Contents
- Basketball participation statistics: U.S. high school totals and gender
- Basketball participation statistics: boys’ school basketball by state
- Basketball participation statistics: girls’ school basketball by state
- Basketball participation statistics: adult participation in England
- Basketball participation statistics: youth participation and participation pathways
- Sources
Basketball participation statistics: U.S. high school totals and gender
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) recorded 903,952 combined boys’ and girls’ basketball participation entries for the 2023-24 school year. The total consists of 536,668 boys’ entries and 367,284 girls’ entries. These figures describe high school competition in that school year; they are not a count of every person in the United States who played basketball in any setting. NFHS 2023-24 High School Athletics Participation Survey
| NFHS high school basketball participation, 2023-24 | Entries |
|---|---|
| Boys | 536,668 |
| Girls | 367,284 |
| Combined | 903,952 |
NFHS uses participation entries as its unit. Its survey note says a student who takes part in 2 sports is counted twice, a student in 3 sports is counted 3 times, and so on. The basketball figures therefore describe involvement in school sports programs, rather than necessarily representing unique students. The combined total is the survey’s reported figure, not an estimate of informal, club or adult basketball participation. NFHS 2023-24 High School Athletics Participation Survey
The survey’s program rankings put basketball among the largest high school sports. Boys’ basketball ranked 3rd by participation, behind 11-player football and outdoor track and field. Girls’ basketball ranked 4th, after outdoor track and field, volleyball and soccer. The rankings apply to NFHS high school entries in 2023-24, not to all basketball activity across ages and settings. NFHS 2023-24 High School Athletics Participation Survey
The boys’ total is larger than the girls’ total in this survey, but the counts do not explain why. They do not measure participation opportunity, interest, or reasons for playing, and they do not cover every form of basketball. They are most useful when read as school competition counts with a defined year and unit. NFHS 2023-24 High School Athletics Participation Survey
Basketball participation statistics: boys’ school basketball by state
The NFHS state table reports boys’ high school basketball entries for the 2023-24 school year. California recorded 46,883 entries, Illinois 21,099 and Florida 20,616. Each is a count, not a state participation rate adjusted for population or the number of eligible students. NFHS 2023-24 High School Athletics Participation Survey, boys’ state table
| Jurisdiction | Boys’ basketball entries, 2023-24 |
|---|---|
| California | 46,883 |
| Illinois | 21,099 |
| Florida | 20,616 |
| Georgia | 12,026 |
| Alabama | 12,673 |
| Colorado | 9,852 |
| Arizona | 8,617 |
| Arkansas | 6,387 |
| Connecticut | 5,094 |
| Idaho | 3,929 |
| Hawaii | 1,781 |
| Alaska | 1,745 |
| Delaware | 1,560 |
| District of Columbia | 1,078 |
Within this selection, California has the largest listed count, followed by Illinois and Florida. The District of Columbia, Delaware and Alaska have the smallest listed counts. This is a descriptive comparison of the jurisdictions shown; the values alone do not establish where an individual student is most likely to play. NFHS 2023-24 High School Athletics Participation Survey, boys’ state table
The table’s figures all refer to boys’ high school basketball in 2023-24. The survey’s counting rule applies at state level as well: participation is recorded by sport, and students active in multiple sports can appear in multiple program counts. A larger raw count can reflect a larger school-age population or a broader program footprint, but the figures here do not provide a denominator to distinguish those possibilities. NFHS 2023-24 High School Athletics Participation Survey, boys’ state table
Basketball participation statistics: girls’ school basketball by state
For girls’ high school basketball in 2023-24, California reported 28,950 entries, Illinois 13,647 and Florida 11,482. Alabama reported 8,003 girls’ high-school basketball participation entries in 2023-24. These are school competition counts, not rates or estimates of all girls and young women playing in each jurisdiction. NFHS 2023-24 High School Athletics Participation Survey, girls’ state table
| Jurisdiction | Girls’ basketball entries, 2023-24 |
|---|---|
| California | 28,950 |
| Illinois | 13,647 |
| Florida | 11,482 |
| Georgia | 7,484 |
| Alabama | 8,003 |
| Colorado | 6,939 |
| Arizona | 6,040 |
| Arkansas | 5,018 |
| Connecticut | 3,523 |
