CLASSIFICATIONS: FOOTBALL

School enrollment numbers from each year inform the following school year’s classifications for IHSAA sanctioned sports. For football only, these numbers are used for two-year cycles. Enrollment numbers are provided by the Basic Educational Data Survey (BEDS) from the Iowa Department of Education. Whole grade and cooperative sharing agreements listed as available. To view other sports or overall BEDS numbers, view the Classifications page .

New for football in 2023 and 2024 is a formula for free and reduced lunch percentages and school enrollments to determine new final classification numbers. This change to the IHSAA’s Articles of Incorporation was approved by the Board of Control, a vote of the IHSAA’s member schools, and the Iowa State Board of Education. The classification adjustment will reduce 40 percent of a school’s free or reduced lunch (FRL) count from their annual enrollment to determine their final classification number.

 

Sport Breakdown

Football: Seven classes.

5A: Largest 36 schools.

4A: Next largest 36 schools.

3A: Next largest 36 schools.

2A: Next largest 48 schools.

1A: Next largest 48 schools.

A: Remaining 11-player schools.

8P: Schools with classification numbers under 105. Schools granted enrollment exemptions from previous cycle marked with * below.

FOOTBALL

2023 & 2024 CLASSIFICATIONS

Latest update: August 9, 2023

#	Class	School	Classification Number	Total BEDS
1	5A	Valley, West Des Moines	1928.67	2272
2	5A	Johnston	1588.09	1749
3	5A	Southeast Polk	1569.86	1797
4	5A	Linn-Mar, Marion	1554.03	1713
5	5A	Waukee, Northwest	1420.89	1502
6	5A	Ankeny Centennial	1389.96	1485
7	5A	Ankeny	1332.63	1439
8	5A	Des Moines, Lincoln	1244.50	1785
9	5A	Cedar Falls	1222.81	1349
10	5A	Pleasant Valley	1211.19	1268
11	5A	Waukee	1190.94	1318
12	5A	Des Moines, Roosevelt	1148.90	1458
13	5A	Prairie, Cedar Rapids	1139.68	1301
14	5A	Cedar Rapids, Kennedy	1133.74	1296
15	5A	Des Moines, East	1061.37	1549
16	5A	Iowa City, City High	1047.45	1244
17	5A	Bettendorf	1028.67	1165
18	5A	Dubuque, Hempstead	997.63	1177
19	5A	Waterloo, West	994.28	1325
20	5A	Iowa City, West	981.44	1159
21	5A	Ottumwa	962.59	1139
22	5A	Ames	957.44	1088
23	5A	Muscatine	941.80	1161
24	5A	Davenport, Central	933.34	1150
25	5A	Cedar Rapids, Jefferson	931.60	1203
26	5A	Dubuque, Senior	931.30	1090
27	5A	Sioux City, North	930.24	1251
28	5A	Marshalltown	922.83	1196
29	5A	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	916.59	995
30	5A	Sioux City, East	901.74	1149
31	5A	Urbandale	868.07	1016
32	5A	Davenport, West	857.51	1096
33	5A	Davenport, North	846.07	1056
34	5A	Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln	824.51	1040
35	5A	Iowa City, Liberty	808.38	897
36	5A	Cedar Rapids, Washington	773.06	962
37	4A	Indianola	765.78	852
38	4A	North Scott, Eldridge	715.98	783
39	4A	Norwalk	709.01	767
40	4A	Des Moines, North	700.88	1073
41	4A	Dallas Center-Grimes	690.73	744
42	4A	Mason City	673.46	825
43	4A	Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson	669.32	904
44	4A	Sioux City, West	665.38	956
45	4A	Clinton	650.04	800
46	4A	Fort Dodge	636.09	813
47	4A	Epworth, Western Dubuque	629.09	691
