Nearly nine in ten homeschooling parents (88%) now combine home instruction with some outside support, over 40% use online resources, and nearly a quarter enroll their child in an online school (Johns Hopkins University and RAND survey of 2,427 parents, reported by The 74, April 2026). That is the clearest sign that homeschooling in 2026 is no longer a parent with a textbook at the kitchen table. The federal baseline is 3.4% of K-12 students homeschooled in 2022-23, up from 2.8% in 2019 (NCES, National Household Education Survey 2023), while the advocacy-affiliated NHERI puts the 2024-25 count at 3.408 million students. Public money is following the trend: Texas funded 101,600 students in the first year of an education savings account that pays homeschoolers 2,000 dollars each (Texas Comptroller, August 2026). This roundup focuses on who homeschools, how they learn and where the money flows; for the broader growth story see our homeschooling statistics. We aggregated data from NCES and IES, the US Census Bureau, Johns Hopkins University, EdChoice, Pew Research Center, the Texas Comptroller, the UK Department for Education, Cardus and the other primary sources listed in the methodology.
TL;DR
- 3.4% of US K-12 students were homeschooled in 2022-23, up from 2.8% in 2019 (NCES, NHES 2023 via IES).
- 5.2% of children ages 5-17 received academic instruction at home in 2022-23, counting virtual schooling (IES, 2024).
- NHERI estimates 3.408 million homeschool students in 2024-25, 6.262% of school-age children (NHERI, February 2026; advocacy source).
- 88% of homeschooling parents use outside support and over 40% use online resources (Johns Hopkins and RAND via The 74, 2026).
- More than a third of homeschool families also have a child in a district public school (Johns Hopkins via The 74, 2025).
- Rural students were homeschooled at 4.7% vs 2.5% in cities in 2019 (NCES, Digest Table 206.10).
- 15% of homeschooling households are Hispanic, 10% Black and 5% Asian (EdChoice, Who Homeschools, Really? 2025).
- Religious instruction as a reason fell from 58.9% (2019) to 53% (2023) of homeschool parents (NCES via Pew, 2025).
- Black households homeschooling rose from 3.3% to 16.1% in 2020 (US Census Bureau, Household Pulse Survey).
- Homeschools enroll 9% of North Carolina’s K-12 students, more than private schools at 7% (EdNC, 2025).
- Texas has funded 101,600 education savings accounts, paying homeschoolers 2,000 dollars a year (Texas Comptroller, 2026).
- England counted 126,000 home-educated children in autumn 2025, 1.5% of the school-age population (UK DfE, 2026).
1. How Many Students Are Homeschooled: Competing Counts
There is no national homeschool registry, so the headline number depends on who is counting. The federal survey says 3.4% of K-12 students were homeschooled in 2022-23 (IES press release on NHES 2023), up from 2.8% (1,457,000 students) in 2019 and 1.7% (850,000) in 1999 (NCES, Condition of Education). Add students in full-time virtual programs and 5.2% of children learned at home, up from 3.7% in 2018-19.
The advocacy-affiliated National Home Education Research Institute arrives at nearly double the federal share by averaging state registration data from 23 states with Census Household Pulse responses: 3.408 million students, 6.262% of the school-age population (NHERI, February 2026). A 2026 Johns Hopkins and RAND survey went further, with about 10% of parents saying they homeschool, but it deliberately did not define homeschooling. The honest read: the floor is about 3.4%, the self-identified ceiling is far higher, and microschools and online schools sit in the blurry middle.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| K-12 students homeschooled, 2022-23 | 3.4% | NCES, NHES 2023 via IES press release |
| Homeschooled students, 2019 / 1999 | 2.8% (1,457,000) / 1.7% (850,000) | NCES, Condition of Education (May 2022) |
| Children instructed at home incl. virtual, 2022-23 vs 2018-19 | 5.2% vs 3.7% | IES press release, NHES 2023 |
| NHERI homeschool estimate, 2024-25 | 3.408 million (range 3.067 to 3.749 million) | NHERI, February 2026 (advocacy) |
| NHERI share of school-age children | 6.262% | NHERI, February 2026 (advocacy) |
| NHERI estimate at pandemic peak, 2020-21 | 3.721 million | NHERI, February 2026 (advocacy) |
| Parents self-identifying as homeschoolers | About 10% of 2,427 surveyed | Johns Hopkins and RAND via The 74, April 2026 |
| Homeschool share vs charter and private | About 6% vs 7% charter and 9% private | EdChoice, May 2026 |
Context note: NHERI’s two inputs disagree with each other: state records give a weighted mean of 4.18% and Census data 6.53%, before each is adjusted upward for under-reporting (by 20% and 15%). For scale, NHERI compares its figure to 3.784 million public charter students (2023-24) and 1.684 million Catholic school students (2024-25).
