The share of Illinois households involved in homeschooling went from 2.1 percent as the pandemic ramped up at the end of April 2020 to 5.4 percent at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, the Census Bureau reported.
That represented an increase of 3.3 percentage points in Illinois. The Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey compared homeschooling rates during April 23 to May 5 vs. the rate during Sept. 30 to Oct. 12.
The bureau’s data showed that the homeschooling rate nationwide shot up during 2020, from 5.4 percent last spring to 11.1 percent in the fall, based on the households surveyed. That difference indicates a rise of 5.6 percentage points and a twofold spike in the number of households engaging in homeschooling by the start of the 2020-2021 school year, the study found.
The two states with the biggest spikes in homeschooling over the same period in 2020 were Alaska, with a rise of 17.9 percentage points, and Florida, which saw an increase of 13.1 percentage points.
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Homeschooling Rates of Households by State
| State / Territory | Homeschooling Rate, April 23 - May 5 | Homeschooling Rate, Sept. 30 - Oct. 12 | Difference in % Points |
| Alabama | 5.0% | 12.1% | 7.1 |
| Alaska | 9.6% | 27.5% | 17.9 |
| Arizona | 5.4% | 13.0% | 7.6 |
| Arkansas | 6.8% | 10.3% | 3.5 |
| California | 8.6% | 8.7% | 0.1 |
| Colorado | 3.4% | 8.7% | 5.3 |
| Connecticut | 2.5% | 7.5% | 5.0 |
| Delaware | 8.9% | 9.1% | 0.2 |
| District of Columbia | 7.0% | 10.3% | 3.3 |
| Florida | 5.0% | 18.1% | 13.1 |
| Georgia | 7.1% | 16.0% | 8.9 |
| Hawaii | 4.5% | 8.1% | 3.6 |
| Idaho | 8.0% | 10.3% | 2.3 |
| Illinois | 2.1% | 5.4% | 3.3 |
| Indiana | 5.4% | 10.0% | 4.7 |
| Iowa | 6.6% | 6.0% | -0.6 |
| Kansas | 2.4% | 10.1% | 7.7 |
| Kentucky | 7.7% | 6.5% | -1.2 |
| Louisiana | 6.2% | 14.5% | 8.3 |
| Maine | 4.1% | 11.6% | 7.6 |
| Maryland | 4.4% | 6.1% | 1.7 |
| Massachusetts | 1.5% | 12.1% | 10.6 |
| Michigan | 5.3% | 11.3% | 6.0 |
| Minnesota | 4.6% | 9.7% | 5.1 |
| Mississippi | 3.4% | 15.0% | 11.6 |
| Missouri | 5.9% | 10.9% | 5.0 |
| Montana | 8.2% | 18.3% | 10.1 |
| Nebraska | 3.0% | 6.5% | 3.5 |
| Nevada | 2.5% | 13.1% | 10.6 |
| New Hampshire | 3.4% | 6.3% | 2.9 |
| New Jersey | 4.7% | 10.7% | 6.1 |
| New Mexico | 6.4% | 14.3% | 8.0 |
| New York | 1.2% | 10.1% | 9.0 |
| North Carolina | 5.0% | 9.4% | 4.4 |
| North Dakota | 2.8% | 8.2% | 5.4 |
| Ohio | 6.1% | 9.4% | 3.3 |
| Oklahoma | 7.7% | 20.1% | 12.4 |
| Oregon | 8.3% | 13.0% | 4.7 |
| Pennsylvania | 7.3% | 10.8% | 3.5 |
| Rhode Island | 4.4% | 7.3% | 3.0 |
| South Carolina | 6.4% | 13.2% | 6.8 |
| South Dakota | 6.5% | 12.5% | 6.0 |
| Tennessee | 5.4% | 13.2% | 7.8 |
| Texas | 4.5% | 12.3% | 7.8 |
| Utah | 5.7% | 11.2% | 5.5 |
| Vermont | 4.1% | 16.9% | 12.8 |
| Virginia | 7.9% | 9.4% | 1.5 |
| Washington | 6.6% | 8.1% | 1.5 |
| West Virginia | 5.4% | 16.6% | 11.2 |
| Wisconsin | 3.5% | 8.1% | 4.7 |
| Wyoming | 6.5% | 12.9% | 6.4 |
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