48	4A	Burlington	623.08	813
49	4A	Lewis Central	622.65	722
50	4A	Waterloo, East	604.66	855
51	4A	Newton	547.66	681
52	4A	Pella	546.56	578
53	4A	Waverly-Shell Rock	545.13	594
54	4A	Bondurant-Farrar	539.73	590
55	4A	Clear Creek Amana	512.79	565
56	4A	Carlisle	502.20	562
57	4A	Des Moines, Hoover	490.26	713
58	4A	ADM, Adel	479.46	518
59	4A	Marion	478.63	539
60	4A	North Polk, Alleman	474.80	495
61	4A	Le Mars	471.66	535
62	4A	Boone	466.52	545
63	4A	Storm Lake	458.83	606
64	4A	Denison-Schleswig	456.59	597
65	4A	Xavier, Cedar Rapids	453.20	469
66	4A	Spencer	438.48	522
67	4A	Decorah	391.19	428
68	4A	Gilbert	388.32	400
69	4A	Oskaloosa	388.26	454
70	4A	Glenwood	384.06	447
71	4A	Ballard	375.27	403
72	4A	Winterset	363.78	423
73	3A	Mount Pleasant	363.52	444
74	3A	Carroll	362.05	409
75	3A	Central DeWitt	361.90	407
76	3A	Sergeant Bluff-Luton	360.28	403
77	3A	Keokuk	358.78	456
78	3A	Solon	356.01	369
79	3A	Webster City	349.88	424
80	3A	Perry	344.72	444
81	3A	Fort Madison	342.91	419
82	3A	Center Point-Urbana	337.08	352
83	3A	MOC-Floyd Valley	333.16	371
84	3A	Benton Community	332.12	372
85	3A	Maquoketa	332.10	410
86	3A	Mount Vernon	329.98	350
87	3A	Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City	329.08	376
88	3A	Humboldt	327.94	384
89	3A	Independence	325.16	369
90	3A	Charles City	324.63	399
91	3A	Creston	324.43	397
92	3A	Nevada	324.33	374
93	3A	Harlan Community	323.24	369
94	3A	West Delaware, Manchester	322.50	364
95	3A	Williamsburg	322.11	354
96	3A	Assumption, Davenport	320.00	320
97	3A	Knoxville	318.36	379
98	3A	Wahlert, Dubuque	317.32	337
99	3A	Algona	314.05	359
100	3A	Grinnell	311.66	354
101	3A	Sioux Center	311.55	377
102	3A	Rock Valley	310.00	371
103	3A	Clear Lake	309.29	356
104	3A	Atlantic	308.06	365
105	3A	Hampton-Dumont -CAL	285.84	360
106	3A	Washington	284.66	353
107	3A	Fairfield	282.88	340
108	3A	South Tama County, Tama	280.96	358
122	2A	Centerville	275.74	336
109	2A	Greene County	272.04	327
110	2A	Clarke, Osceola	270.80	344
111	2A	West Burlington	267.52	305
112	2A	Des Moines Christian	266.00	266
113	2A	Vinton-Shellsburg	264.51	308
114	2A	Davis County, Bloomfield	263.11	311
115	2A	Spirit Lake	261.85	288
116	2A	Central Lee, Donnellson	259.57	295
117	2A	Anamosa	256.58	304
118	2A	PCM	250.66	274
119	2A	Saydel	249.38	329
120	2A	Iowa Falls – Alden	248.03	288
121	2A	Mid-Prairie, Wellman	247.75	270
123	2A	Albia	246.77	291
124	2A	Chariton	245.60	307
125	2A	Okoboji, Milford	243.33	286
126	2A	Northeast, Goose Lake	241.82	272
127	2A	Waukon	241.78	293
128	2A	Roland-Story, Story City	239.21	259
129	2A	Crestwood, Cresco	237.69	285
130	2A	Central Lyon, Rock Rapids	232.71	264
131	2A	Estherville Lincoln Central	232.35	286
132	2A	Monticello	229.76	257
133	2A	Clarinda	229.09	268
134	2A	Cherokee, Washington	227.86	263
135	2A	Western Christian, Hull	224.00	224
136	2A	Union, LaPorte City	223.09	251
137	2A	Southeast Valley, Gowrie	222.82	264
138	2A	Van Meter	220.19	227
139	2A	Unity Christian, Orange City	218.97	228
140	2A	New Hampton	218.15	246
141	2A	West Liberty	216.37	275
142	2A	West Marshall, State Center	215.07	241
143	2A	Tipton	214.04	235
144	2A	Mediapolis	213.02	240
145	2A	West Lyon, Inwood	212.33	232
146	2A	Oelwein	211.86	259
147	2A	Forest City	211.36	246
148	2A	Kuemper Catholic, Carroll	211.17	222
149	2A	Garner-Hayfield-Ventura	210.84	232
150	2A	Sheldon	210.80	250
151	2A	Clarion-Goldfield-Dows	205.74	270
152	2A	North Fayette Valley	201.88	243
153	2A	Osage	201.15	225
154	2A	Camanche	199.45	228
155	2A	Interstate 35, Truro	196.54	214
156	2A	Jesup	196.39	216
157	1A	OABCIG	195.34	232
158	1A	Dike-New Hartford	193.28	210
159	1A	Red Oak	191.49	244
160	1A	Denver	190.56	200
161	1A	Woodward-Granger	189.23	204
162	1A	Pella Christian	186.50	195
163	1A	Wilton	184.50	204
164	1A	Alburnett	182.32	198
165	1A	Sumner-Fredericksburg	181.63	205
166	1A	Shenandoah	181.30	214
167	1A	MFL MarMac	180.54	206
168	1A	Underwood	179.69	191
169	1A	Eagle Grove	178.32	237
170	1A	Treynor	176.49	185
171	1A	Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont	175.64	205
172	1A	Aplington-Parkersburg	174.91	194
173	1A	MVAOCOU	173.58	216
174	1A	Hudson	172.77	193
175	1A	Hinton	171.00	183
176	1A	Sigourney	169.96	198
177	1A	West Central Valley, Stuart	169.80	201
178	1A	Ogden	169.11	186
179	1A	East Sac County	168.25	203
180	1A	Beckman Catholic, Dyersville	168.12	176
181	1A	Pocahontas Area	167.99	214
182	1A	Cardinal, Eldon	166.73	208
183	1A	East Marshall, LeGrand	166.55	191
184	1A	Regina, Iowa City	166.39	175
185	1A	Sioux Central, Sioux Rapids	166.20	192
186	1A	Manson Northwest Webster	166.06	187
187	1A	Grundy Center	165.68	187
188	1A	Cascade, Western Dubuque	163.38	183
189	1A	West Branch	162.86	180
190	1A	Ridge View	162.43	192
191	1A	Grand View Christian School	162.00	162
192	1A	Pleasantville	160.73	185
193	1A	Colfax-Mingo	160.63	188
194	1A	Lawton-Bronson	160.37	176
195	1A	Emmetsburg	158.77	183
196	1A	West Sioux, Hawarden	156.58	197
197	1A	Columbus Catholic, Waterloo	155.88	181
198	1A	Durant	155.64	178
199	1A	South Hardin	155.14	187
200	1A	Missouri Valley	154.30	180
201	1A	South Hamilton, Jewell	153.75	170
202	1A	Central Springs	150.59	178
203	1A	AHSTW, Avoca	148.70	171
204	1A	Nodaway Valley	148.32	185
205	A	Wapsie Valley, Fairbank	148.29	160
206	A	Bellevue	148.27	166
207	A	Lisbon	148.12	161
208	A	Van Buren County	147.94	184
209	A	St. Albert, Council Bluffs	147.23	155
210	A	Westwood, Sloan	146.49	167
211	A	Kingsley-Pierson	145.49	172
212	A	South Central Calhoun	144.49	173
213	A	Louisa-Muscatine	144.41	172
214	A	Tri-Center, Neola	144.32	164
215	A	ACGC	142.45	161
216	A	Lake Mills	142.34	160
217	A	Panorama, Panora	142.10	165
218	A	Madrid	141.70	159
219	A	South Winneshiek, Calmar	141.19	159
220	A	Mount Ayr	140.58	173
221	A	Sibley-Ocheyedan	139.31	168
222	A	Belmond-Klemme	137.26	170
223	A	Central Decatur, Leon	137.12	185
224	A	Logan-Magnolia	136.88	154
225	A	Postville	136.34	196
226	A	Southwest Valley	134.90	163
227	A	Maquoketa Valley, Delhi	134.49	152
228	A	North Mahaska, New Sharon	134.22	150
229	A	Earlham	133.75	144
230	A	Akron-Westfield	133.14	150
231	A	MMCRU	133.06	154
232	A	Newman Catholic, Mason City	131.16	144
233	A	Alta-Aurelia	130.23	156
234	A	West Fork, Sheffield	129.79	154
235	A	Martensdale-St Marys	129.11	142
236	A	North Butler, Greene	128.93	143
237	A	West Monona, Onawa	128.00	160
238	A	Pekin	127.56	143
