Datasets:

montessoritheory
/

us-public-prek-kindergarten

fall_year int64 2.01k 2.02k	state stringclasses 52 values	state_abbr stringclasses 52 values	total_all_grades int64 71.3k 50.8M	prekindergarten int64 402 1.59M	kindergarten int64 5.19k 3.83M	grade_1 int64 5.24k 3.88M	grade_2 int64 4.92k 3.86M	grade_3 int64 4.81k 3.87M	grade_4 int64 4.63k 3.86M	grade_5 int64 4.58k 3.88M	grade_6 int64 4.39k 3.9M	grade_7 int64 4.25k 3.92M	grade_8 int64 4.2k 3.89M	grade_9 int64 5.86k 4.17M	grade_10 int64 4.17k 3.99M	grade_11 int64 3.71k 3.71M	grade_12 int64 3.19k 3.67M	source_note stringclasses 4 values	source_table stringclasses 13 values
2,010	Alabama	AL	755,552	8,179	57,665	58,448	56,699	57,216	59,117	59,897	59,157	59,242	57,992	62,615	57,644	51,962	49,719	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Alaska	AK	132,104	2,990	10,120	9,991	10,006	9,787	9,917	9,988	9,933	9,636	9,622	10,023	9,723	10,725	9,643	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Arizona	AZ	1,071,751	8,554	82,860	84,473	83,544	82,485	82,862	82,690	82,305	81,445	80,636	82,304	79,842	76,275	81,326	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Arkansas	AR	482,114	14,059	37,701	37,651	36,770	36,624	36,873	36,628	36,591	36,306	36,237	37,807	35,280	32,739	30,330	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	California	CA	6,289,578	72,404	468,036	477,086	470,001	461,967	463,691	469,800	467,271	463,505	476,639	510,011	502,452	488,530	492,545	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Colorado	CO	843,316	30,593	65,182	65,665	65,885	64,238	63,819	63,328	61,755	60,928	59,684	62,258	60,775	58,307	60,899	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Connecticut	CT	560,546	15,921	39,670	40,830	41,203	40,254	41,155	41,550	41,930	42,616	42,346	45,908	43,573	42,209	41,381	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Delaware	DE	129,403	1,626	9,810	10,157	10,127	9,796	9,797	9,897	9,847	9,718	9,504	11,416	10,147	9,097	8,464	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	District of Columbia	DC	71,284	9,581	5,939	5,240	4,915	4,873	4,877	4,825	4,391	4,439	4,307	5,858	4,516	3,851	3,407	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Florida	FL	2,643,347	52,779	197,097	200,806	196,620	205,650	200,682	200,738	202,303	200,147	201,676	214,993	205,142	186,399	178,315	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Georgia	GA	1,677,067	42,816	132,008	130,171	127,744	129,879	131,326	131,057	127,442	126,242	123,794	145,043	124,239	104,914	100,392	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Hawaii	HI	179,601	1,393	16,028	14,754	14,540	14,234	13,457	14,171	13,285	12,982	12,567	15,164	13,466	12,527	10,818	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Idaho	ID	275,859	1,821	21,144	21,865	21,577	21,592	21,575	21,434	21,563	20,985	20,588	22,062	20,451	19,840	19,362	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Illinois	IL	2,091,654	78,260	146,225	153,996	151,647	153,926	153,781	154,636	153,748	154,281	154,293	169,967	169,365	150,576	146,953	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Indiana	IN	1,047,232	11,652	76,765	81,397	78,857	78,972	82,387	80,081	79,585	79,928	79,790	84,139	81,558	77,285	74,836	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Iowa	IA	495,775	27,211	39,306	35,369	35,121	34,939	35,071	35,336	35,080	35,416	35,263	36,984	36,540	36,435	37,704	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Kansas	KS	483,701	17,318	37,023	36,520	36,357	35,648	35,991	35,898	35,372	35,244	34,220	37,010	35,639	33,676	33,180	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Kentucky	KY	673,128	24,260	51,091	52,207	50,855	51,279	51,189	50,980	49,988	49,633	48,525	52,668	50,262	46,008	43,723	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Louisiana	LA	696,558	29,657	54,276	55,750	53,975	53,842	58,778	52,976	51,813	51,676	49,523	57,941	46,689	41,224	38,438	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Maine	ME	189,077	4,247	13,819	13,647	13,405	13,420	13,728	13,858	14,034	14,413	14,358	14,836	14,996	15,001	15,315	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Maryland	MD	852,211	29,377	62,704	63,635	63,086	62,640	60,765	61,641	60,475	61,862	61,971	72,700	67,923	62,877	60,555	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Massachusetts	MA	955,563	27,747	67,496	70,973	70,797	70,312	71,140	71,402	71,404	72,667	71,588	77,787	73,101	70,557	67,716	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Michigan	MI	1,587,067	28,187	112,835	116,028	112,653	112,875	115,722	117,035	117,129	118,958	118,831	132,050	133,238	121,344	122,236	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Minnesota	MN	838,037	14,405	62,961	63,218	62,116	60,648	61,627	61,130	60,831	61,321	61,706	63,935	65,013	65,465	73,661	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Mississippi	MS	490,526	3,447	38,923	39,740	37,607	38,157	38,295	39,155	37,607	37,048	36,113	38,666	36,364	31,579	29,668	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Missouri	MO	918,710	28,495	69,376	68,974	67,818	67,296	68,313	68,709	67,913	69,153	66,944	73,080	69,794	66,855	65,990	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Montana	MT	141,693	1,351	11,115	11,066	10,813	10,693	10,751	10,535	10,713	10,725	10,729	11,569	10,733	10,584	10,316	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Nebraska	NE	298,500	12,656	23,411	23,134	22,390	22,150	21,901	21,680	21,103	20,992	20,875	22,567	21,998	21,407	22,236	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Nevada	NV	437,149	4,444	32,454	33,809	33,492	33,600	34,047	33,754	34,054	33,947	33,070	33,780	34,199	32,645	29,207	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	New Hampshire	NH	194,711	3,097	11,970	14,120	13,913	14,187	14,294	14,602	14,795	15,191	15,407	16,832	15,994	15,290	15,019	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	New Jersey	NJ	1,402,548	53,564	92,413	99,976	98,791	97,716	98,641	99,344	100,245	100,225	99,630	106,281	103,267	98,237	97,358	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	New Mexico	NM	338,122	7,980	26,688	26,660	26,087	25,906	25,955	25,615	25,329	24,656	24,469	29,179	26,451	22,553	20,594	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	New York	NY	2,734,955	51,649	194,607	202,889	201,820	198,573	198,720	201,761	199,937	202,305	203,761	235,380	227,380	197,541	191,528	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	North Carolina	NC	1,490,605	23,510	115,782	108,078	117,107	117,747	118,617	117,170	115,186	113,310	111,112	126,090	111,889	102,676	91,541	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	North Dakota	ND	96,323	1,529	7,449	7,484	7,197	6,915	6,974	6,676	7,141	7,372	7,298	7,591	7,701	7,415	7,581	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Ohio	OH	1,754,191	30,047	129,964	132,638	130,425	130,593	133,202	134,109	133,615	135,005	133,210	152,198	138,532	121,707	118,946	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Oklahoma	OK	659,911	40,688	52,114	52,420	50,070	48,899	48,519	48,490	47,809	47,418	45,737	48,131	45,564	42,620	39,634	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Oregon	OR	570,720	9,392	40,656	42,508	42,322	42,013	42,924	43,144	43,280	43,528	42,834	44,540	44,289	43,078	46,212	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Pennsylvania	PA	1,793,284	16,294	128,120	131,170	130,253	129,292	132,497	134,499	134,782	135,869	135,876	150,150	148,716	141,866	141,710	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Rhode Island	RI	143,793	2,054	10,057	11,070	10,745	10,755	10,865	10,195	9,889	11,150	10,954	12,888	11,814	10,891	10,466	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	South Carolina	SC	725,838	24,188	54,624	55,328	53,846	54,100	55,636	55,887	54,788	54,280	52,904	62,161	54,685	48,708	44,703	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	South Dakota	SD	126,128	1,974	11,049	9,903	9,498	9,233	9,140	9,321	9,331	9,212	9,275	10,307	9,779	9,043	9,063	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Tennessee	TN	987,422	28,787	76,642	76,706	74,788	74,793	75,481	75,057	74,615	73,363	71,475	76,010	73,509	68,755	67,441	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Texas	TX	4,935,715	249,122	374,195	387,899	379,910	375,454	374,111	372,509	361,700	357,395	354,314	391,554	344,241	314,911	298,400	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	United States	US	49,484,181	1,278,678	3,682,092	3,753,951	3,700,668	3,685,833	3,711,341	3,717,521	3,682,052	3,676,309	3,659,405	4,007,857	3,799,883	3,538,482	3,471,888	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Utah	UT	585,552	10,376	48,043	48,770	48,122	46,753	46,127	45,822	44,797	43,942	42,227	41,419	40,964	39,446	38,744	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Vermont	VT	96,858	10,678	6,259	6,213	6,171	6,214	6,291	6,294	6,484	6,628	6,757	7,139	7,287	7,329	7,114	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Virginia	VA	1,251,440	30,821	92,899	95,368	93,687	93,328	93,965	94,182	92,762	92,557	91,877	102,407	96,918	91,403	89,266	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Washington	WA	1,043,788	12,056	75,933	78,598	77,707	76,802	78,546	79,062	78,531	78,489	78,448	84,449	81,990	79,465	83,712	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	West Virginia	WV	282,879	14,660	21,256	21,167	20,299	20,786	20,493	20,842	20,595	20,919	20,455	22,785	21,037	19,155	18,430	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Wisconsin	WI	872,286	50,200	60,721	61,262	60,226	59,981	61,015	61,420	61,053	61,264	61,337	68,383	66,490	69,076	69,858	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,010	Wyoming	WY	89,009	582	7,611	7,124	7,064	6,801	6,694	6,711	6,766	6,776	6,657	6,842	6,724	6,424	6,233	null	Digest 13 table 203.45
