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The Special Education Observatory · Public edition

Special Education Data by State

Federal IDEA data for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, showing how many students receive special education and how much of the school day they spend in general education classrooms. Select a state to see how it compares with the nation.

  • 7.38 millionschool-age students with IEPs
  • 15.3%of enrolled students have an IEP
  • 67.9%spend 80% or more of the day in general education
  • 15,530districts reporting

2024–25 school year · 50 states and DC · Data retrieved Sep 25, 2026

Explore the states

School-age students with IEPs as a share of all students enrolled in the same districts, 2024–25.

Map of the United States shaded by the selected measureUse the state list beside the map or the table below to reach the same figures by keyboard.DCPuerto Rico
11.1% to 13.4%13.4% to 14.4%14.4% to 15.9%15.9% to 18.1%18.1% to 37.0%

United States

50 states and DC · 15,530 districts reporting · 1,730 withheld for privacy

Students with IEPs
7,381,760Across 50 states and DC
Share of students
15.3%National rate
80% or more of the day in general education
67.9%National rate
Less than 40% of the day in general education
13.0%National rate

All states

Select a column heading to sort. Select a state to see it on the map.

Special education figures by state, 2024–25
102,44413.7%82.5%9.1%151
18,85915.1%70.0%11.0%38
145,93413.4%68.8%14.6%589
72,01614.7%74.7%10.4%262
792,09914.4%62.9%18.5%1,365
111,40712.9%80.9%4.6%69
86,45818.1%67.2%8.7%160
26,34018.5%64.4%15.3%44
15,58016.2%62.9%18.5%65
425,12714.9%78.4%14.3%83
229,03413.2%60.7%18.5%227
18,55411.1%54.2%16.8%1
37,81812.1%67.1%10.3%175
280,89715.3%53.6%14.0%974
183,22317.7%77.5%9.0%415
65,57313.5%76.6%7.9%282
73,38515.4%72.7%6.4%314
104,30815.9%76.8%8.5%174
80,92312.4%68.0%15.7%172
24,40020.8%59.0%10.9%192
109,65212.3%73.4%11.0%25
179,66619.8%67.0%13.5%377
195,50014.0%74.8%10.9%844
147,77917.3%62.7%11.5%456
66,92315.7%78.9%11.9%145
116,07113.4%55.6%10.1%493
18,49514.1%59.7%10.4%272
50,68015.9%81.7%6.1%195
64,08613.3%59.6%18.0%18
29,41218.1%81.8%5.3%187
240,49517.4%44.9%15.8%619
55,82218.4%54.4%13.6%135
502,40721.5%58.2%17.6%690
203,44213.1%71.0%11.2%337
15,42614.0%72.5%8.8%118
269,44816.5%66.1%11.7%941
114,91217.4%73.6%7.3%437
82,18915.4%77.4%9.1%169
347,37320.8%61.9%11.3%674
87,23437.0%69.6%15.7%1
24,10017.7%72.6%10.3%64
106,42613.5%64.7%15.6%92
20,86016.0%76.6%6.8%113
130,96313.1%76.5%10.5%146
786,58414.7%75.4%12.9%1,023
88,54713.0%74.7%8.7%151
14,57818.3%82.0%4.2%114
175,54214.0%70.8%9.8%134
151,09114.0%66.0%11.1%289
46,28019.0%62.1%7.7%63
117,96614.9%79.4%6.4%406
14,66616.3%79.9%4.4%51

What the full Observatory adds

The public edition is a sample. The full Observatory goes deeper, with a citation on every figure.

Every district

District-level figures for more than 18,000 districts, with multi-year trends where the publisher releases them.

Staffing, poverty and finance

Staffing from the federal Common Core of Data, school-age poverty from the Census Bureau and state finance files, such as Massachusetts circuit breaker reimbursements, beside services.

A citation on every number

Every figure names its source, its year and how it was built. Counts the publisher suppressed for privacy stay suppressed.

State editions

For state agencies: the whole picture, district by district and region by region, to inform funding and policy. The first state editions are in development.

Bring the Observatory to your state or region.

Talk with usSee PULSE by role

How this sample is built

  • Figures are sums of district-reported values from the U.S. Department of Education’s IDEA Section 618 files for the 2024–25 school year, matched to federal enrollment files by district.
  • The Department suppresses small counts to protect student privacy. Those districts are left out of the sums, so a state’s total can run slightly below its official count.
  • Rates use only districts that reported both parts of the fraction.
  • Districts reporting counts the local education agencies with a reported school-age IEP count, including cooperatives and charter schools that report on their own. Withheld counts are those the Department suppressed for privacy.
  • Share of students compares school-age students with IEPs, kindergarten through age 21, with all students enrolled, prekindergarten through grade 12, in the same districts.
  • Time in general education comes from the educational environments file, which reports where school-age students with IEPs spend the school day under the least restrictive environment requirement (34 CFR 300.114).
  • Colorado reports IDEA counts by administrative unit, so its share of students uses statewide totals. Wyoming’s file includes school-age counts but no ages 3 to 21 total. Hawaii and Puerto Rico each report as one statewide district.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. IDEA Section 618 Part B Child Count (file specification 002), district level, 2024–25. data.ed.gov. Public domain.
  2. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. IDEA Section 618 Part B Educational Environments (file specification 089), district level, 2024–25. data.ed.gov. Licensed CC BY.
  3. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Common Core of Data, district membership, 2024–25 (final). nces.ed.gov. Public domain.
  4. Map boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files, via the us-atlas project (ISC License).

Download these figures as a CSV file (52 rows: 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico). Cite as: PULSE, The Special Education Observatory, public sample, 2024–25. Compiled from the sources above; data retrieved Sep 25, 2026.

Data retrieved Sep 25, 2026. The Observatory is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education.