Which is the Biggest High School in the US?
I keep seeing different answers for America's biggest high school. Is it about how many students go there, or how big the campus and building are?
It depends which "biggest" you mean. By enrollment at a single traditional campus, Brooklyn Technical High School is the largest widely documented option, with 5,848 students (NCES 2024–25). By building size, Evanston Township High School is the usual answer, with about 1.2 to 1.3 million square feet on a 65-acre campus.
| Metric | School | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Student count | Brooklyn Tech (Brooklyn, NY) | 5,848 students |
| Building size | ETHS (Evanston, IL) | ~1.2–1.3M sq ft; 65 acres |
By enrollment
- Brooklyn Tech: a single public high school represented by one NCES school record
- Allen High School (TX): 5,206 students (NCES 2024–25). Claims of 7,000+ usually add the separate Lowery Freshman Center (1,674 ninth graders).
By building size
ETHS describes itself as one of the largest high school facilities under one roof in the U.S. That claim is widely repeated but not independently audited. Enrollment there is much smaller, about 3,400 students.
Watch for mix-ups
- Online schools: If online schools are included, cyber charters report far larger headcounts than any walk-in campus.
- Somerset Academy of Las Vegas: the ~9,800 figure is a multi-campus K–12 network, not one high school.
Bottom line: Brooklyn Tech is the strongest documented answer by student count, while ETHS is the commonly cited answer for physical facility size.
The answers are generated with AI and reviewed by the EDsmart editorial team before publication.
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