2,011	Alabama	AL	744,621	8,282	57,602	57,859	56,315	55,991	56,491	58,415	59,082	59,050	57,919	61,412	55,908	50,785	49,510	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Alaska	AK	131,167	2,755	10,453	10,143	9,961	9,835	9,667	9,891	9,901	9,924	9,527	9,833	9,546	9,813	9,918	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Arizona	AZ	1,080,319	8,860	84,433	85,535	83,843	83,546	82,566	83,185	83,150	82,879	81,294	82,089	80,788	76,751	81,179	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Arkansas	AR	483,114	14,466	37,305	37,491	36,702	36,452	36,662	36,856	36,592	36,832	36,339	38,078	35,729	32,711	30,441	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	California	CA	6,287,834	73,630	488,070	489,961	471,993	467,539	462,082	452,305	466,942	464,260	467,626	501,073	494,739	487,113	494,144	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Colorado	CO	854,265	31,091	66,361	66,398	65,598	65,956	64,560	64,089	63,492	62,153	61,156	62,358	60,662	58,993	61,398	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Connecticut	CT	554,437	16,022	38,840	40,396	40,051	40,946	40,138	41,078	41,431	41,964	42,511	45,140	43,145	42,098	40,677	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Delaware	DE	128,946	1,402	10,116	10,220	9,943	10,138	9,691	9,900	9,887	9,758	9,569	11,168	9,809	8,775	8,570	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	District of Columbia	DC	73,911	10,831	6,358	5,757	5,102	4,805	4,643	4,816	4,560	4,248	4,328	6,050	4,313	3,708	3,190	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Florida	FL	2,668,156	54,938	203,302	203,496	200,381	206,732	195,625	202,733	204,229	204,288	200,378	218,469	203,907	195,307	174,371	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Georgia	GA	1,685,016	45,353	133,372	131,044	128,319	128,647	128,827	131,075	130,164	127,664	126,785	144,204	124,998	105,939	98,625	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Hawaii	HI	182,706	1,492	16,827	15,156	14,810	14,672	14,353	13,598	13,919	13,274	12,783	14,830	13,443	12,241	11,084	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Idaho	ID	279,873	1,338	21,901	22,557	22,068	21,845	21,835	21,818	21,765	21,765	21,172	21,479	20,996	19,911	19,423	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Illinois	IL	2,083,097	80,723	145,489	151,937	153,299	153,362	151,870	153,769	155,517	153,362	153,828	165,849	163,897	155,148	145,047	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Indiana	IN	1,040,765	9,540	78,166	79,365	79,264	77,866	78,627	81,987	80,259	79,945	79,586	81,801	82,495	77,793	74,071	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Iowa	IA	495,870	26,930	40,187	35,807	35,364	35,320	34,951	35,116	35,509	35,470	35,498	36,726	36,333	35,590	37,069	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Kansas	KS	486,108	18,110	37,557	36,798	36,180	36,215	35,608	35,992	35,816	35,455	35,291	36,197	35,081	33,699	32,478	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Kentucky	KY	681,987	28,107	52,325	52,552	51,269	51,309	49,894	51,330	51,087	50,194	50,043	52,499	49,938	47,027	43,928	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Louisiana	LA	703,390	29,422	56,037	56,214	54,202	53,607	58,304	51,709	55,279	51,739	52,289	54,775	48,355	42,370	39,088	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Maine	ME	188,969	5,048	13,644	13,826	13,714	13,457	13,533	13,885	14,038	14,317	14,584	14,695	14,686	14,655	14,887	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Maryland	MD	854,086	28,850	64,727	64,300	63,976	63,421	63,118	61,111	61,901	60,895	61,917	71,862	65,895	61,824	60,289	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Massachusetts	MA	953,369	28,116	67,956	69,906	70,561	70,826	70,404	71,355	71,483	71,950	72,758	76,690	72,220	70,685	67,460	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Michigan	MI	1,573,537	37,020	107,852	