AkilNYC / Education
Manhattan School Enrollment Trends
See how enrollment changed at New York City Public Schools and charter schools (charter schools are public schools too, run independently), then explore the schools and neighborhoods behind the totals.
School years 2018–2019 to 2025–2026 · All grades · NYC Public Schools + charter schools
Manhattan enrollment decreased
Across schools with reported data in each year, enrollment went from 173,190 to 149,047 students: -24,143 students (-13.9%).
For the 346 schools reporting in both years, the change was -22,861 students (-13.5%). The lists of reporting schools differ, so these two comparisons answer different questions.
Explore Manhattan schools →Enrollment over time
Annual totals sum the schools reporting in each school year. Schools with no data for a year are left out of that year's sum, never treated as zero.
Students enrolled by school year
View exact annual values
| School year | Students | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2018–2019 | 173,190 | reported |
| 2019–2020 | 175,084 | reported |
| 2020–2021 | 169,026 | reported |
| 2021–2022 | 160,000 | reported |
| 2022–2023 | 152,098 | reported |
| 2023–2024 | 156,291 | reported |
| 2024–2025 | 153,984 | reported |
| 2025–2026 | 149,047 | reported |
| School year | Students | Schools reporting | Schools with no data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–2019 | 173,190 | 358 | 10 |
| 2019–2020 | 175,084 | 361 | 7 |
| 2020–2021 | 169,026 | 362 | 6 |
| 2021–2022 | 160,000 | 364 | 4 |
| 2022–2023 | 152,098 | 352 | 16 |
| 2023–2024 | 156,291 | 355 | 13 |
| 2024–2025 | 153,984 | 356 | 12 |
| 2025–2026 | 149,047 | 356 | 12 |
How many schools increased or decreased?
368 schools appear in this area’s combined data. Of these, 346 schools report enrollment in both years.
- Increased
- 72
- Roughly even
- 13
- Decreased
- 261
“Roughly even” means within ±1%. 22 schools are missing the start or end year. Schools with zero students in both years count as roughly even. These counts describe schools in the data, not confirmed operating schools, openings, or closures.
Compare school districts and their neighborhoods →What these figures can tell you
They show changes in reported enrollment at schools. They do not establish changes in school quality, why families moved, or where students live. Each school's borough comes from its school code; smaller-area comparisons use each school's current main building.
Akil combines two NYC Public Schools data files by school code and year. Where they overlap, the newer file is used; histories found only in the older file are kept. This is the same data the interactive explorer uses, with the same missing-data and comparison rules.
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