Which Gila County school had largest enrollment in 2025-26 school year?

Payson High School had the highest enrollment among Gila County schools, welcoming 663 students during the 2025-26 academic year, according to the Arizona Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2025-26 school year, 52.5% were boys, and 47.5% were girls.

The most represented ethnicity among Payson High School students was Asian, accounting for 0% of the student population.

Among the 25 schools in Gila County, Copper Rim Elementary School ranked second in enrollment numbers with 625 students, while Rice Elementary School welcomed 620 students and ranked third in the 2025-26 school year.

Payson High School is part of Payson Unified District, which roughly covers schools within Gila County and has a main office in Payson.

In the previous school year, Young High School had the highest number of students among Gila County schools.

Arizona ranks dead last in educational success among U.S. states, according to World Population Review, which graded states based on K–12 performance, funding, higher education, and safety.

Arizona’s K-12 enrollment is shifting amid a declining school-aged population, projected to drop by 40,000 by 2028, according to the Common Sense Institute.

Information in this story was obtained from the Arizona Department of Education. The source data can be found here.