112,451	113,884	111,984	112,465	115,681	117,691	117,802	118,628	129,661	130,276	119,607	120,498	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Minnesota	MN	839,738	14,568	64,133	63,117	63,340	62,311	60,917	61,972	61,580	62,032	61,574	64,074	63,908	64,629	71,583	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Mississippi	MS	490,619	3,842	41,048	39,291	38,456	37,067	37,715	37,983	38,800	37,689	36,071	37,856	35,235	31,952	29,115	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Missouri	MO	916,584	29,931	69,864	69,325	68,320	67,473	67,274	68,154	68,500	68,122	68,413	71,813	69,041	65,879	64,475	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Montana	MT	142,349	1,475	11,697	11,013	11,015	10,825	10,739	10,780	10,566	10,842	10,773	11,326	10,841	10,249	10,208	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Nebraska	NE	301,296	12,907	23,795	22,951	23,099	22,428	22,279	21,949	21,738	21,243	21,115	21,965	21,986	21,509	22,332	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Nevada	NV	439,634	4,408	33,502	34,405	33,644	33,316	33,608	34,001	33,911	34,177	33,745	33,511	33,402	33,017	30,322	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	New Hampshire	NH	191,900	3,228	11,915	13,680	13,859	13,902	14,190	14,237	14,607	14,850	15,164	16,641	15,537	15,179	14,911	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	New Jersey	NJ	1,356,431	36,581	90,955	96,939	98,784	97,569	96,459	98,000	97,384	99,004	98,968	104,553	98,853	96,668	94,059	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	New Mexico	NM	337,225	7,652	26,954	26,643	26,175	25,639	25,703	25,786	25,270	25,223	24,436	29,325	25,734	22,014	20,671	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	New York	NY	2,704,718	49,569	197,458	199,702	199,594	199,611	196,082	198,007	201,429	200,192	201,190	226,304	218,032	196,644	190,732	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	North Carolina	NC	1,507,864	33,603	117,944	117,693	107,431	117,034	116,325	118,534	117,223	115,038	113,238	125,149	111,972	102,663	94,017	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	North Dakota	ND	97,646	1,706	8,236	7,521	7,490	7,229	7,028	7,029	6,887	7,326	7,436	7,483	7,551	7,376	7,348	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Ohio	OH	1,740,030	29,015	131,323	130,527	129,983	129,674	130,406	133,152	134,459	134,468	134,219	148,538	135,373	121,027	117,866	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Oklahoma	OK	666,120	42,145	53,053	53,145	50,090	49,523	48,690	48,456	48,469	47,869	47,321	48,154	45,332	42,450	39,447	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Oregon	OR	568,208	7,262	41,478	42,402	42,474	42,463	42,072	42,885	43,193	43,428	43,653	43,968	44,249	42,783	45,898	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Pennsylvania	PA	1,771,395	12,887	128,804	129,881	131,128	130,624	129,845	133,069	135,198	136,390	135,598	144,339	144,453	138,146	138,265	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Rhode Island	RI	142,854	1,979	10,164	10,762	10,989	10,799	10,827	10,841	10,222	9,930	11,146	12,277	11,492	10,868	10,558	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	South Carolina	SC	727,186	23,551	56,065	55,995	54,373	53,730	54,157	55,713	56,312	55,250	54,243	60,710	54,075	48,328	44,684	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	South Dakota	SD	128,016	2,996	11,375	10,326	9,787	9,531	9,364	9,207	9,437	9,367	9,139	10,209	9,740	8,876	8,662	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Tennessee	TN	999,693	27,982	79,803	77,853	75,660	75,220	75,146	76,079	75,908	75,373	73,725	76,970	73,216	69,121	67,637	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Texas	TX	5,000,470	249,524	379,446	392,291	383,411	379,421	375,756	377,729	372,846	366,149	360,279	394,326	347,268	323,387	298,637	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	United States	US	49,521,669	1,290,977	3,746,415	3,772,639	3,713,225	3,703,314	3,671,865	3,699,119	3,723,575	3,695,995	3,679,111	3,956,990	3,751,378	3,545,841	3,451,876	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Utah	UT	598,832	11,972	48,953	48,829	48,768	48,039	46,758	46,198	45,951	45,097	43,971	42,540	41,498	40,565	39,693	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Vermont	VT	89,908	5,559	6,062	6,232	6,185	6,165	6,158	6,304	6,283	6,552	6,646	7,017	6,869	6,946	6,930	null	Digest 14 table 203.45
2,011	Virginia	VA	1,257,883	31,805	95,574	95,019	95,322	93,829	93,770	94,316	94,863	93,366	93,361	100,701	95,596	91,037	89,324	null	Digest 14 table 203.45