2. Who Homeschools: Race, Income and Geography
The pre-pandemic homeschooler profile was distinct: in 2019, 4.0% of White students were homeschooled, against 1.9% of Hispanic, 1.4% of Asian and 1.2% of Black students (NCES, Digest Table 206.10). White students made up 1,014,000 of the 1,457,000 homeschoolers. Rural children were homeschooled at 4.7%, nearly double the city (2.5%) and suburban (2.4%) rates, and middle school was the peak (3.4% in grades 6-8 vs 2.3% in high school).
The pandemic broke that pattern. In the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, the share of Black households homeschooling jumped from 3.3% in spring 2020 to 16.1% in fall 2020, a five-fold rise (US Census Bureau, March 2021). By August 2021, lower-income and less-educated households reported homeschooling at higher rates than affluent ones. Post-pandemic surveys suggest some of that diversity stuck: EdChoice estimates 15% of homeschooling households are Hispanic, 10% Black and 5% Asian.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Homeschool rate by race, 2019 | White 4.0%, Hispanic 1.9%, Asian 1.4%, Black 1.2% | NCES, Digest Table 206.10 |
| Homeschool rate by locale, 2019 | Rural 4.7%, city 2.5%, suburban 2.4%, town 2.2% | NCES, Digest Table 206.10 |
| Homeschool rate by grade band, 2019 | K-5 2.8%, grades 6-8 3.4%, grades 9-12 2.3% | NCES, Digest Table 206.10 |
| Black households homeschooling, spring vs fall 2020 | 3.3% to 16.1% | US Census Bureau, Household Pulse Survey |
| Adults with a homeschooled child by income, August 2021 | 8.8% (25,000 to 49,999 dollars) vs 5.5% (150,000+ dollars) | NCES, Digest Table 206.60 (Household Pulse) |
| Adults with a homeschooled child by education, August 2021 | 9.6% less than high school vs 5.6% bachelor’s degree | NCES, Digest Table 206.60 (Household Pulse) |
| Homeschooling households by ethnicity, 2025 | 15% Hispanic, 10% Black, 5% Asian | EdChoice, Who Homeschools, Really? (2025) |
| Homeschool students not White non-Hispanic | 41% | NHERI Research Facts, May 2026 (advocacy) |
Context note: the 2019 income pattern was not linear. Families earning 50,001 to 75,000 dollars homeschooled at 3.6%, those at 20,000 dollars or less at 3.0% and those above 100,000 dollars at 2.5% (NCES, Digest Table 206.10). Parents with a bachelor’s degree (3.3%) homeschooled more than those with a high school diploma or less (2.2%). The 2023 NHES demographic tables were not published in readable form, so 2019 remains the most recent available federal breakdown.
3. Family Structure, Politics and Motives
Homeschooling has always depended on one adult’s time. In 2019, 6.6% of children in two-parent homes with one parent in the labor force were homeschooled, versus 1.6% when both parents worked and 1.2% in single-parent working households (NCES, Condition of Education). Larger families homeschool more: 3.9% with three or more children vs 2.2% for only children.
