Demographics
NYC Gained Share of State Enrollment for 14 Straight Years. Then It Stopped.
NYC's share of New York enrollment rose from 36.8% to 40.4% as upstate shrank faster. COVID reversed the dynamic, and the city is now losing ground.
New York
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of New York, grounded in New York Department of Education data.
Yonkers' Chronic Absenteeism Fell from Its Peak but Remained More Than Twice 2019
Yonkers' chronic absenteeism rate fell from 49.0% in 2022 to 44.8% in 2024, but remained 25.1 points above 2019.
New York's Economic-Disadvantage Attendance Gap Was Wider in 2024 Than Before COVID
New York's chronic-absence gap between economically disadvantaged students and all students widened between 2018-19 and 2023-24.
97% of Sizable New York Districts Remained Above Their 2019 Absence Rate
Among 571 New York districts with at least 500 students at both endpoints, 17 had a 2024 chronic absenteeism rate at or below their 2019 rate.
New York Public-School Enrollment Fell 395,463 in 21 Years
Statewide enrollment fell from 2,842,058 in 2005 to 2,446,595 in 2026; 19 of 21 annual transitions were declines, and the 2026 loss ranked third.
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Graduation Rate
The 9th-Grade Bottleneck That Unclogged Itself
New York's 9th-grade bulge shrank from 18% to 5% over two decades as survival rates climbed from 71% to 92%, a quiet success inside the enrollment decline.
Special Populations
District 75 Grew 42% While NYC Shrank
NYC's citywide special education district added 8,794 students since 2005, even as the rest of the city lost 223,000. It is now the state's 11th-largest district entity.
District Spotlight
Sachem Has Lost Students 14 Years Straight
Long Island's largest suburban districts are in sustained enrollment decline, with Sachem and Smithtown losing students every year since 2013.
Demographics
Pre-K Grew 26% While Kindergarten Hit a 22-Year Low
New York added 12,800 Pre-K students since 2012, driven by NYC's universal program. Kindergarten lost 35,550 over the same span, falling to its lowest level on record.
Enrollment
19 Districts Haven't Grown in 14 Years
Nineteen New York districts have declined every year since 2013, losing a combined 43,362 students across Long Island, NYC, and upstate.
Covid Impact
Only 14% of New York Districts Have Recovered From COVID
Just 101 of 722 New York districts have returned to pre-pandemic enrollment. Nine in ten students attend a district still below 2019.
District Spotlight
Rochester Has Declined 17 Straight Years
Rochester City School District has lost 12,880 students since peaking in 2006, declining every year since 2010. No other Big Five district comes close.
Enrollment
475 New York Districts at All-Time Lows
Nearly half of New York's 1,064 districts hit their lowest enrollment ever in 2026, including 24 of 32 NYC geographic districts.
District Spotlight
Rochester's Absenteeism Crisis Has Plateaued at 63%
Rochester's chronic absenteeism rate was 63.0% in 2023 and 63.1% in 2024, a change of only one-tenth of a percentage point.
Demographics
New York's Kindergarten Class Hit Its Lowest Level in 22 Years
Kindergarten enrollment fell to 163,820 in 2026, down 19.2% from its 2013 peak and 7,994 students below the COVID trough — a signal that deeper declines are coming.
