Research · High schools - Mississippi · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in Mississippi? 323 Public and 80 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in Mississippi? 323 Public and 80 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: Mississippi has 403 high schools: 323 public and 80 private. The largest is Tupelo High School in Tupelo, with 2,123 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in Mississippi by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

The findings, in plain English

Mississippi has 403 high schools. 323 are public and 80 are private. The 166 public high schools that report enrollment hold 76,133 students in grades 9 through 12 between them. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Tupelo High School is the largest public high school in Mississippi. It enrolls 2,123 students in grades 9 through 12 in Tupelo. The 15th largest school on the table, George County High School in Lucedale, enrolls 1,115. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in Mississippi is Pearblossom Academy Inc. It enrolls 388 students in Bogue Chitto. That is smaller than every public school on the table above. Private schools report total enrollment to the federal survey, so a school that also teaches younger grades counts those students too. Only schools whose lowest grade is 9 are listed here, so each one is a high school.

The 15 largest public high schools in Mississippi

Ranked by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Tupelo High School	Tupelo	2,123	No
Northwest High School	Flowood	1,855	No
Gulfport High School	Gulfport	1,702	No
Brandon High School	Brandon	1,609	No
Harrison Central High	Gulfport	1,483	No
D'Iberville High	Biloxi	1,478	No
Germantown High School	Madison	1,411	No
Starkville High School	Starkville	1,376	No
Oxford High School	Oxford	1,335	No
Horn Lake High School	Horn Lake	1,271	No
Madison Central High School	Madison	1,260	No
West Harrison High	Gulfport	1,216	No
Terry High School	Terry	1,127	No
Pascagoula High	Pascagoula	1,127	No
George County High School	Lucedale	1,115	No

NCES Common Core of Data, grade 9-12 enrollment. Virtual schools are excluded. Absence from this list means a school is not among the largest, nothing more.

The largest private high schools in Mississippi

Private schools whose lowest grade is 9, by total enrollment.

High school	City	Students
Pearblossom Academy Inc	Bogue Chitto	388
Bass Memorial Academy	Lumberton	71

NCES Private School Universe Survey 2021-22, respondents only. Total enrollment, not a grades 9-12 count.

What these counts cover

A high school here is a school that serves grade 12. Virtual schools are left out, because a school with no building is not comparable to one with a campus. Public counts come from the federal Common Core of Data, which every public district reports to. Private counts come from the federal Private School Universe Survey.

Enrollment for public schools is the number of students in grades 9 through 12, so a school that also teaches middle school grades is not inflated by them. A school that reports no enrollment figure is counted in the state total but cannot be ranked, which is why the number of schools with an enrollment figure is smaller than the public count.

Private high schools in Mississippi

The private table below shows the largest private high schools whose lowest grade is 9. The survey is voluntary, so treat these as the largest among the schools that answered, not a complete ranking. A private school that declines the survey does not appear at all.

Private enrollment is a total, not a grades 9 through 12 count, because the survey does not break it out the same way. Limiting the list to schools that start at grade 9 keeps the figures comparable to each other.

What a family should do with this

Size is a starting point, not a verdict. A large school usually offers more courses, more sports and more clubs, and a small school usually gives a student more contact with the adults who write recommendation letters. Both shapes send students to good colleges.

The more useful question is where a school's own graduates actually go. Our page for each Mississippi high school carries that school's figures and, where the school publishes one, its own numbered list of the colleges its graduates chose. Start from the school page rather than from the size of the building.

Questions parents ask

How many high schools are in Mississippi?

Mississippi has 403 high schools: 323 public and 80 private. The largest is Tupelo High School in Tupelo, with 2,123 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in Mississippi?

It enrolls 2,123 students in grades 9 through 12 in Tupelo.

Are private high schools included in the Mississippi count?

323 are public and 80 are private. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Method & sources: Public school counts and grade 9-12 enrollment come from the NCES Common Core of Data; private counts and enrollment come from the NCES Private School Universe Survey, whose respondents are a floor. A high school is a school serving grade 12; virtual schools are excluded. The public table is ranked by grade 9-12 enrollment, and schools without an enrollment figure are counted in the state total but not ranked.

This brief as data: /research/high-schools-in-mississippi.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).