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US Public Pre-K and Kindergarten Enrollment by State, 2010-2022

English first, version française plus bas, resumen en español al final.

How Many Children Start School Early, State By State

Public pre-K has become one of the biggest changes in American early education, but it looks very different from one state to the next. This dataset gathers the official public school enrollment counts by grade for all 50 states and DC, every fall from 2010 to 2022, from the NCES Common Core of Data as published in 13 editions of the Digest of Education Statistics, into one tidy table. It adds ready-made indicators for prekindergarten and kindergarten and the share of 3- to 5-year-olds enrolled in school in each state from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 2021 to 2023.

Public prekindergarten grew from 1.28 million students in fall 2010 to 1.59 million in fall 2019, fell to 1.24 million in fall 2020, the first school year of the pandemic, and was back to 1.53 million in fall 2022. Over the same years public kindergarten shrank from 3.68 to 3.53 million, so there are now 43 public pre-K students for every 100 kindergartners, against 35 in 2010.

The Headline Numbers


Public prekindergarten, fall 2022	1,528,198 students
Public kindergarten, fall 2022	3,525,725 students
Pre-K students per 100 kindergartners	34.7 in 2010, 42.7 in 2019, 36.8 in 2020, 43.3 in 2022
Largest public pre-K	Texas 269,441, New York 76,715, Illinois 76,302, New Jersey 71,749
Most pre-K relative to kindergarten	DC 163, Vermont 145, Wisconsin 95, Nebraska 85, West Virginia 85 per 100
Least	Pennsylvania 7, Montana 7, Wyoming 11, Hawaii 13, California 16 per 100
Fastest growth since fall 2012	Nevada +158 %, Alabama +157 %, Indiana +150 %
3- to 5-year-olds enrolled in school, US	53.3 % in 2021, 59.0 % in 2022, 61.0 % in 2023
Highest and lowest, 2023	DC 94 %, Connecticut 76 %, Vermont 75 % · North Dakota 44 %, Montana 47 %

Files

file	content
`data/public_enrollment_by_state_and_grade_2010_2022.csv`	676 rows, one per state and fall (51 states and DC plus the US total, 13 falls), enrollment in pre-K, kindergarten, each grade 1 to 12 and all grades
`data/prek_and_kindergarten_by_state.csv`	pre-K and kindergarten with pre-K per 100 kindergartners, share of enrollment and change since 2012
`data/national_prek_kindergarten.csv`	13 rows, the national series
`data/children_3_to_5_enrolled_by_state_2021_2023.csv`	percent of 3- to 5-year-olds enrolled in school by state, with standard errors
`data_dictionary.csv`	every column of every file
`scripts/`	the code that rebuilds everything from the NCES tables
`notebooks/starter.ipynb`	a starter notebook with the charts above

Columns

public_enrollment_by_state_and_grade_2010_2022.csv

column	description
`fall_year`	Fall of the school year (2022 = school year 2022-23)
`state`, `state_abbr`	State name and postal code, US for the national total
`total_all_grades`	Public enrollment, all grades including ungraded
`prekindergarten`, `kindergarten`	Public pre-K and kindergarten enrollment
`grade_1` ... `grade_12`	Public enrollment in each grade
`source_note`	NCES footnote on the pre-K figure, for example imputed or estimated values
`source_table`	Digest edition and table the row comes from

children_3_to_5_enrolled_by_state_2021_2023.csv: year, state, state_abbr, age_group, percent_enrolled_in_school, standard_error, source_table.

