2026 Homeschool Stats in U.S. : Which States Top the Charts?

North Carolina has the highest percentage of homeschool students. freedu user counts suggest that Texas has highest population followed by Florida.

The big news for 2025 - 2026 is Homeschool is Back in Style.

Remember 2020?

The world shut down. Kitchen became classrooms.

Almost overnight, homeschooling became the biggest thing in education.

A lot of experts predicted it would be a temporary phase. They thought once public schools reopened, everyone would run back.

Well, those experts were wrong.

Guess what? Homeschooling is officially back in style. 

In fact, enrollment numbers have rebounded right back up to peak pandemic heights.

Let’s look at the U.S. Census stats from 2025 and 2026.

The numbers come from early 2025 (February and April) and early 2026 (March and May).

Just a quick heads-up: they used a different method than the 2024 Pulse Survey. 

That means the numbers won't line up directly. Instead, use this data mainly to spot the big-picture trends.

From 4% to 7%: The Unmistakable Surge in Homeschooling

Here are Census survey stats that estimate how many children are homeschooled in the U.S.

Because these figures are survey-based estimates, they tend to fluctuate. 

So ignore the raw math for a second and look at the actual big picture: the trend line is pointing straight up.

Early 2025 gave us a rate hovering around 3.8% to 4.0%.

By 2026? That baseline jumped to a massive 6% to 7%.

Even with the usual survey bounces, the message is loud and clear: this wasn't a temporary pandemic phase, and it wasn't a fluke. The trajectory from 2025 to 2026 is pure upward momentum.

Homeschooling didn't fall back down to earth. it leveled up for good.

Why Getting an Exact Homeschool Count is Impossible

Anyone digging into homeschool research quickly runs into a puzzle: numbers from major trackers like NHERI and Johns Hopkins rarely match Census estimates.

No data source is perfect. Every count has a blind spot.

Census Surveys (HTOPS)

• The Catch: Surveys only poll a tiny sample of parents.

• The Problem: Small sample sizes cause wild month-to-month swings in the numbers.

State Registrations ( used by Johns Hopkins, NHERI)

• No Tracking: States like Texas don't require registration, so those kids never get counted on state lists.

• Funding Misclassification: In states like California, families using public charter funds are officially classified as "public students," even if they learn 100% at home.

Surveys show the trend, but swing wildly.

State records show hard proof, but miss millions of kids in Texas, Florida and California.

Homeschool Rate by State: Top 3 Leaders

The Census survey data (HTOPS) doesn’t break down homeschool rates state by state.

Luckily, NHERI and Johns Hopkins Homeschool Hub did the heavy lifting for us.

Their state-level data reveals three clear national leaders:

• North Carolina (NC): 9.47% (~165,000 kids)

• South Dakota (SD): 7.02% (~11,500 kids)

• Arkansas (AR): 6.79% (~35,400 kids)

Notice a pattern?

North Carolina and Arkansas also ranked near the top in federal Census surveys. When completely different data sources point to the same result, the message is undeniable: these states are absolute homeschool powerhouses.

Remember: JHU  counts only track official registration filings.

Kids in umbrella schools, hybrid charter programs, or other homeschool options get left off those state lists.

Alaska is missing from these specific state rankings due to reporting gaps, though it historically boasts one of the highest homeschooling rates in the nation.

Regional Trends: The South and Northeast Lead

Even though Census doesn’t break down homeschool rate by state, they break it down by region.

Homeschooling isn't growing at the same pace everywhere. The South & Northeast: Dominating the movement at roughly 9%. The Midwest & West: Lower and stable at 3% to 4%.

Homeschooling isn't growing evenly across the country.

The Midwest and West remain steady at 3% to 4%, while the South and Northeast lead the charge at roughly 9%— meaning nearly 1 in 10 kids there now learn at home.

These high-adoption regions are the clear engine behind the overall national jump to 6–7%.

States with the Most Homeschool Students

Neither Johns Hopkins nor the Census Bureau gives us a complete, state-by-state student count.

So we looked at our own data right here at freedu.

Here is the breakdown of where our users live:

• Texas: 13.5%

• Florida: 8%

• California: 7.7%

• North Carolina: 5.3%

• Georgia: 5.1%

Texas completely dominates the chart.

This fits perfectly with 2024 Census data and our 2026 regional trends: the South is crushing it.

One fun fact? Only 0.03% of our users live in Alaska.

That actually makes total sense. Alaska has a super high percentage of homeschoolers. But because the state's total population is so small, the overall number of students stays low.

Reference

• John Hopkins Homeschool Hub

• NHERI Homeschool Statistics

• Census Pulse Survey

• Census HTPOS 2026 Survey