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 since 2023 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
2025 & 2026 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFICATIONS
Latest update: February 28, 2025
# | Class | School | Total CN | Total BEDS |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5A | Johnston | 1631.70 | 1792 |
2 | 5A | Valley, West Des Moines | 1623.97 | 2236 |
3 | 5A | Des Moines, Roosevelt | 1617.56 | 2161 |
4 | 5A | Linn-Mar, Marion | 1535.93 | 1692 |
5 | 5A | Waukee Northwest | 1524.64 | 1599 |
6 | 5A | Southeast Polk | 1522.33 | 1757 |
7 | 5A | Ankeny Centennial | 1411.09 | 1511 |
8 | 5A | Ankeny | 1378.68 | 1506 |
9 | 5A | Waukee | 1300.36 | 1432 |
10 | 5A | Cedar Falls | 1240.42 | 1349 |
11 | 5A | Pleasant Valley | 1216.23 | 1273 |
12 | 5A | Des Moines, Lincoln | 1185.26 | 1692 |
13 | 5A | Prairie, Cedar Rapids | 1183.09 | 1349 |
14 | 5A | Bettendorf | 1055.32 | 1182 |
15 | 5A | Waterloo, West | 1054.32 | 1381 |
16 | 5A | Cedar Rapids, Kennedy | 1052.96 | 1230 |
17 | 5A | Iowa City, City High | 1050.20 | 1262 |
18 | 5A | Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines | 978.81 | 1071 |
19 | 5A | Des Moines, East | 978.23 | 1425 |
20 | 5A | Iowa City, West | 965.72 | 1138 |
21 | 5A | Ames | 947.48 | 1076 |
22 | 5A | Dubuque, Senior | 931.47 | 1128 |
23 | 5A | Sioux City, East | 930.23 | 1172 |
24 | 5A | Dubuque, Hempstead | 899.27 | 1081 |
25 | 5A | Iowa City, Liberty | 899.03 | 996 |
26 | 5A | Sioux City, North | 897.92 | 1202 |
27 | 5A | Ottumwa | 896.19 | 1065 |
28 | 5A | Cedar Rapids, Jefferson | 890.68 | 1175 |
29 | 5A | Marshalltown | 881.30 | 1242 |
30 | 5A | Muscatine | 867.34 | 1047 |
31 | 5A | Urbandale | 837.48 | 980 |
32 | 5A | Indianola | 813.48 | 900 |
33 | 5A | Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln | 813.31 | 997 |
34 | 5A | Davenport, Central | 772.59 | 962 |
35 | 5A | Dallas Center-Grimes | 758.83 | 817 |
36 | 5A | Norwalk | 752.71 | 801 |
37 | 4A | North Scott, Eldridge | 744.74 | 816 |
38 | 4A | Davenport, West | 743.10 | 950 |
39 | 4A | Cedar Rapids, Washington | 697.48 | 893 |
40 | 4A | Lewis Central | 687.95 | 792 |
41 | 4A | Des Moines, North | 672.12 | 1012 |
42 | 4A | Davenport, North | 670.40 | 846 |
43 | 4A | Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson | 669.15 | 857 |
44 | 4A | Clinton | 668.87 | 815 |
45 | 4A | Western Dubuque | 663.47 | 718 |
46 | 4A | Mason City | 632.69 | 759 |
47 | 4A | Fort Dodge | 632.61 | 784 |
48 | 4A | Sioux City, West | 611.47 | 959 |
49 | 4A | Waterloo, East | 603.65 | 842 |
50 | 4A | Bondurant-Farrar | 599.78 | 653 |
51 | 4A | Burlington | 580.68 | 723 |
52 | 4A | Pella | 573.42 | 609 |
53 | 4A | Newton | 541.54 | 654 |
54 | 4A | Clear Creek-Amana | 538.41 | 607 |
55 | 4A | Marion | 537.59 | 598 |
56 | 4A | Waverly-Shell Rock | 530.33 | 574 |
57 | 4A | Carlisle | 519.50 | 573 |
58 | 4A | Storm Lake | 519.06 | 699 |