What changed is the ideology. EdChoice’s 2025 study finds 44% of homeschooling parents identify as Republican and 29% as Democrats, with 43% conservative and 25% liberal (EdChoice, May 2026). Johns Hopkins researcher Angela Watson, surveying nearly 3,200 parents, found that before the pandemic Republicans outnumbered Democrats among homeschoolers 3 to 1, and a third of homeschoolers now never attend religious services (The 74, June 2025). Motives shifted with them: religious instruction was cited by 58.9% of homeschool parents in 2019 and 53% in 2023 (Pew Research Center, February 2025).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Homeschool rate, two parents with one working vs both working (2019) | 6.6% vs 1.6% | NCES, Condition of Education |
| Homeschool rate, three or more children vs one child (2019) | 3.9% vs 2.2% | NCES, Digest Table 206.10 |
| Parents citing school environment concerns, 2023 | 83% (80.3% in 2019) | NCES via Pew, 2025; Digest Table 206.15 |
| Parents citing religious instruction, 2023 | 53% (58.9% in 2019) | NCES via Pew, 2025; Digest Table 206.15 |
| Parents citing a child’s special needs, 2023 | 21% (23.1% in 2019) | NCES via Pew, 2025; Digest Table 206.15 |
| School environment as most important reason | 28% (2023), 25% (2019) | IES press release; NCES Condition of Education |
| Homeschool parents by party | 44% Republican, 29% Democrat | EdChoice, Who Homeschools, Really? (2025) |
| Homeschool parents by religious attendance | 44% weekly, 31% never | EdChoice, Who Homeschools, Really? (2025) |
Context note: in 2012, nearly two-thirds of homeschool parents named imparting religious beliefs as a primary reason, according to NCES data cited by The 74. In 2019, the single most important reason was school environment (25.0%), followed by academic instruction (14.5%) and religious instruction (13.0%) (NCES, Digest Table 206.15).
4. Digital Curriculum, Online Schools and Hybrid Learning
The most important shift for curriculum publishers is that homeschooling is now a bundle. 88% of homeschooling parents use some additional type of support, over 40% use online resources ranging from YouTube videos to full online curricula, nearly a quarter enroll their child in an online school and 10% use a tutor (The 74, April 2026, reporting a Johns Hopkins and RAND survey of 2,427 parents). The same research group found more than a third of homeschool families also have a child in a district school and 9% have one in a charter.
Federal data puts a floor under the online share. In 2022-23, 0.7% of all K-12 students were homeschoolers enrolled in virtual programs, while another 1.8% were in full-time virtual public or private schools but not considered homeschooled by their parents (IES press release). Dividing 0.7% by the 3.4% homeschool rate means about 21% of federally counted homeschoolers learn through a virtual program, close to the ‘nearly a quarter’ in the Johns Hopkins survey. Our online learning statistics and AI tutoring statistics cover the platforms on the other side of that purchase.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Homeschool parents using any outside support | 88% | Johns Hopkins and RAND via The 74, April 2026 |
| Homeschool parents using online resources | Over 40% | Johns Hopkins and RAND via The 74, April 2026 |
| Homeschool parents enrolling child in an online school | Nearly a quarter | Johns Hopkins and RAND via The 74, April 2026 |
| Homeschool parents using a tutor | 10% | Johns Hopkins and RAND via The 74, April 2026 |
| Homeschool families with a child in a district school / charter | More than a third / 9% | Johns Hopkins via The 74, June 2025 |
| K-12 students homeschooled through virtual programs, 2022-23 | 0.7% | NCES, NHES 2023 via IES |
| K-12 students in full-time virtual schools (not homeschooled), 2022-23 vs 2018-19 | 1.8% vs 0.86% | NCES via Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| K-12 students taking at least one / all courses virtually, 2022-23 | 7% / 3% | NCES, NHES 2023 via IES |
Context note: enrollment in public virtual schools nearly doubled from 293,689 in 2019-20 to 562,659 in 2022-23, after peaking at 590,267 in 2020-21 (NCES, Digest Table 216.20). That is 1.15% of the 48,860,517 public school students in 2022-23 (562,659 / 48,860,517). The line between ‘homeschool’ and ‘virtual public school’ is blurry, which we track separately in our virtual school and cyber charter statistics. The Johns Hopkins survey did not define homeschooling, so its percentages include some families in microschools and hybrid programs.
