Research · High schools - New Hampshire · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in New Hampshire? 76 Public and 51 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in New Hampshire? 76 Public and 51 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: New Hampshire has 127 high schools: 76 public and 51 private. The largest is Nashua High School South in Nashua, with 1,686 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in New Hampshire 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

New Hampshire has 127 high schools. 76 are public and 51 are private. The 76 public high schools that report enrollment hold 34,367 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.

Nashua High School South is the largest public high school in New Hampshire. It enrolls 1,686 students in grades 9 through 12 in Nashua. The 15th largest school on the table, Oyster River High School in Durham, enrolls 825. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in New Hampshire is Pinkerton Academy. It enrolls 3,074 students in Derry. The biggest public school in the state, Nashua High School South, enrolls 1,686. 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 New Hampshire

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

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Nashua High School South	Nashua	1,686	No
Nashua High School North	Nashua	1,543	No
Dover Senior High School	Dover	1,371	No
Exeter High School	Exeter	1,348	No
Spaulding High School	Rochester	1,298	No
Manchester Memorial High School	Manchester	1,296	No
Londonderry Senior High School	Londonderry	1,289	No
Keene High School	Keene	1,288	No
Manchester Central High School	Manchester	1,130	No
Salem High School	Salem	1,116	No
Merrimack High School	Merrimack	1,057	No
Goffstown High School	Goffstown	1,008	No
Windham High School	Windham	945	No
Timberlane Regional High School	Plaistow	944	No
Oyster River High School	Durham	825	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 New Hampshire

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

High school	City	Students
Pinkerton Academy	Derry	3,074
Phillips Exeter Academy	Exeter	1,064
Bishop Guertin High School	Nashua	803
St Paul'S School	Concord	542
St Thomas Aquinas High School	Dover	414

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 New Hampshire

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 New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire?

New Hampshire has 127 high schools: 76 public and 51 private. The largest is Nashua High School South in Nashua, with 1,686 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in New Hampshire?

It enrolls 1,686 students in grades 9 through 12 in Nashua.

Are private high schools included in the New Hampshire count?

76 are public and 51 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-new-hampshire.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).