Charter school demographics

Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

School choice in the U.S.

Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

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Charter schools are public schools operated independently of the public school system, either by nonprofit or for-profit organizations. Although they are publicly funded (except for their facilities), charter schools are exempt from many of the requirements imposed by state and local boards of education regarding hiring and curriculum.

HIGHLIGHTS

In the 2013-2014 school year, 34.9 percent of students enrolled in charter schools were white, the largest single ethnicity represented.

From 2011-2012 to 2013-2014, enrollment of black students in charter schools increased from 26.3 percent to 27.1 percent.

During the same period, Hispanic student enrollment in charter schools increased from 27.2 percent to 30.0 percent.

The tables below present demographic data for charter schools in the United States. If data are not provided for a state, it is because data were not available, either because the state did not have charter schools or because information was not provided.

2013-2014

Charter school enrollment by race/ethnicity, 2013-2014
State	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	Other
Alabama	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Alaska	64.0%	2.0%	5.0%	3.0%	26.0%
Arizona	48.0%	6.0%	36.0%	4.0%	6.0%
Arkansas	49.0%	39.0%	8.0%	2.0%	2.0%
California	31.0%	9.0%	48.0%	7.0%	5.0%
Colorado	55.0%	6.0%	32.0%	3.0%	4.0%
Connecticut	9.0%	61.0%	26.0%	2.0%	2.0%
Delaware	44.0%	40.0%	8.0%	6.0%	2.0%
District of Columbia	4.0%	82.0%	12.0%	1.0%	1.0%
Florida	35.0%	22.0%	38.0%	2.0%	3.0%
Georgia	42.0%	40.0%	11.0%	4.0%	3.0%
Hawaii	28.0%	1.0%	8.0%	12.0%	51.0%
Idaho	86.0%	1.0%	9.0%	1.0%	3.0%
Illinois	4.0%	56.0%	36.0%	1.0%	3.0%
Indiana	40.0%	44.0%	10.0%	1.0%	5.0%
Iowa	40.0%	35.0%	13.0%	3.0%	9.0%
Kansas	77.0%	6.0%	10.0%	1.0%	6.0%
Kentucky	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Louisiana	18.0%	74.0%	4.0%	2.0%	2.0%
Maine	93.0%	4.0%	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%
Maryland	14.0%	77.0%	6.0%	1.0%	2.0%
Massachusetts	35.0%	29.0%	27.0%	5.0%	4.0%
Michigan	33.0%	53.0%	8.0%	3.0%	3.0%
Minnesota	47.0%	25.0%	9.0%	14.0%	5.0%
Mississippi	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Missouri	15.0%	66.0%	14.0%	2.0%	3.0%
Montana	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Nebraska	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Nevada	51.0%	16.0%	21.0%	5.0%	7.0%
New Hampshire	86.0%	2.0%	2.0%	8.0%	2.0%
New Jersey	10.0%	55.0%	29.0%	5.0%	1.0%
New Mexico	33.0%	3.0%	56.0%	1.0%	7.0%
New York	6.0%	59.0%	31.0%	2.0%	2.0%
North Carolina	60.0%	26.0%	7.0%	3.0%	4.0%
North Dakota	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ohio	42.0%	45.0%	6.0%	1.0%	6.0%
Oklahoma	39.0%	22.0%	26.0%	1.0%	12.0%
Oregon	78.0%	2.0%	10.0%	2.0%	8.0%
Pennsylvania	36.0%	44.0%	14.0%	3.0%	3.0%
Rhode Island	26.0%	16.0%	52.0%	2.0%	4.0%
South Carolina	65.0%	26.0%	5.0%	1.0%	3.0%
South Dakota	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Tennessee	4.0%	87.0%	8.0%	0.5%	0.5%
Texas	16.0%	21.0%	58.0%	3.0%	2.0%
Utah	79.0%	1.0%	13.0%	2.0%	5.0%
Vermont	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Virginia	48.0%	39.0%	6.0%	2.0%	5.0%
Washington	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
West Virginia	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Wisconsin	50.0%	27.0%	15.0%	5.0%	3.0%
Wyoming	63.0%	7.0%	16.0%	4.0%	10.0%
United States	34.9%	27.1%	30.0%	4.1%	3.8%
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Charter Public School Movement: A State-by-State Analysis," March 2016