59 | 4A | Xavier, Cedar Rapids | 470.86 | 489 |
60 | 4A | LeMars | 470.04 | 532 |
61 | 4A | ADM, Adel | 460.64 | 499 |
62 | 4A | Boone | 451.80 | 515 |
63 | 4A | North Polk, Alleman | 447.86 | 467 |
64 | 4A | Denison-Schleswig | 435.91 | 587 |
65 | 4A | Spencer | 424.86 | 519 |
66 | 4A | Oskaloosa | 415.26 | 490 |
67 | 4A | Ballard | 411.09 | 438 |
68 | 4A | Gilbert | 382.09 | 391 |
69 | 4A | Decorah | 378.47 | 413 |
70 | 4A | Glenwood | 373.45 | 438 |
71 | 4A | Sergeant Bluff-Luton | 361.84 | 404 |
72 | 4A | Grinnell | 356.36 | 408 |
73 | 3A | Williamsburg | 355.92 | 389 |
74 | 3A | Mount Pleasant | 355.70 | 423 |
75 | 3A | Solon | 355.43 | 366 |
76 | 3A | Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City | 355.09 | 402 |
77 | 3A | Winterset | 354.73 | 399 |
78 | 3A | Assumption, Davenport | 348.00 | 348 |
79 | 3A | Central DeWitt | 344.87 | 386 |
80 | 3A | MOC-Floyd Valley | 341.69 | 373 |
81 | 3A | Des Moines Christian | 341.00 | 341 |
82 | 3A | Keokuk | 337.23 | 421 |
83 | 3A | Sioux Center | 332.95 | 406 |
84 | 3A | Wahlert Catholic | 332.43 | 346 |
85 | 3A | Benton Community | 328.02 | 357 |
86 | 3A | Harlan Community | 327.67 | 370 |
87 | 3A | Independence | 324.34 | 363 |
88 | 3A | Webster City | 323.40 | 385 |
89 | 3A | Mount Vernon | 322.06 | 340 |
90 | 3A | Fort Madison | 320.19 | 397 |
91 | 3A | Knoxville | 320.00 | 377 |
92 | 3A | Nevada | 318.47 | 373 |
93 | 3A | Perry | 313.64 | 401 |
94 | 3A | Carroll | 313.51 | 359 |
95 | 3A | Clear Lake | 313.24 | 351 |
96 | 3A | Center Point-Urbana | 308.92 | 328 |
97 | 3A | Humboldt | 300.72 | 342 |
98 | 3A | Atlantic | 297.02 | 349 |
99 | 3A | Creston | 294.65 | 358 |
100 | 3A | West Delaware, Manchester | 293.40 | 326 |
101 | 3A | Fairfield | 289.85 | 340 |
102 | 3A | Algona | 283.87 | 332 |
103 | 3A | Maquoketa | 283.62 | 360 |
104 | 3A | Saydel | 279.97 | 355 |
105 | 3A | Washington | 279.48 | 330 |
106 | 3A | Greene County | 277.05 | 331 |
107 | 3A | Charles City | 275.10 | 335 |
108 | 3A | Iowa Falls-Alden | 267.91 | 305 |
109 | 2A | West Burlington | 261.56 | 293 |
110 | 2A | Hampton-Dumont-CAL | 260.87 | 321 |
111 | 2A | Vinton-Shellsburg | 259.02 | 323 |
112 | 2A | Spirit Lake | 257.03 | 282 |
113 | 2A | West Liberty | 256.90 | 310 |
114 | 2A | Waukon | 256.04 | 298 |
115 | 2A | South Tama County, Tama | 253.21 | 326 |
116 | 2A | Unity Christian, Orange City | 252.74 | 266 |
117 | 2A | Centerville | 252.38 | 318 |
118 | 2A | Anamosa | 251.75 | 287 |
119 | 2A | Clarke Community High School | 248.86 | 315 |
120 | 2A | PCM, Monroe | 245.21 | 266 |
121 | 2A | Okoboji, Milford | 242.56 | 274 |
122 | 2A | Mid-Prairie, Wellman | 242.49 | 275 |
123 | 2A | Cherokee, Washington | 240.37 | 286 |
124 | 2A | Sheldon | 235.37 | 271 |
125 | 2A | Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley | 234.31 | 300 |
126 | 2A | Central Lee, Donnellson | 231.00 | 267 |
127 | 2A | Central Lyon/George-Little Rock | 229.74 | 258 |
128 | 2A | Van Meter | 226.37 | 235 |
