2025 School Shooting Statistics by State — Final Data and 2026 Update
Final 2025 data recorded 163 incidents of gunfire on school grounds across 36 states — the fewest school-shooting deaths in five years. Here is the full state breakdown plus 2026 year-to-date tracking.
2026 Year-to-Date Update
As of mid-June 2026, school-ground gunfire incidents continue to be tracked by multiple organizations:
- Education Week (K-12 only, injury or death required): 15 incidents through mid-June 2026
- CNN (K-12 and college, at least one person shot): at least 30 incidents, 21 deaths, 23 injuries through June 16, 2026
- K-12 School Shooting Database (k12ssdb.org): approximately 77 incidents through May 2026 under its broad definition, which includes brandishing with intent and bullets striking school property
2026 is tracking on a pace broadly consistent with 2025. Full 2025 final data broken down by state is in the table below.
Quick Answer: 2025 Final Numbers
Using Everytown Research’s Gunfire on School Grounds dataset, the final 2025 count was 163 incidents of gunfire on school grounds across 36 states — 54 people killed and 149 people wounded.
The states with the highest total counts were California with 16 incidents, North Carolina with 12, Texas with 10, and Georgia, Ohio, and Virginia with 9 each.
2025 was the year with the fewest school-shooting-related deaths in five years across all major tracking methodologies. Education Week, which requires at least one casualty for inclusion, recorded only 7 deaths in 2025 — down from 18 in 2024, 21 in 2023, and 40 in 2022.
These numbers count gunfire on school grounds, not only mass shootings or shootings during classroom hours. The dataset includes K-12 schools and colleges/universities, and it includes incidents where a gun was discharged even if no one was shot.
What Counts as a School Shooting Here?
There is no single national definition of “school shooting.” That is why different sources often report very different totals for the same year.
For this article, the main table uses Everytown Research’s Gunfire on School Grounds data. Everytown describes its tracker as incidents where a firearm discharges a live round inside or into a school building, campus, or school grounds. The map includes incidents where someone was killed or wounded, as well as incidents where a gun was fired and no one was shot.
That definition is broader than a list of mass shootings. It can include:
- Attacks that injure or kill students, staff, or others
- Shootings at athletic events or after-hours school events
- Parking lot incidents on school property
- Accidental discharges
- Suicides or attempted suicides involving gunfire on school grounds
- Incidents at K-12 schools and colleges/universities
The K-12 School Shooting Database uses an even broader definition in some contexts, including incidents where a firearm is brandished with intent to harm or a bullet strikes school property. Because definitions differ, school shooting statistics should always explain what is being counted.
How 2025 Compared to Previous Years
2025 was notable across all major trackers for having fewer incidents and deaths than the preceding years:
| Tracker | 2025 total incidents | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Everytown Research (Gunfire on School Grounds) | 163 | Any gunfire on K-12 or college campus |
| K-12 School Shooting Database | 233 | Broadest definition; lowest since 2020 |
| CNN | 75–78 | K-12 and higher ed; at least one person shot |
| Education Week | 18 | K-12 only; at least one injury or death required |
Education Week reported 18 incidents and 7 deaths — the fewest in five years. The K-12 School Shooting Database counted 233 incidents, its lowest total since 2020, down from a peak of 352 in 2023.
2025 School Shooting Statistics by State
The table below counts 2025 incidents in Everytown’s downloadable dataset (source: everytownresearch.org). “K-12” means the school type was listed as K-12. “College” means the school type was listed as college or university. Deaths and injuries are total people killed or wounded in all listed incidents for that state.
| State | Total incidents | K-12 | College | Killed | Wounded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Alaska | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arizona | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arkansas | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| California | 16 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
| Colorado | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Connecticut | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Delaware | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Florida | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Georgia | 9 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Illinois | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Indiana | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Iowa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kansas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Louisiana | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Maine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maryland | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Massachusetts | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Michigan | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Minnesota | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 24 |
| Mississippi | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Missouri | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Montana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Nevada | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| New York | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| North Carolina | 12 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| North Dakota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 13 |
| Oklahoma | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Oregon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Pennsylvania | 8 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 11 |
| Rhode Island | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| South Carolina | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| South Dakota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Texas | 10 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| Utah | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Vermont | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Virginia | 9 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| Washington | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Wyoming | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
States With the Highest Counts
The ten highest-count states in this dataset were:
| Rank | State | Total incidents |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 16 |
| 2 | North Carolina | 12 |
| 3 | Texas | 10 |
| 4 | Georgia | 9 |
| 4 | Ohio | 9 |
| 4 | Virginia | 9 |
| 7 | Pennsylvania | 8 |
| 8 | Illinois | 7 |
| 9 | Alabama | 6 |
| 9 | Louisiana | 6 |
| 9 | Maryland | 6 |
| 9 | Michigan | 6 |
| 9 | Mississippi | 6 |
California had the highest total count, but it is also the most populous state. A raw count does not automatically mean a student in that state faced the highest individual risk. Population, school enrollment, urban density, reporting practices, and the number of colleges all affect the numbers.
