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

COMPLETE 2025-26 NUMBERS (PDF)

#	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

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Classifications: FOOTBALL

Sport Breakdown

FOOTBALL2025 & 2026 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFICATIONS

FOOTBALL
2025 & 2026 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFICATIONS