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Why is Idaho's public school enrollment growing slower than the state?

By Michael Cooper. Published , updated .

Because it follows the under-18 population, which has grown far more slowly than Idaho as a whole. From 2010 to 2024, public school enrollment grew 12.9% and the under-18 population grew 8.9%, against 27.4% for the state’s total population.

Enrollment against the population it is drawn from

Between 2010 and 2024, the years the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and the State Department of Education’s (SDE) enrollment count both cover, Idaho’s public school enrollment grew from 281,612 to 318,067, a change of 12.9%.

Idaho public school enrollment and the under-18 population, 1995 to 2025Idaho public school enrollment and the under-18 population, 1995 to 2025. 2 series. Public school enrollment: 243,097 in 1995, 314,063 in 2025.0200k400k600k20002020PublicschoolenrollmentUnder-18populationPeopleIdaho public school enrollment and the under-18 population, 1995 to 2025Idaho public school enrollment and the under-18 population, 1995 to 2025. 2 series. Public school enrollment: 243,097 in 1995, 314,063 in 2025.0200k400k600k200020102020Public schoolenrollmentUnder-18populationPeopleIdaho public school enrollment and the under-18 population, 1995 to 2025Idaho public school enrollment and the under-18 population, 1995 to 2025. 2 series. Public school enrollment: 243,097 in 1995, 314,063 in 2025.0200k400k600k200020102020Public schoolenrollmentUnder-18populationPeople

Source: Idaho State Department of Education, Historical Fall Enrollment. Published .

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates. Published .

Over the same span Idaho’s under-18 population grew and its total population grew. The change in enrollment was closer to the change in the under-18 population than to the change in the state as a whole.

Change from 2010 to 2024 (3 rows)
Count20102024Change
Public school enrollment281,612318,06712.945%
Under-18 population428,960467,2478.926%
Total population1,570,7462,000,87227.384%

The under-18 share of Idaho’s population, which the Census Bureau publishes directly rather than this site computing it, fell from 27.3% in 2010 to 23.3% in 2024.

Charter enrollment inside the total

SDE’s charter school count is already included in the public enrollment total above, not additional to it. In 2010, 16,084 of the 281,612 enrolled were in charter schools (5.7%); by 2024 that was 42,562 of 318,067 (13.4%).

Subtracting charter enrollment from the total leaves district enrollment, which grew from 265,528 to 275,505 over the span, a change of 3.8%. In students, charter enrollment moved more than district enrollment did.

Idaho district and charter school enrollment, 1997 to 2025Idaho district and charter school enrollment, 1997 to 2025. 2 series. District schools: 244,365 in 1997, 271,121 in 2025.0100k200k300k200020102020DistrictschoolsCharterschoolsPeopleIdaho district and charter school enrollment, 1997 to 2025Idaho district and charter school enrollment, 1997 to 2025. 2 series. District schools: 244,365 in 1997, 271,121 in 2025.0100k200k300k200020102020DistrictschoolsCharterschoolsPeopleIdaho district and charter school enrollment, 1997 to 2025Idaho district and charter school enrollment, 1997 to 2025. 2 series. District schools: 244,365 in 1997, 271,121 in 2025.0100k200k300k200020052010201520202025District schoolsCharter schoolsPeople

District enrollment is SDE’s published public total less its published charter count, the same subtraction as above; it is not a figure SDE releases on its own.

Source: Idaho State Department of Education, Historical Fall Enrollment. Published .

The last few years

SDE’s full series, which runs back to 1995, is highest in 2022 at 318,979. By 2025, the most recent year SDE reports, enrollment fell to 314,063, a change of 1.5%.

Over those same years Idaho’s total population grew from 1,942,951 in 2022 to 2,029,733 in 2025, a change of 4.5%.

The population figure for 2025 is the Census Bureau’s estimate; the under-18 breakdown for that year is not yet in the American Community Survey series this site reads.

How Idaho compares with the nation

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) compiles its own fall enrollment count for every state from the same Common Core of Data survey. By that count, Idaho’s enrollment changed by a wider margin over this span than the nation’s did.

Public school enrollment, NCES count, 2010 to 2024 (2 rows)
Area20102024Change
Idaho275,859315,62614.416%
United States49,484,18149,387,403−0.196%

NCES’s count for 2024 is not the same figure as SDE’s own: SDE reports 318,067 enrolled that fall against NCES’s 315,626. The dataset records the difference as one of scope or count date between the state’s fall membership count and the figure NCES compiles from the Common Core of Data.

Both series are on Idaho public school enrollment.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics. Published .

What these figures count

A public school count covers students in kindergarten through grade 12; the population estimate covers every resident. The two are published by different agencies on different bases, so a change in one does not have to show up in the other.

What the data does not say

None of the datasets behind this post count private school or home-school students, and no dataset this site reads publishes that figure.

How many school-age children in Idaho are outside the public count, whether that number changed, and whether it accounts for any of the gap between the under-18 population and public enrollment above are figures no public source prints.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program. Published .

Data behind this post

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