Minnesota had only four incidents but a high wounded count because one major incident can change a state’s injury total sharply. The same caution applies to states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Rhode Island, and North Carolina, where injury totals are shaped by a small number of severe events rather than by incident count alone.
States With No Recorded Incidents
In this dataset, 14 states had no recorded 2025 school-ground gunfire incidents:
- Alaska
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Maine
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
A zero does not prove that no firearm-related threat, lockdown, weapon recovery, or off-campus incident occurred in that state. It means this specific dataset did not record a qualifying gunfire incident on school grounds for 2025.
That distinction matters because some school safety events are not counted as school shootings. For example, a gun found in a backpack may be serious, but it would not appear in Everytown’s gunfire dataset unless the firearm was discharged.
K-12 vs College Incidents
Of the 163 incidents in 2025, 99 were listed as K-12 and 64 were listed as college or university incidents.
This split matters because K-12 and college environments are different. K-12 schools usually involve minors, compulsory attendance, and district-managed safety systems. Colleges and universities often have larger campuses, open public access, adult students, parking areas, residence halls, and late-night events.
When readers hear “school shooting,” many picture an attack inside a K-12 classroom. Some incidents fit that fear, but many do not. A complete school-ground gunfire dataset includes many contexts, including parking lots, athletic events, disputes, accidents, and suicides.
The most honest way to read school shooting statistics is to ask three questions: what location is included, what type of firearm event is included, and whether injuries or deaths are required.
Why Different Sources Report Different Numbers
School shooting statistics vary because researchers make different choices about what to include.
One source may count only incidents where someone was shot. Another may include any gunfire on campus, even without injury. Another may include brandishing a firearm with intent to harm. Some include colleges; others focus only on K-12. Some include after-hours events on school property; others focus on school-day attacks.
Here is a simple comparison:
| Definition choice | Effect on the count |
|---|---|
| Only mass shootings | Much lower count |
| Only incidents with injury or death | Lower count |
| Any gunfire on school grounds | Higher count |
| Include brandishing or bullets hitting property | Higher count |
| Include colleges and universities | Higher count |
| K-12 only | Lower count than all school grounds |
This does not mean one dataset is automatically wrong. It means each dataset answers a different question. For public policy, journalism, school planning, and student support, the definition should be stated clearly before the numbers are interpreted.
What the Numbers Can and Cannot Tell Us
These statistics can show where incidents were recorded, how many people were killed or wounded, and whether incidents involved K-12 or college settings. They can help identify patterns and remind readers that school gunfire is not limited to one region.
But the table cannot explain everything by itself.
It does not fully measure:
- Student fear or trauma after threats and lockdowns
- Near misses where no gun was fired
- Unreported or later-corrected incidents
- Differences in school security systems
- State population or student enrollment rates
- Local causes behind each incident
- Whether a state’s risk is rising or falling over multiple years
For a deeper article on broader gun violence patterns, Coursepivot’s guide to death statistics by cause in the US gives useful national context.
The Bottom Line
In Everytown’s final 2025 school-ground gunfire data, the US recorded 163 incidents, including 99 K-12 incidents, 64 college or university incidents, 54 deaths, and 149 wounded people. According to Education Week — which counts only K-12 incidents with at least one injury or death — 2025 had just 18 incidents and 7 deaths, the fewest school-shooting fatalities in five years (source: Education Week, December 2025).
The K-12 School Shooting Database independently confirmed 2025 as a down year, counting 233 incidents — the lowest total since 2020 and well below the 352 recorded in 2023.
California had the highest raw count, followed by North Carolina and Texas. Fourteen states had no recorded qualifying incidents in the dataset.
The most important lesson is not just which state ranked highest. It is that school shooting statistics depend heavily on definitions. Before comparing numbers, always check whether the source includes K-12 only or colleges too, whether gunfire without injury is counted, and whether after-hours events on school property are included.