239	A	Danville	124.82	144
240	A	Wapello	122.79	145
241	A	Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn	122.43	151
242	A	Nashua-Plainfield	122.16	138
243	A	BCLUW, Conrad	121.71	139
244	A	Riverside, Oakland	121.65	139
245	8P	Springville*	121.65	130
246	A	East Buchanan, Winthrop	121.55	142
247	A	IKM-Manning	121.36	144
248	A	North Cedar, Stanwood	121.15	143
249	A	Saint Ansgar	120.81	134
250	A	North Union	120.81	153
251	A	Woodbury Central, Moville	120.74	135
252	A	Highland, Riverside	120.23	133
253	A	AGWSR, Ackley	120.18	140
254	A	Columbus Community, Columbus Junction	119.19	157
255	A	Clayton Ridge, Guttenberg	116.64	141
256	8P	B-G-M, Brooklyn*	115.13	135
257	8P	Southeast Warren, Liberty Center*	113.75	126
258	A	South O’Brien, Paullina	113.42	129
259	A	Starmont	113.00	146
260	A	North Linn, Troy Mills	112.95	125
261	A	Wayne, Corydon	111.52	136
262	8P	Northwood-Kensett*	111.26	128
263	8P	Midland, Wyoming*	111.17	138
264	A	Lynnville-Sully	107.97	117
265	A	Gehlen Catholic, LeMars	107.92	115
266	8P	St. Edmond, Fort Dodge*	106.63	115
267	A	West Hancock, Britt	104.02	120
268	8P	New London	102.86	120
320	8P	H-L-V , Victor	102.71	118
269	8P	Montezuma	99.28	112
270	8P	Baxter	99.10	112
271	8P	Fremont-Mills, Tabor	98.86	114
272	8P	Iowa Valley, Marengo	98.44	115
273	8P	Audubon	96.67	110
274	8P	Bedford	95.77	111
275	8P	Central, Elkader	95.50	111
276	8P	Graettinger-Terril	95.36	120
277	8P	Easton Valley	94.22	108
278	8P	East Mills	94.00	109
279	8P	Lone Tree	93.36	103
280	8P	GMG, Garwin	93.35	109
281	8P	Calamus-Wheatland	92.08	109
282	8P	Woodbine	92.02	108
283	8P	West Harrison, Mondamin	91.91	107
284	8P	Newell-Fonda	91.70	110
285	8P	Central City	91.56	104
286	8P	Gladbrook-Reinbeck	91.37	106
287	8P	Rockford	90.33	110
288	8P	WACO, Wayland	89.97	106
289	8P	East Union, Afton	89.74	114
290	8P	Stanton	88.46	104
291	8P	Lenox	88.39	112
292	8P	Edgewood-Colesburg	87.96	100
293	8P	Griswold	86.55	96
294	8P	Moravia	86.40	108
295	8P	CAM, Anita	86.27	108
296	8P	Dunkerton	85.85	101
297	8P	Sidney	83.35	101
298	8P	Bishop Garrigan, Algona	83.32	92
299	8P	Janesville	83.28	92
300	8P	Boyer Valley, Dunlap	82.32	100
301	8P	Colo-NESCO	81.32	95
302	8P	Collins-Maxwell	79.38	93
303	8P	English Valleys, North English	79.27	97
304	8P	Turkey Valley, Jackson Junction	78.75	93
305	A	North Tama, Traer	78.36	94
306	8P	North Iowa, Buffalo Center	74.63	90
307	8P	Coon Rapids-Bayard	74.40	93
308	8P	Siouxland Christian	74.00	74
309	8P	Belle Plaine	73.97	83
310	8P	West Bend-Mallard	72.80	91
311	8P	Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton	72.43	90
312	8P	Riceville	71.59	86
313	8P	Twin Cedars, Bussey	69.22	84
314	8P	Winfield-Mt Union	68.52	86
315	8P	Glidden-Ralston	67.85	76
316	8P	Tripoli	67.81	81
317	8P	Don Bosco, Gilbertville	66.63	69
318	8P	Clarksville	65.97	76
319	8P	Melcher-Dallas	65.40	75
321	8P	Harris-Lake Park	62.83	70
322	8P	Kee, Lansing	62.63	74
323	8P	Lamoni	56.80	71
324	8P	Waterloo Christian School	52.00	52
325	8P	Murray	48.63	56
326	8P	West Central, Maynard	47.71	60
327	8P	St. Mary’s, Remsen	43.96	46
328	8P	Ar-We-Va, Westside	43.03	47
330	8P	Mormon Trail, Garden Grove	36.79	45
331	8P	Meskwaki Settlement School	28.26	38