number of charter school students enrolled in a given jurisdiction may be high even when they compose a low percentage of the overall public school population. In tables 3.4-3.7, we list the top ten 2024-25 LEA geographic school districts by charter school enrollment, percentage of charter school enrollment, charter school enrollment increase between 2023-24and 2024-25, and percentage of charter school enrollment increase between 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- For all analyses looking at districts, cities, or locales, known virtual schools were excluded. To learn more about our methodology, see the white paper linked here.