2011-2012

Percentage of state enrollments by race/ethnicity
State	American Indian/Alaska Native	Asian	Black	Hispanic	White	Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Islander	Other
Alaska	16.02%	2.73%	2.28%	4.94%	66.06%	0.61%	7.37%
Arizona	3.21%	3.62%	6.55%	35.17%	48.83%	0.46%	2.16%
Arkansas	0.58%	2.52%	40.18%	6.17%	48.95%	0.11%	1.49%
California	0.92%	5.91%	10.13%	45.93%	32.06%	0.44%	4.61%
Colorado	0.74%	3.56%	6.33%	28.96%	57.30%	0.19%	2.91%
Delaware	0.49%	5.95%	33.61%	13.44%	44.84%	0.17%	1.50%
District of Columbia	0.06%	0.93%	80.47%	14.61%	3.27%	0.08%	0.58%
Florida	0.45%	2.03%	22.92%	35.87%	36.13%	0.10%	2.49%
Georgia	0.27%	4.56%	40.03%	11.63%	40.87%	0.11%	2.52%
Illinois	0.20%	1.32%	58.76%	33.28%	4.06%	0.04%	2.33%
Indiana	0.21%	0.63%	48.70%	8.87%	36.08%	0.04%	5.47%
Iowa	0.50%	0.74%	30.02%	16.38%	43.67%	1.99%	6.70%
Maryland	1.28%	1.63%	77.08%	4.88%	11.49%	1.36%	2.29%
Massachusetts	0.29%	5.00%	27.31%	23.63%	40.60%	0.19%	2.97%
Michigan	0.66%	2.51%	54.37%	7.29%	32.89%	0.06%	2.23%
Minnesota	2.25%	14.12%	26.67%	8.00%	48.96%	0.00%	0.00%
Missouri	0.12%	1.32%	77.00%	10.80%	10.76%	0.00%	0.00%
Nevada	1.27%	4.24%	16.30%	19.92%	51.76%	1.37%	5.14%
New Hampshire	0.40%	1.08%	0.94%	2.16%	93.66%	0.00%	1.75%
New Jersey	0.14%	3.46%	58.64%	26.06%	10.31%	0.77%	0.62%
New York	0.52%	1.53%	61.96%	28.10%	6.91%	0.00%	0.99%
North Carolina	0.97%	2.16%	26.67%	5.85%	60.94%	0.07%	3.35%
Ohio	0.12%	0.50%	45.89%	5.06%	44.31%	0.00%	4.12%
Oklahoma	6.45%	1.56%	24.85%	30.85%	33.44%	0.13%	2.73%
Oregon	2.58%	2.14%	1.94%	9.07%	79.56%	0.00%	4.71%
Pennsylvania	0.38%	2.43%	43.10%	12.53%	38.78%	0.07%	2.71%
Rhode Island	0.62%	2.10%	16.24%	49.98%	28.31%	0.04%	2.70%
South Carolina	0.56%	1.62%	29.06%	3.48%	65.27%	0.00%	0.01%
Texas	0.58%	4.13%	22.09%	56.47%	15.24%	0.15%	1.34%
Utah	1.10%	2.42%	1.57%	9.79%	83.36%	1.76%	0.00%
Virginia	0.00%	1.27%	32.06%	3.31%	59.54%	0.00%	3.82%
Wisconsin	0.82%	5.71%	28.32%	16.43%	47.20%	0.05%	1.48%
Wyoming	26.47%	1.63%	3.27%	8.50%	57.84%	0.00%	2.29%
United States	0.88%	3.45%	26.25%	27.24%	33.99%	0.25%	2.59%
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "Dashboard," accessed October 20, 2014

Number of students by race/ethnicity
State	American Indian/Alaska Native	Asian	Black	Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Islander	Hispanic	White	Two or More Races	Total Enrollment
Alaska	950	162	135	36	293	3,918	437	5,931
Arizona	4,325	4,878	8,820	626	47,373	65,774	2,908	134,704
Arkansas	66	287	4,579	12	703	5,578	170	11,395
California	3,824	24,443	41,909	1,825	190,027	132,626	19,059	413,713
Colorado	618	2,968	5,287	161	24,178	47,837	2,429	83,478
Delaware	51	614	3,469	18	1,387	4,628	155	10,322
District of Columbia	19	295	25,399	25	4,610	1,031	183	31,562
Florida	816	3,670	41,428	183	64,836	65,295	4,504	180,732
Georgia	160	2,668	23,418	67	6,806	23,914	1,475	58,508
Illinois	100	646	28,849	22	16,341	1,995	1,144	49,097
Indiana	60	179	13,772	11	2,508	10,202	1,547	28,279
Iowa	2	3	121	8	66	176	27	403
Maryland	230	294	13,897	246	879	2,071	413	18,030
Massachusetts	88	1,530	8,355	59	7,230	12,421	909	30,592
Michigan	791	3,016	65,213	70	8,741	39,446	2,671	119,948
Minnesota	881	5,528	10,438		3,133	19,163		39,143
Missouri	26	279	16,313		2,288	2,280		21,186
Nevada	238	796	3,056	256	3,736	9,706	964	18,752
New Hampshire	3	8	7		16	694	13	741
New Jersey	35	869	14,747	194	6,553	2,594	156	25,148
New York	339	1,003	40,688		18,453	4,535	649	65,667
North Carolina	439	979	12,104	31	2,653	27,660	1,522	45,388
Ohio	123	514	47,324		5,216	45,695	4,252	103,124
Oklahoma	595	144	2,293	12	2,847	3,086	252	9,229
Oregon	625	519	469		2,195	19,258	1,139	24,205
Pennsylvania	401	2,568	45,497	79	13,222	40,931	2,860	105,558
Rhode Island	29	98	757	2	2,330	1,320	126	4,662
South Carolina	102	294	5,274		631	11,844	1	18,146
Texas	1,098	7,866	42,095	293	107,630	29,044	2,555	190,581
Utah	556	1,226	798	893	4,960	42,248		50,681
Virginia		5	126		13	234	15	393
Wisconsin	349	2,419	12,008	22	6,964	20,010	626	42,398
Wyoming	81	5	10		26	177	7	306
United States	18,020	70,773	538,655	5,151	558,844	697,391	53,168	2,051,809
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "Dashboard," accessed October 20, 2014

See also

• Magnet schools
• School choice
• Charter schools
• Number of schools by school type in the United States

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