Load It

import pandas as pd

base = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/montessoritheory/us-public-prek-kindergarten/main/data"
pk = pd.read_csv(f"{base}/prek_and_kindergarten_by_state.csv")
pk[pk.fall_year == 2022].sort_values("prek_per_100_kindergartners", ascending=False).head(10)

How It Was Built

NCES publishes public enrollment by grade and state each year in table 203.40 of the Digest of Education Statistics, and the previous fall in table 203.45. The Excel files of both tables were downloaded for the Digest editions 2013 to 2023 in November 2026, which cover the falls 2010 to 2022. Each file was parsed with its own header layout, footnote markers were turned into their text, and when two editions report the same fall the most recent edition was kept, since NCES revises earlier counts. Table 202.25 of the Digest editions 2022 to 2024 gives the share of 3- to 5-year-olds enrolled in school by state from the American Community Survey. scripts/build.py builds the tables and scripts/make_outputs.py the charts.

Checked Against The Source

States add up to the nation. For every fall from 2010 to 2022, the 50 states and DC add up exactly to the US total for pre-K, kindergarten and all grades.
Published totals. The national figures match the Digest, for example 1,528,198 public pre-K and 49,618,464 students in all grades in fall 2022 (table 203.40, Digest 2023).

Read With Care

Public schools only. These are students enrolled in public schools. State-funded pre-K delivered by private centers, Head Start and private preschools is not counted, which is why states such as Florida or Georgia, with large voucher or mixed-delivery programs, show fewer public pre-K students than their program size suggests.
Pre-K means different ages. Some states and DC count both 3- and 4-year-olds in public pre-K, which is how DC and Vermont exceed 100 pre-K students per 100 kindergartners. The ratio compares system sizes, not the share of children served.
Imputed values. NCES imputed or estimated the pre-K count of some states in some years (California and Oregon in several falls). The source_note column says when.
Fall 2020. The drop in fall 2020 reflects the first pandemic school year, when many families delayed pre-K and kindergarten.
Survey estimates for 3 to 5. The share of 3- to 5-year-olds in school comes from a sample survey and includes private programs and kindergarten. Use the standard errors when comparing states.
Kindergarten is where Montessori's 3 to 6 cycle ends. Our guide to the Montessori kindergarten year explains why many families keep their child in the same class for it.

License And Citation

CC BY 4.0. Use it, share it and adapt it, commercially or not, and credit Montessori Theory with a link to montessori-theory.com, along with the original sources below.

@misc{montessoritheory_us_public_prek_kindergarten_2026,
  title  = {US Public Pre-K and Kindergarten Enrollment by State, 2010-2022},
  author = {Carter, Sophia and {Montessori Theory}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://github.com/montessoritheory/us-public-prek-kindergarten},
  note   = {Dataset, version 1.0, built from NCES Digest of Education Statistics tables 203.40, 203.45 and 202.25}
}

Sources. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, tables 203.40 and 203.45 (Common Core of Data, State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education), editions 2013 to 2023, and table 202.25 (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey), editions 2022 to 2024. US government works, public domain.

Also on Kaggle and Hugging Face.

Version Française

La pré-maternelle et la maternelle publiques par État, 2010-2022

Les effectifs officiels des écoles publiques par niveau, pour les 50 États et Washington DC, chaque automne de 2010 à 2022 (NCES, Common Core of Data), avec des indicateurs prêts à l'emploi pour la pré-maternelle (pre-K) et la maternelle (kindergarten), et la part des enfants de 3 à 5 ans scolarisés par État en 2021-2023.

La pre-K publique est passée de 1,28 million d'élèves en 2010 à 1,53 million en 2022, avec une forte baisse à l'automne 2020.
Il y a aujourd'hui 43 élèves de pre-K pour 100 élèves de maternelle, contre 35 en 2010.
Le Texas compte de loin le plus d'élèves de pre-K publique (269 000).

Licence CC BY 4.0, en citant Montessori Theory avec un lien vers montessori-theory.com et la source NCES.

🇪🇸 Resumen

La matrícula oficial de pre-K y kindergarten en escuelas públicas de los 50 estados y DC, cada otoño de 2010 a 2022 (NCES), y el porcentaje de niños de 3 a 5 años escolarizados por estado, 2021-2023. Licencia CC BY 4.0.

Part of Montessori Open Data, documented open datasets on Montessori schools and early childhood, by Montessori Theory.

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