Homeschooling in the USA Keeps Growing

The United States has around 2.5 million homeschool students in grades K-12 (that is 3-4% of school-age children from kindergarten through grade 12). The number of homeschoolers keeps rising steadily (by an estimated 2-8% a year in recent years).

And that does not yet account for how many parents who started homeschooling as a possibly temporary arrangement during Covid have kept teaching their children at home after the pandemic.

Homeschooling (that is, parent-led education at home) is nothing new in education, and a decade ago it was still seen as innovative and "alternative". Today, though, homeschooling in the United States is moving steadily into the mainstream. It may well be the fastest-growing form of education in the USA. Home education is also on the rise in many other countries (for example Australia, France, Japan, Canada, Kenya, Russia, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, Hungary and the United Kingdom).

The demographic mix is wide: atheists, Christians and Mormons; conservatives, libertarians and liberals; low-, middle- and high-income families; Black, Hispanic and white families; parents with doctorates, high school diplomas or no qualifications at all. One study shows that 32 percent of homeschool students are Black, Asian, Hispanic or from other groups (i.e. not white, non-Hispanic) (Noel, Stark, & Redford, 2013).

Families who homeschool their children do not rely on public, tax-funded resources. The savings from homeschooling likely amount to more than $27 billion a year that American taxpayers do not have to spend, because these children do not attend public schools.

On average, taxpayers spend $11,732 per student per year on public schools, plus capital expenditures. Homeschool students cost taxpayers nothing. Homeschool families spend an average of $600 per student per year on education.

Homeschooling is becoming increasingly popular among minorities. Around 15% of homeschool families are not white or are of Hispanic origin.

An estimated 3.4 million or more adults in the USA were homeschooled for at least one year of their K-12 years, with an average of 6 to 8 years. Add today's 2.3 million students and you get an estimated 5.7 million Americans who were educated at home.

To see how the school system welcomes families moving to the USA, read our overview of schools when moving to the US; for more about American life, visit our Life in the USA section and News.