Research · High schools - Washington · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in Washington? 757 Public and 130 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in Washington? 757 Public and 130 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: Washington has 887 high schools: 757 public and 130 private. The largest is Chiawana Senior High School in Pasco, with 3,127 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in Washington 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

Washington has 887 high schools. 757 are public and 130 are private. The 665 public high schools that report enrollment hold 336,726 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.

Chiawana Senior High School is the largest public high school in Washington. It enrolls 3,127 students in grades 9 through 12 in Pasco. The 15th largest school on the table, Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie, enrolls 2,152. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in Washington is Gonzaga Preparatory School. It enrolls 794 students in Spokane. 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 Washington

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

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Chiawana Senior High School	Pasco	3,127	No
Tahoma Senior High School	Maple Valley	2,919	No
Pasco Senior High School	Pasco	2,590	No
Eastlake High School	Sammamish	2,481	No
South Kitsap High School	Port Orchard	2,448	No
Issaquah High School	Issaquah	2,419	No
Kamiak High School	Mukilteo	2,384	No
Davis High School	Yakima	2,359	No
Redmond High School	Redmond	2,304	No
Eisenhower High School	Yakima	2,258	No
Skyline High School	Sammamish	2,244	No
Richland High School	Richland	2,218	No
Lake Stevens Sr High School	Lake Stevens	2,205	No
Kentridge High School	Kent	2,186	No
Mount Si High School	Snoqualmie	2,152	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 Washington

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

High school	City	Students
Gonzaga Preparatory School	Spokane	794
John F Kennedy Catholic High School	Burien	749
Holy Names Academy	Seattle	614
O'Dea High School	Seattle	500
Archbishop Murphy High School	Everett	446

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 Washington

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 Washington 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 Washington?

Washington has 887 high schools: 757 public and 130 private. The largest is Chiawana Senior High School in Pasco, with 3,127 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in Washington?

It enrolls 3,127 students in grades 9 through 12 in Pasco.

Are private high schools included in the Washington count?

757 are public and 130 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-washington.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).