129 | 2A | Clarinda | 226.05 | 260 |
130 | 2A | Davis County, Bloomfield | 222.11 | 264 |
131 | 2A | Western Christian, Hull | 222.00 | 222 |
132 | 2A | Albia | 220.72 | 253 |
133 | 2A | Roland-Story, Story City | 219.03 | 236 |
134 | 2A | Crestwood, Cresco | 218.95 | 266 |
135 | 2A | Estherville Lincoln Central | 215.91 | 266 |
136 | 2A | Alburnett | 215.33 | 222 |
137 | 2A | Pella Christian | 215.07 | 229 |
138 | 2A | Chariton | 212.04 | 272 |
139 | 2A | Kuemper Catholic, Carroll | 210.36 | 221 |
140 | 2A | Mediapolis | 208.80 | 234 |
141 | 2A | Oelwein | 208.31 | 251 |
142 | 2A | North Fayette Valley | 206.34 | 242 |
143 | 2A | Forest City | 205.32 | 235 |
144 | 2A | Monticello | 205.04 | 234 |
145 | 2A | Wilton | 203.70 | 222 |
146 | 2A | Tipton | 200.86 | 226 |
147 | 2A | OABCIG | 200.04 | 238 |
148 | 2A | Southeast Valley, Gowrie | 199.69 | 246 |
149 | 2A | Osage | 198.70 | 224 |
150 | 2A | Dike-New Hartford | 196.95 | 220 |
151 | 2A | Denver | 196.93 | 208 |
152 | 2A | New Hampton | 196.42 | 231 |
153 | 2A | Woodward-Granger | 196.25 | 214 |
154 | 2A | Bellevue | 192.57 | 208 |
155 | 2A | West Branch | 192.46 | 209 |
156 | 2A | Grand View Christian School | 192.00 | 192 |
157 | 1A | West Marshall, State Center | 191.70 | 213 |
158 | 1A | Union, LaPorte City | 190.73 | 211 |
159 | 1A | Eagle Grove | 190.12 | 243 |
160 | 1A | Garner Hayfield Ventura | 189.31 | 219 |
161 | 1A | Shenandoah | 189.28 | 231 |
162 | 1A | Interstate 35, Truro | 188.53 | 204 |
163 | 1A | Camanche | 186.96 | 221 |
164 | 1A | Missouri Valley | 185.34 | 222 |
165 | 1A | Treynor | 183.94 | 195 |
166 | 1A | Red Oak | 180.33 | 220 |
167 | 1A | West Lyon, Inwood | 180.28 | 200 |
168 | 1A | Regina, Iowa City | 180.14 | 188 |
169 | 1A | Jesup | 179.22 | 193 |
170 | 1A | Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont | 176.72 | 208 |
171 | 1A | Sigourney/Keota | 175.97 | 209 |
172 | 1A | MFL MarMac | 173.61 | 198 |
173 | 1A | Northeast, Goose Lake | 173.30 | 197 |
174 | 1A | Clarion-Goldfield-Dows | 172.56 | 217 |
175 | 1A | Underwood | 171.86 | 188 |
176 | 1A | Cascade, Western Dubuque | 170.08 | 186 |
177 | 1A | Hinton | 168.51 | 175 |
178 | 1A | West Central Valley, Stuart | 164.76 | 197 |
179 | 1A | Aplington-Parkersburg | 164.51 | 179 |
180 | 1A | Ogden | 164.01 | 179 |
181 | 1A | Cardinal, Eldon | 163.63 | 208 |
182 | 1A | MVAOCOU | 163.20 | 192 |
183 | 1A | Columbus Catholic, Waterloo | 162.21 | 188 |
184 | 1A | Beckman Catholic, Dyersville | 160.40 | 170 |
185 | 1A | Durant | 158.71 | 177 |
186 | 1A | Grundy Center | 158.44 | 182 |
187 | 1A | Ridge View | 158.09 | 185 |
188 | 1A | Pocahontas Area | 157.73 | 200 |
189 | 1A | Central Springs | 153.61 | 182 |
190 | 1A | Sumner-Fredericksburg | 153.38 | 174 |
191 | 1A | Pleasantville | 153.13 | 175 |
192 | 1A | Hudson | 152.93 | 170 |
193 | 1A | South Hardin | 152.51 | 182 |
194 | 1A | Panorama, Panora | 152.49 | 174 |
