Homeschooling accounted for 3.4% of U.S. students ages 5 through 17 with a grade equivalent of K–12 in 2022–23, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). When homeschooling and full-time virtual education are considered together, 5.2% received instruction at home. These figures describe different categories, so they should not be treated as interchangeable measures of homeschooling.
Contents
- How many students were homeschooled?
- Homeschooling and full-time virtual education
- Why families chose homeschooling
- Differences by race and grade
- Differences by parent education
- Differences by community and region
- Earlier population estimates
How many students were homeschooled?
The latest figures in this set come from the 2022–23 school year and cover students ages 5 through 17 with a grade equivalent of K–12. NCES reported that 3.4% were homeschooled. A broader 5.2% received instruction at home, a combined category that includes both homeschooling and full-time virtual education.
The distinction matters because full-time virtual education includes students who remain public or private school students. In 2022–23, 2.5% of students were enrolled in full-time virtual education. Of all students enrolled full-time virtually, 1.8% were public or private school students rather than homeschoolers, while 0.7% were homeschooled.
For an earlier reference point, NCES reported a 2.8% homeschooling rate in 2019 among students ages 5 to 17. That rate corresponded to about 1.5 million homeschooled students. In the same year, 3.7% received instruction at home when homeschooling and full-time virtual education were combined.
The 2019 full-time virtual education rate was 1.2%, corresponding to about 638,000 students. NCES also reported that 31% of students in full-time virtual education were homeschooled, and 13% of homeschooled students were in full-time virtual education. These percentages describe the relationship between the two categories, not a single overall homeschooling rate.
Homeschooling and full-time virtual education
The 2022–23 results show why the wording of a statistic is important. “Instruction at home” is the widest measure in the supplied NCES figures: 5.2% of students. “Homeschooled” is narrower at 3.4%, and “full-time virtual education” is a separate 2.5% measure that includes both homeschool and public or private school arrangements.
| Measure | Reporting period | Share of students |
|---|---|---|
| Instruction at home, including homeschooling and full-time virtual education | 2022–23 | 5.2% |
| Homeschooled | 2022–23 | 3.4% |
| Full-time virtual education | 2022–23 | 2.5% |
| Instruction at home, combining homeschooling and full-time virtual education | 2019 | 3.7% |
| Homeschooled | 2019 | 2.8% |
| Full-time virtual education | 2019 | 1.2% |
The 2022–23 measures are from NCES Parent and Family Involvement in Education: 2023. The 2019 measures are from NCES 2019 Homeschooling and Full-Time Virtual Education Rates. The supplied source record does not provide a direct page URL for either NCES title, so the links identify the NCES source organization rather than a specific report page.
Why families chose homeschooling
In 2022–23, parents of 83% of homeschooled students rated concern about the environment of other schools as an important reason for homeschooling. A desire to provide moral instruction was important for 75%. A desire to emphasize family life together was important for 72%, and dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools was also important for 72%.
The most-important-reason measure is narrower than the important-reason measure. In 2022–23, 28% of homeschooled students had parents who named concern about the environment of other schools as the most important reason. The figures therefore indicate that a reason can be widely selected as important without being the single leading reason for every family.
NCES reported a similar pattern for 2019. Parents of 80% of homeschooled students selected concern about the school environment as a reason. A desire to provide moral instruction was selected for 75%, a desire to emphasize family life together for 75%, and dissatisfaction with academic instruction at public and private schools for 73%.
The 2019 figures also identify several reasons selected as most important. Concern about the school environment was the most important reason for 25% of homeschooled students. Dissatisfaction with academic instruction at public and private schools was most important for 15%, while a desire to provide religious instruction was most important for 13%. A desire to emphasize family life together was most important for 8%.
Other 2019 reason measures were smaller. Parents selected a child’s physical or mental health problem as a reason for 7% of homeschooled students, and a child’s temporary illness as a reason for 3%. These figures report reasons selected by parents; they do not establish that one reason caused a student to be homeschooled.