5. State Counts and the Public Money Following Homeschoolers
State registries show where homeschooling has become mainstream. North Carolina reports 101,880 registered homeschools serving an estimated 165,243 students, 9% of the state’s K-12 market, ahead of private schools at 7% (135,738 students) in 2024-25 (EdNC, July 2025). Johns Hopkins’ Homeschool Hub found 80% of reporting states saw homeschooling rise in 2024-25, led by South Carolina (21.5%), Vermont (17%), Ohio (15%) and New Hampshire (14.5%), as summarized by EdChoice; by November 2025, more than a third of 30 states plus DC had hit record homeschool enrollment (The 74, June 2026).
Funding is the new variable. Texas Education Freedom Accounts pay 2,000 dollars a year to homeschool students, against more than 10,000 dollars for private school students and up to 30,000 dollars for students with disabilities (Texas Comptroller, November 2025). By August 13, 2026, 101,600 students had received funding, with more than 100,000 on the waitlist (Texas Comptroller, August 2026). Florida’s Personalized Education Program, built for home education students, enrolled 76,274 students in 2025-26 with an average award of about 8,000 dollars (Step Up For Students).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina homeschools / students, 2024-25 | 101,880 / 165,243 (9% of K-12) | EdNC, July 2025 |
| Reporting states with homeschool growth, 2024-25 | 80% | Johns Hopkins Homeschool Hub via EdChoice, 2026 |
| Notable state growth, 2024-25 (South Carolina highest) | South Carolina 21.5%, Vermont 17%, Ohio 15%, New Hampshire 14.5% | Johns Hopkins Homeschool Hub via EdChoice, 2026 |
| Massachusetts households homeschooling, spring vs fall 2020 | 1.5% to 12.1% | US Census Bureau, Household Pulse Survey |
| Texas ESA amount: homeschool vs private school | 2,000 dollars vs more than 10,000 dollars a year | Texas Comptroller, November 2025 |
| Texas students funded / waitlisted | 101,600 / more than 100,000 (August 13, 2026) | Texas Comptroller, August 2026 |
| Texas confirmed participants with disabilities / below 200% of poverty | Nearly 25% / about 80% | Texas Comptroller, August 3, 2026 |
| Florida PEP students, 2025-26 | 76,274 (average about 8,000 dollars) | Step Up For Students, 2025-26 |
Context note: Texas has not published how many funded students chose the homeschool option rather than private school, so the 101,600 figure is the whole program. The first award round in April 2026 went to 42,600+ students, about half of whom had attended public school and two-thirds of whom had a documented disability (Texas Comptroller, April 2026). Families of students with disabilities are a large share of new homeschoolers too; see our special education statistics.
6. Home Education Outside the US: England and Australia
England publishes the most granular official data of any English-speaking country, and it shows a different driver. 126,000 children were electively home educated on census day in autumn 2025, 1.5% of the compulsory school-age population, up 14,300 (about 13%) from 111,700 a year earlier (UK Department for Education, Elective home education autumn 2025). Mental health was the most common recorded reason (16%), ahead of philosophical or preferential reasons (12%), and 16% of home-educated children had special educational needs support.
