Research · High schools - Montana · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in Montana? 181 Public and 32 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in Montana? 181 Public and 32 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: Montana has 213 high schools: 181 public and 32 private. The largest is Billings West High School in Billings, with 2,115 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in Montana 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

Montana has 213 high schools. 181 are public and 32 are private. The 180 public high schools that report enrollment hold 43,905 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.

Billings West High School is the largest public high school in Montana. It enrolls 2,115 students in grades 9 through 12 in Billings. The 15th largest school on the table, Helena High School in Helena, enrolls 979. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in Montana is Billings Central Catholic High School. It enrolls 298 students in Billings. 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 Montana

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

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Billings West High School	Billings	2,115	No
Billings Sr High School	Billings	1,629	No
Great Falls High School	Great Falls	1,548	No
Skyview High School	Billings	1,542	No
Flathead High School	Kalispell	1,541	No
Gallatin High School	Bozeman	1,442	No
C M Russell High School	Great Falls	1,412	No
Glacier High School	Kalispell	1,402	No
Sentinel High School	Missoula	1,365	No
Capital High School	Helena	1,293	No
Bozeman High School	Bozeman	1,279	No
Butte High School	Butte	1,266	No
Hellgate High School	Missoula	1,262	No
Big Sky High School	Missoula	1,148	No
Helena High School	Helena	979	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 Montana

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

High school	City	Students
Billings Central Catholic High School	Billings	298
Loyola Sacred Heart High School	Missoula	181
St Labre High School	Ashland	102
Butte Central Catholic High School	Butte	97
Great Falls Central Catholic High School	Great Falls	75

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 Montana

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 Montana 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 Montana?

Montana has 213 high schools: 181 public and 32 private. The largest is Billings West High School in Billings, with 2,115 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in Montana?

It enrolls 2,115 students in grades 9 through 12 in Billings.

Are private high schools included in the Montana count?

181 are public and 32 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-montana.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).