Research · High schools - Missouri · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in Missouri? 734 Public and 143 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in Missouri? 734 Public and 143 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: Missouri has 877 high schools: 734 public and 143 private. The largest is Blue Springs High in Blue Springs, with 2,429 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in Missouri 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

Missouri has 877 high schools. 734 are public and 143 are private. The 598 public high schools that report enrollment hold 268,502 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.

Blue Springs High is the largest public high school in Missouri. It enrolls 2,429 students in grades 9 through 12 in Blue Springs. The 15th largest school on the table, Lee's Summit SR. High in Lee'S Summit, enrolls 1,989. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in Missouri is St Louis University High School. It enrolls 968 students in Saint Louis. 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 Missouri

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

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Blue Springs High	Blue Springs	2,429	No
Lindbergh SR. High	St. Louis	2,304	No
Blue Springs South High	Blue Springs	2,299	No
Joplin High	Joplin	2,288	No
Liberty North High School	Liberty	2,262	No
Troy Buchanan High	Troy	2,148	No
Marquette SR. High	Chesterfield	2,095	No
Staley High	Kansas City	2,091	No
Nixa High	Nixa	2,041	No
Ritenour SR. High	St Louis	2,041	No
David H. Hickman High	Columbia	2,007	No
Lee's Summit West High	Lee'S Summit	1,999	No
Rock Bridge SR. High	Columbia	1,997	No
Hazelwood West High	Hazelwood	1,994	No
Lee's Summit SR. High	Lee'S Summit	1,989	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 Missouri

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

High school	City	Students
St Louis University High School	Saint Louis	968
Rockhurst High School	Kansas City	937
St Dominic High School	O'Fallon	927
St Dominic High School	O'Fallon	926
Helias Catholic High School	Jefferson City	738

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 Missouri

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 Missouri 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 Missouri?

Missouri has 877 high schools: 734 public and 143 private. The largest is Blue Springs High in Blue Springs, with 2,429 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in Missouri?

It enrolls 2,429 students in grades 9 through 12 in Blue Springs.

Are private high schools included in the Missouri count?

734 are public and 143 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-missouri.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).