The English pattern is a teenage exit: more than a third of home-educated children were in years 10-11, the GCSE years, and 49% of those starting home education in 2024/25 came from academies. Australia shows the same direction from a smaller base: New South Wales registrations more than doubled from 5,907 in 2019 to 12,762 in 2024, and the national total is about 45,000 against 4.1 million school students (The Conversation, 2025).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| England home-educated on census day, autumn 2025 | 126,000 (111,700 a year earlier) | UK DfE, January 2026 |
| England share of compulsory school-age population | 1.5% | UK DfE, January 2026 |
| England home-educated at any point, 2024/25 | 175,900 (153,300 in 2023/24) | UK DfE, January 2026 |
| England children starting / returning from home education, 2024/25 | 78,000 / 28,100 | UK DfE, January 2026 |
| England top recorded reasons | Mental health 16%, philosophical 12% | UK DfE, January 2026 |
| England home-educated with SEN support / EHC plan | 16% / 7% | UK DfE, January 2026 |
| New South Wales registrations, 2019 vs 2024 | 5,907 vs 12,762 | The Conversation, citing NSW figures, 2025 |
| Queensland registered students, August 2025 | 11,800 (secondary up 167% since 2021) | The Conversation, citing Queensland Department of Education, 2025 |
Context note: about 30% of English reasons were unknown or not provided, so the reason shares understate every category. Victoria counted roughly 11,240 homeschoolers in 7,716 households in 2024, and Western Australia about 6,500 in 2023 vs 3,720 before the pandemic (The Conversation, 2025).
7. Outcomes: How Homeschooled Adults Turn Out
Outcome research is thin and mostly non-random, which makes the Cardus Education Survey one of the few nationally representative sources. Ipsos fielded it in October 2023 with 2,350 US adults aged 24-39, of whom 181 (8%) had been homeschooled at some point (Cardus, Diverse Outcomes for a Diverse Population, February 2025). Only 17% of those were homeschooled for all K-12 years, and 20% for just one year, so ‘homeschooled adult’ usually means a partial experience.
The results cut both ways. Long-term homeschoolers (8+ years) were far more civically and religiously engaged, with 48% volunteering vs 27% of never-homeschooled adults, but only 27% held a bachelor’s degree vs 46%. Cardus states the associations should not be read as causal. Advocacy research tells a more uniformly positive story: NHERI reports homeschoolers typically score 15 to 25 percentile points above public school students, from studies that are not nationally representative (NHERI Research Facts).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Survey sample / homeschooled respondents | 2,350 adults aged 24-39 / 181 (8%) | Cardus Education Survey 2023 |
| Homeschooled for all K-12 years / only one year | 17% / 20% | Cardus Education Survey 2023 |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher: long-term homeschooled vs never | 27% vs 46% | Cardus Education Survey 2023 |
| Volunteered in past 12 months: long-term vs never | 48% vs 27% | Cardus Education Survey 2023 |
| Feel helpless with life’s problems: long-term vs never | 20% vs 33% | Cardus Education Survey 2023 |
| Believe in God: long-term vs never | 72% vs 41% | Cardus Education Survey 2023 |
| Homeschool test score advantage claimed by advocacy research | 15 to 25 percentile points | NHERI Research Facts, May 2026 (advocacy) |
Context note: NHERI also reports that homeschool families spend an average of 600 dollars per student a year, a figure from its own studies that we treat as advocacy data. A 2024 Mississippi State University survey of 201 homeschooling parents, mostly from Southern states, found 43% reported more benefits to homeschooling than public schooling, but its self-selected sample is not nationally representative (The 74, June 2026).
Summary: Homeschooling Enrollment & Demographics by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US K-12 students homeschooled, 2022-23 | 3.4% | NCES, NHES 2023 via IES |
| Children instructed at home incl. virtual, 2022-23 | 5.2% | IES press release |
| NHERI homeschool estimate, 2024-25 | 3.408 million (6.262%) | NHERI, February 2026 (advocacy) |
| Homeschool rate, White vs Black students, 2019 | 4.0% vs 1.2% | NCES, Digest Table 206.10 |
| Homeschool rate, rural vs city, 2019 | 4.7% vs 2.5% | NCES, Digest Table 206.10 |
| Black households homeschooling, fall 2020 | 16.1% (3.3% in spring) | US Census Bureau |
| Hispanic / Black / Asian homeschooling households | 15% / 10% / 5% | EdChoice, 2025 |
| Homeschool parents identifying as Democrats | 29% | EdChoice, 2025 |
| Parents citing school environment | 83% | NCES via Pew, 2025 |
| Parents citing religious instruction | 53% (58.9% in 2019) | NCES via Pew; Digest Table 206.15 |
| Homeschool parents using outside support | 88% | Johns Hopkins and RAND via The 74, 2026 |
| Homeschool parents using online resources | Over 40% | Johns Hopkins and RAND via The 74, 2026 |
| Homeschool families with a child in district school | More than a third | Johns Hopkins via The 74, 2025 |
| Homeschoolers in virtual programs, share of all K-12 | 0.7% | NCES, NHES 2023 via IES |
| North Carolina homeschool market share | 9% (165,243 students) | EdNC, 2025 |
| Texas ESA students funded | 101,600 | Texas Comptroller, August 2026 |
| Florida PEP students, 2025-26 | 76,274 | Step Up For Students |
| England home-educated children, autumn 2025 | 126,000 (1.5%) | UK DfE, 2026 |
| Long-term homeschooled adults volunteering vs never | 48% vs 27% | Cardus Education Survey 2023 |
Methodology and Sources
Every figure above was read during research for this article. Federal figures come from NCES Digest tables, the Condition of Education and the IES press release on the 2023 National Household Education Survey. Where a primary page blocked automated access (the Johns Hopkins Homeschool Hub and The Washington Post state tracker) or a PDF could not be read (the NHES 2023 First Look, NCES 2020-001, EdChoice’s full ‘Who Homeschools, Really?’ report and the Harvard PEPG working paper), we used reporting that names the original study and say so below. Advocacy sources (NHERI) are labeled as such.
- NCES and IES: Condition of Education, Homeschooled Children and Reasons for Homeschooling, Digest Table 206.10, Digest Table 206.15, Digest Table 206.60, Digest Table 216.20, IES press release on NHES 2023
- US Census Bureau: Homeschooling on the Rise During COVID-19 Pandemic (March 2021)
- Pew Research Center: A look at homeschooling in the US (February 2025)
- National Home Education Research Institute (advocacy): How many homeschool students are there (February 2026), Research Facts on Homeschooling (May 2026)
- EdChoice: How homeschooling became the fastest-growing education model (May 2026), Who Homeschools, Really? (Watson and Lee, July 2025)
- Johns Hopkins University research via The 74: homeschoolers use an array of resources (April 2026), a third of homeschool families also use public schools (June 2025), the lasting appeal of homeschooling (June 2026)
- State data and funding: EdNC, North Carolina 2024-25 numbers, Texas Comptroller releases of November 2025, April 2026, August 3, 2026 and August 13, 2026, Step Up For Students research and reports
- International: UK Department for Education, Elective home education autumn term 2025/26, The Conversation, Australian homeschooling (2025)
- Outcomes: Cardus, Diverse Outcomes for a Diverse Population (February 2025)
- Data watch: The federal 3.4% (NHES 2023) and NHERI’s 6.262% measure different things; NHERI blends 23 states’ records with Census data and adjusts both upward, while the Johns Hopkins and RAND survey’s roughly 10% self-identification did not define homeschooling at all. Detailed NHES 2023 demographic tables were not readable, so race, locale, income and family-structure rates are from 2019 (most recent available federal data), and the income and education splits for 2021 come from the experimental Household Pulse Survey, which counts adults with at least one homeschooled child. The Johns Hopkins Homeschool Hub and The Washington Post state tracker returned 403 errors, so state growth rates are cited via EdChoice and The 74, and Johns Hopkins and RAND survey results via The 74; survey field dates were not published there. Texas waitlist figures moved from more than 120,000 (August 3, 2026) to more than 100,000 (August 13, 2026) as accounts were funded, and the program has not reported a homeschool-only count. A fuller NHES report was expected in January 2025 but did not appear after cuts at the Institute of Education Sciences, so newer federal data is uncertain.
Last updated: October 3, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next refresh is expected when the Johns Hopkins Homeschool Hub publishes 2025-26 state enrollment counts and the Texas Comptroller reports final 2026-27 Education Freedom Account participation by option.