PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Public Schools has released its updated enrollment analysis, giving insight into 10-year trends and the 2025-26 student membership.
As of Oct. 1, PPS had enrolled 17,937 K–12 students, marking a decrease of 375 students from last year’s count of 18,312. Despite the overall decline, early childhood programs saw a 1.27% increase in enrollment, rising from 1,258 students in 2024–25 to 1,274 in 2025–26.
“While our overall enrollment continues to decline, we are encouraged by early signs of stabilization among our youngest learners,” Superintendent Wayne N. Walters said. “These are signs that our work to rebuild trust with families is taking hold.”
The 10-year enrollment trends report reveals a 22.8% decline in PPS enrollment since the 2015–16 school year, while the number of school-aged children living within district boundaries decreased by 12.6%. Charter school enrollment has increased by 46.6%, whereas private school enrollment has decreased by 11.5%.
The analysis shows that student mobility is mainly driven by families moving rather than transferring between PPS, charter or private schools. On average, 88.9% of PPS students remain enrolled from June to October each year, with 7.2% moving out of the district.
English Language Learners have become one of the fastest-growing student groups within PPS, representing 10.9% of enrollment in 2025–26, the analysis shows. That’s up from 3.0% in 2015–16.
School-level data shows significant enrollment declines, with 23 schools now serving fewer than 250 students. That creates challenges in maintaining comprehensive programming and staffing efficiencies, the district says.
The report suggests strengthening family outreach and engagement to improve retention and recommends evaluating building configuration and utilization to support excellence and equity across schools.
Click here to see the full Pittsburgh K–12 Enrollment Trends report.
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