1880 School Systems in 20 Largest U.S. Cities

Return to Search

Return to Browse

1880 – School Systems in 20 Largest U.S. Cities

City Name	City Population	Legal school age	Total number of legal school age	Number enrolled under 6 years of age	Number enrolled over 16 years of age	Whole number enrolled in defined age range	Estimated enrollment in private and parochial schools	Number of male primary school teachers	Number of female primary school teachers	Number of male grammar school teachers	Number of female grammar school teachers	Number of male high school teachers	Number of female high school teachers	Students enrolled in primary schools	Students enrolled in grammar schools	Students enrolled in high schools	Students enrolled in city normal schools	Students enrolled in evening schools	Students enrolled in all public schools	Number of students enrolled in private and parochial schools	Total public and private school enrollment	Total school expenditures	Expenditures per capita instruction	Expenditures per capita incidental	Notes
New York City	1,206,577	5-21	385,000				45,000		1,533	216	1,080	193	4	149,346	76,912	22,849	2,336	18,733	270,176			3,415,882	$20.26	$3.90	Number of high school teachers is for ungraded schools; enrollment for high schools for "corporate"
Philadelphia	846,984	6-21				105,541		57	1,977			17		105,541								1,420,688	$10.16	$3.54	Total enrollment is for day schools only; Teachers listed under primary schools are for primary and grammar schools; total public school enrollment also includes 8,617 in night school.
Brooklyn	566,689	5-21	181,083			96,110	50,000												96,663			985,340	$14.81		Total number of school age children is estimated.
Chicago	503,305	6-21	137,035	0	1,328	59,562	22,000	0	627	18	205	16	20	47,243		10,859		1,400	59,502	22,596	82,158	1,084,811	$13.75	$3.21
Boston	362,535	5-15	57,703			59,768	6,722		406	86	404	35	40							59,768		1,693,165	$24.61	$9.12	Total enrollment in parochial schools is form the 1879 Commissioner's Report.
St. Louis	350,522	6-20	106,372		5,780	55,780	19,000	18	618	72	206	15	15	41,514	8,605	960	162	4,539	55,780			848,152	$15.60	$2.04	Per capita expenditures "based on average number belonging.'
Baltimore	332,190	0-21	80,901			48,066	14,000												48,066			617,152	$16.21	$4.13	Total enrollment in parochial schools is form the 1879 Commissioner's Report.
Cincinnati	255,130	6-21	87,618		3,163	34,577	16,435	65	453	33	41	14	14	29,530	2,810	1,225	80	2,467	96,121	16,435	52,556	707,803	$20.17	$2.12
San Francisco	233,953	6-17	53,802	0	2,110	38,320	6,652	12	330	22	215	11	20	20,844	14,087	1,232		2,157	38,320			875,448	$22.70	$4.53	Total expenditures "Includes $66,315 paid on account of fiscal year 1878-79.
New Orleans	216,140	6-18	50,947	23	180	17,886	12,000		280	18	100	4	5									250,444	$12.80	$3.03	Total enrollment in parochial schools is form the 1879 Commissioner's Report.
Cleveland	160,146	6-21	49,256		833	24,262	11,056	4	225	10	129	13	13	16,791	6,352	1,045	74	0	24,262			386,638	$15.83	$3.51
Pittsburgh	156,381	6-21				26,937	12,000							26,937	12,000					12,000	38,937	467,768	$17.70		Per capita expenditures is for both instruction and incidental
Buffalo	155,137	5-21	56,000			18,606	9,628												18,606			347,204	$19.75	$3.63	Total number of school age children is estimated.
District of Columbia	15,085	6-17	27,142	0	377	15,728	5,481	0	156	14	83	2	2	10,498	5,031	179	20	0	15,728			301,294	$13.94	$5.63
Newark	136,508	5-18	41,935			19,478	6,596											19,478				207,868	$14.08	$3.66
Louisville	123,758	6-20	46,587			10,990						9	7	19,377		613			1,990			197,699	$12.19	$2.45	There are 279 teachers of both genders for primary and grammar schools; Primary school enrollment is for primary and grammar schools.
Jersey City	120,722	5-18	41,226			22,519	9,000	0	103	12	112	4	6	15,219	7,000	557			22,776			187,409
Detroit	116,342	5-20	30,467	0	419	15,710	6,514	1	134	3	80	4	19	11,128	3,873	718	0	0	15,719			214,036	$12.92	$3.65
Milwaukee	115,578	4-20	37,742			13,897	7,392							3,820	12,914	322	23		17,085	7,392	24,477	234,706	$15.70	$2.40	There are 44 primary school teachers, 185 grammar school and 0 high school teachers listed, gender not noted.
Providence	104,852	5-16	10,108			13,993	3,738												13,993			240,193
City Name	City Population	Legal school age	Total number of legal school age	Number enrolled under 6 years of age	Number enrolled over 16 years of age	Whole number enrolled in defined age range	Estimated enrollment in private and parochial schools	Number of male primary school teachers	Number of female primary school teachers	Number of male grammar school teachers	Number of female grammar school teachers	Number of male high school teachers	Number of female high school teachers	Students enrolled in primary schools	Students enrolled in grammar schools	Students enrolled in high schools	Students enrolled in city normal schools	Students enrolled in evening schools	Students enrolled in all public schools	Number of students enrolled in private and parochial schools	Total public and private school enrollment	Total school expenditures	Expenditures per capita instruction	Expenditures per capita incidental	Notes

Source: United States Department of Interior, Report of the Commissioner of Education(Government Printing Office, 1882), 414 – 463.

1880 – School Systems in 20 Largest U.S. Cities

©2020 Education by the Numbers