Research · High schools - West Virginia · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in West Virginia? 160 Public and 43 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in West Virginia? 160 Public and 43 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: West Virginia has 203 high schools: 160 public and 43 private. The largest is Morgantown High School in Morgantown, with 1,754 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in West Virginia 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

West Virginia has 203 high schools. 160 are public and 43 are private. The 130 public high schools that report enrollment hold 72,681 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.

Morgantown High School is the largest public high school in West Virginia. It enrolls 1,754 students in grades 9 through 12 in Morgantown. The 15th largest school on the table, George Washington High School in Charleston, enrolls 1,145. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in West Virginia is Madonna High School. It enrolls 113 students in Weirton. 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 West Virginia

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

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Morgantown High School	Morgantown	1,754	No
Musselman High School	Inwood	1,725	No
Huntington High School	Huntington	1,667	No
Cabell Midland High School	Ona	1,638	No
Spring Mills High School	Martinsburg	1,544	No
Martinsburg High School	Martinsburg	1,505	No
Parkersburg High School	Parkersburg	1,491	No
Washington High School	Charles Town	1,458	No
Jefferson High School	Shenandoah Junction	1,431	No
Wheeling Park High School	Wheeling	1,427	No
Parkersburg South High School	Parkersburg	1,373	No
University High School	Morgantown	1,371	No
Hedgesville High School	Hedgesville	1,346	No
Woodrow Wilson High School	Beckley	1,284	No
George Washington High School	Charleston	1,145	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 West Virginia

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

High school	City	Students
Madonna High School	Weirton	113
St Joseph Catholic High School	Huntington	91
Greenbrier Academy for Girls	Alderson	30

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 West Virginia

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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia?

West Virginia has 203 high schools: 160 public and 43 private. The largest is Morgantown High School in Morgantown, with 1,754 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in West Virginia?

It enrolls 1,754 students in grades 9 through 12 in Morgantown.

Are private high schools included in the West Virginia count?

160 are public and 43 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-west-virginia.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).