Differences by race and grade
The 2019 NCES figures show different homeschooling rates across the reported racial groups. White students had a 4.0% homeschooling rate, compared with 1.2% for Black students and 1.9% for Hispanic students. For full-time virtual education, the reported rates were 1.5% for White students and 0.9% for Hispanic students. A Black-student full-time virtual education rate was not included in the supplied figures.
Grade-level figures also varied. Students in grades 6–8 had a 3.4% homeschooling rate in 2019, while students in grades 9–12 had a 2.3% rate. The supplied figures do not state homeschooling rates for grades K–2 or 3–5.
For full-time virtual education, students in grades 6–8 and grades 9–12 each had a 2.0% rate. The rate was 0.3% for grades K–2 and 0.6% for grades 3–5. These measures are for 2019 and should not be combined with the 2022–23 rates as though they were collected in the same reporting period.
Differences by parent education
In 2019, homeschooling rates differed by the highest education level reported for a student’s parent. Students with a less-than-high-school-educated parent had a 2.9% homeschooling rate. The rate was 1.8% for students with a high-school-graduate-or-equivalent parent, 2.9% for those with a vocational/technical or some-college parent, 3.3% for those with a bachelor’s-degree parent, and 3.1% for those with a graduate-or-professional-school parent.
The full-time virtual education figures followed a different pattern across the same education categories. The rate was 1.6% for students with a less-than-high-school-educated parent and 1.5% for those with a high-school-graduate-or-equivalent parent. It was 1.8% for students with a vocational/technical or some-college parent, 0.8% for those with a bachelor’s-degree parent, and 0.7% for those with a graduate-or-professional-school parent.
| Parent education category | Homeschooling, 2019 | Full-time virtual education, 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Less than high school | 2.9% | 1.6% |
| High school graduate or equivalent | 1.8% | 1.5% |
| Vocational/technical or some college | 2.9% | 1.8% |
| Bachelor’s degree | 3.3% | 0.8% |
| Graduate or professional school | 3.1% | 0.7% |
These are rates within the reported parent-education categories. They do not measure educational outcomes or explain why the rates differ.
Differences by community and region
In 2019, rural households had the highest reported homeschooling rate among the four community types: 4.7%. The rate was 2.5% for city households, 2.4% for suburban households, and 2.2% for town households.
Regional rates also varied. The Northeast had a 2.0% homeschooling rate, the Midwest had 2.3%, the South had 3.4%, and the West had 3.1%. All of these figures refer to students ages 5 to 17 in 2019.
| Location category | Homeschooling rate, 2019 |
|---|---|
| City | 2.5% |
| Suburb | 2.4% |
| Town | 2.2% |
| Rural | 4.7% |
| Northeast | 2.0% |
| Midwest | 2.3% |
| South | 3.4% |
| West | 3.1% |
The community and regional figures describe prevalence in the named locations. They do not indicate that location alone determines a family’s education choice.
Earlier population estimates
NCES historical figures provide additional context, but the 2012 source includes both an unadjusted and a statistically adjusted estimate. Among students ages 5 to 17, the 2012 homeschooling population was 85.3 thousand unadjusted or 115.7 thousand statistically adjusted. The same source reported a statistically adjusted homeschooling population of 118.0 thousand in 2007 and a homeschooling population of 92.3 thousand in 2003.
These historical counts come from NCES Homeschool in the United States: 2012. They are presented as reported estimates, with the 2012 adjustment distinction retained. The supplied source record identifies this material as legacy research and does not state that the historical figures were independently verified.
The different reporting periods, denominators, and estimation descriptions mean that these counts should be read as historical NCES figures rather than used for unsupported trend calculations. The clearest current snapshot in the supplied figures remains the 2022–23 rate: 3.4% homeschooled and 5.2% receiving instruction at home under the broader combined definition.