195 | 1A | Emmetsburg | 151.34 | 178 |
196 | 1A | Manson Northwest Webster | 150.78 | 171 |
197 | 1A | Louisa-Muscatine | 150.11 | 179 |
198 | 1A | South Central Calhoun | 149.81 | 179 |
199 | 1A | Tri-Center, Neola | 148.57 | 169 |
200 | 1A | Alta-Aurelia | 147.48 | 171 |
201 | 1A | Lisbon | 147.28 | 159 |
202 | 1A | Lawton-Bronson | 146.79 | 162 |
203 | 1A | South Hamilton, Jewell | 146.22 | 163 |
204 | 1A | East Sac County | 145.61 | 176 |
205 | A | Wapsie Valley, Fairbank | 142.15 | 151 |
206 | A | Nodaway Valley | 141.76 | 167 |
207 | A | MMCRU | 141.37 | 160 |
208 | A | Maquoketa Valley, Delhi | 141.24 | 162 |
209 | A | West Sioux, Hawarden | 140.72 | 177 |
210 | A | Logan-Magnolia | 139.24 | 156 |
211 | A | Riverside, Oakland | 138.66 | 159 |
212 | A | Sioux Central, Sioux Rapids | 138.54 | 171 |
213 | A | Madrid | 138.00 | 149 |
214 | A | Earlham | 136.73 | 146 |
215 | A | South Winneshiek, Calmar | 135.07 | 150 |
216 | A | Colfax-Mingo | 134.69 | 156 |
217 | A | Nashua-Plainfield | 134.64 | 151 |
218 | A | ACGC | 133.91 | 146 |
219 | A | Mount Ayr | 133.59 | 162 |
220 | A | East Marshall, LeGrand | 133.28 | 154 |
221 | A | AHSTW, Avoca | 130.39 | 150 |
222 | A | Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn | 130.24 | 163 |
223 | A | Danville | 129.45 | 149 |
224 | A | Van Buren County | 129.31 | 162 |
225 | A | Columbus Community, Columbus Junction | 127.80 | 165 |
226 | A | Southwest Valley | 126.69 | 149 |
227 | A | Belmond-Klemme | 126.57 | 159 |
228 | A | West Fork, Sheffield | 125.91 | 144 |
229 | A | Sibley-Ocheyedan | 125.11 | 155 |
230 | A | St. Albert, Council Bluffs | 124.77 | 135 |
231 | A | Woodbury Central, Moville | 124.35 | 138 |
232 | A | Central Decatur, Leon | 122.89 | 160 |
233 | A | West Monona, Onawa | 122.39 | 149 |
234 | A | Akron-Westfield | 122.17 | 132 |
235 | A | Westwood, Sloan | 121.80 | 143 |
236 | A | North Butler, Greene | 121.47 | 134 |
237 | A | B-G-M, Brooklyn | 121.43 | 140 |
238 | A | IKM-Manning | 121.00 | 136 |
239 | A | Postville | 119.96 | 176 |
240 | 8P | Woodbine* | 119.44 | 135 |
241 | A | Lynnville-Sully | 119.21 | 131 |
242 | A | Wapello | 117.30 | 139 |
243 | A | Lake Mills | 116.83 | 136 |
244 | A | North Mahaska, New Sharon | 115.96 | 127 |
245 | A | East Buchanan, Winthrop | 114.70 | 136 |
246 | A | Pekin | 114.47 | 135 |
247 | A | AGWSR, Ackley | 114.42 | 139 |
248 | A | Saint Ansgar | 114.16 | 126 |
249 | A | North Cedar, Stanwood | 113.47 | 137 |
250 | A | West Hancock, Britt | 111.65 | 125 |
251 | A | South O’Brien, Paullina | 109.36 | 122 |
252 | A | Clayton Ridge, Guttenberg | 108.81 | 125 |
253 | 8P | WACO, Wayland* | 108.25 | 126 |
254 | A | North Linn, Troy Mills | 108.15 | 120 |
255 | A | Newman Catholic, Mason City | 107.19 | 117 |
256 | A | Midland, Wyoming | 106.62 | 127 |
257 | A | BCLUW, Conrad | 106.40 | 125 |
258 | A | Martensdale-St Marys | 106.18 | 119 |
259 | 8P | St. Edmond, Fort Dodge | 105.00 | 112 |
260 | 8P | Wayne, Corydon | 104.50 | 133 |
261 | 8P | North Union | 102.06 | 125 |
262 | A | Gehlen Catholic, LeMars | 101.90 | 109 |
263 | A | New London | 101.66 | 120 |
264 | 8P | Audubon | 101.32 | 113 |
265 | A | Starmont | 99.49 | 124 |
266 | 8P | Iowa Valley, Marengo | 98.23 | 110 |
267 | 8P | H-L-V, Victor | 97.91 | 116 |
268 | 8P | Kingsley-Pierson | 97.77 | 111 |
269 | 8P | Graettinger-Terril | 97.10 | 116 |
270 | 8P | Southeast Warren, Liberty Center | 96.09 | 106 |
271 | A | Highland, Riverside | 95.98 | 105 |
272 | 8P | Calamus-Wheatland | 95.40 | 106 |
273 | 8P | Bishop Garrigan, Algona | 94.76 | 103 |
274 | 8P | Baxter | 94.48 | 108 |
275 | 8P | Lenox | 93.87 | 119 |
276 | 8P | Fremont-Mills, Tabor | 93.02 | 106 |
277 | 8P | Northwood-Kensett | 91.84 | 105 |
278 | 8P | East Mills | 90.77 | 102 |
279 | 8P | Newell-Fonda | 90.39 | 105 |
280 | 8P | Edgewood-Colesburg | 89.83 | 104 |
281 | 8P | Boyer Valley, Dunlap | 89.32 | 107 |
282 | 8P | English Valleys, North English | 88.76 | 105 |
283 | 8P | Janesville | 88.43 | 92 |
284 | 8P | Coon Rapids-Bayard | 87.64 | 100 |
285 | 8P | Montezuma | 86.86 | 100 |
286 | 8P | Springville | 84.45 | 94 |
287 | 8P | Gladbrook-Reinbeck | 83.62 | 98 |
288 | 8P | CAM, Anita | 83.00 | 97 |
289 | 8P | Stanton/Essex | 82.33 | 92 |
290 | 8P | Central, Elkader | 82.24 | 95 |
291 | 8P | Waterloo Christian School | 82.00 | 82 |
292 | 8P | Belle Plaine | 81.32 | 95 |
293 | 8P | Don Bosco, Gilbertville | 81.20 | 84 |
294 | 8P | North Iowa, Buffalo Center | 80.91 | 97 |
295 | 8P | Easton Valley | 80.38 | 95 |
296 | 8P | Turkey Valley, Jackson Junction | 80.33 | 96 |
297 | 8P | North Tama, Traer | 79.09 | 95 |
298 | 8P | East Union, Afton | 77.91 | 101 |
299 | 8P | Sidney | 77.62 | 95 |
300 | 8P | Moravia | 76.98 | 91 |
301 | 8P | Melcher-Dallas | 76.93 | 87 |
302 | 8P | West Bend-Mallard | 75.31 | 89 |
303 | 8P | GMG, Garwin | 75.00 | 95 |
304 | 8P | Dunkerton | 73.89 | 84 |
305 | 8P | Bedford | 73.51 | 88 |
306 | 8P | Riceville | 72.61 | 84 |
307 | 8P | Collins-Maxwell | 72.58 | 84 |
308 | 8P | Winfield-Mt. Union | 70.45 | 90 |
309 | 8P | Lone Tree | 69.81 | 79 |
310 | 8P | Griswold | 69.44 | 78 |
311 | 8P | Glidden-Ralston | 66.69 | 76 |
312 | 8P | Colo-NESCO | 66.35 | 76 |
313 | 8P | Exira-EHK | 66.04 | 78 |
314 | 8P | Harris-Lake Park | 65.29 | 75 |
315 | 8P | Siouxland Christian | 65.15 | 73 |
316 | 8P | Tripoli | 64.72 | 76 |
317 | 8P | Central City | 62.34 | 73 |
318 | 8P | Rockford | 61.47 | 77 |
319 | 8P | West Central, Maynard | 60.17 | 77 |
320 | 8P | Twin Cedars, Bussey | 58.75 | 71 |
321 | 8P | Meskwaki Settlement School | 56.00 | 56 |
322 | 8P | Clarksville | 55.55 | 63 |
323 | 8P | Murray | 54.55 | 64 |
324 | 8P | Kee, Lansing | 50.31 | 62 |
325 | 8P | Lamoni | 49.68 | 59 |
326 | 8P | Seymour | 43.84 | 56 |
327 | 8P | Ar-We-Va, Westside | 41.27 | 51 |
328 | 8P | Mormon Trail | 36.99 | 49 |
329 | 8P | St. Mary’s, Remsen | 30.42 | 32 |