| Idaho | 3,097 |
| Alaska | 1,400 |
| Hawaii | 1,288 |
| Delaware | 889 |
| District of Columbia | 542 |
In this group, California, Illinois and Florida have the largest reported counts. The District of Columbia, Delaware and Hawaii have the smallest. These comparisons indicate program size in the recorded school competition measure; they do not show the share of eligible students participating. The table does not supply comparable student-population denominators. NFHS 2023-24 High School Athletics Participation Survey, girls’ state table
Read alongside the boys’ state figures, the counts can describe participation entries by gender within the same school-year survey. They should not be interpreted as participation rates or treated as current-year counts. Both are tied to the 2023-24 NFHS period and to high school competition. NFHS 2023-24 High School Athletics Participation Survey, girls’ state table
Basketball participation statistics: adult participation in England
Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey chart reports that 254k men aged 16 and over in England took part in basketball at least twice in the last 28 days during the survey period from mid-November 2024 to mid-November 2025. The chart reports 66k women using the same age threshold, activity frequency and period. The values are rounded to thousands. Sport England, Active Lives Adult Survey November 2024–25, p. 26
| England adults aged 16+, basketball at least twice in the last 28 days | Reported count |
|---|---|
| Men, mid-November 2024 to mid-November 2025 | 254k |
| Women, mid-November 2024 to mid-November 2025 | 66k |
The frequency threshold is important: this is participation at least twice within a 28-day window. It is not a weekly count and does not represent registered players. The chart concerns adults aged 16 and over in England, and the two sex-specific numbers are rounded estimates. They should be kept in that context rather than read as exact headcounts or combined into an unreported overall total. Sport England, Active Lives Adult Survey November 2024–25, p. 26
Basketball England’s facts and figures page gives an earlier adult survey measure for November 2022 to November 2023. It reports 344,400 people in England taking part at least twice in a 28-day period, including 272,200 men and 66,900 women. These figures are tied to that earlier survey period and its stated threshold. They are separate from the later Sport England chart, which presents rounded values in thousands. Basketball England, Facts and Figures
The two reporting periods are useful for understanding the published measures but should not be treated as a direct like-for-like trend without further information. The data presented here identify different survey years and presentation precision. Neither source excerpt supplies a basis for explaining changes or attributing them to particular causes. Basketball England, Facts and Figures
Basketball participation statistics: youth participation and participation pathways
Basketball England reports weekly basketball participation among under-16s in England through the Active Lives Children and Young People survey. The reported figure was 1,178,300 in academic year 2021–22 and 1,198,900 in academic year 2022–23. The latter is described as “over 20,000 more” under-16s playing weekly. This measure concerns weekly participation, rather than league registration or high school roster entries. Basketball England, Facts and Figures
For 2022–23, Basketball England also reports 640,000 weekly participants in school years 3–6 and 509,600 in school years 7–11. Its gender split for under-16 weekly participants is 814,600 boys and 374,000 girls. These are distinct views of the youth participation figures by school-year group and gender. They describe the survey’s weekly play measure and should not be combined with licensed-player totals. Basketball England, Facts and Figures
Organized league participation offers a different view of the pathway into structured competition. Basketball England’s internal data, reported at 31 March 2025, lists 14,279 licensed National League players. This group includes 9,276 under-16s and 2,430 females. The same reporting lists 22,986 licensed Local League/BUCS players, including 8,914 under-16s and 4,128 females. These are licensed-player counts in named league groupings on the stated date; they are not a survey estimate of everyone who plays weekly. Basketball England, Facts and Figures
| Basketball England licensed participation, reported 31 March 2025 | Players | Under 16 | Female |
|---|---|---|---|
| National League | 14,279 | 9,276 | 2,430 |
| Local League/BUCS | 22,986 | 8,914 | 4,128 |
The figures provide a snapshot of licensed roles in those competitions. A player can be part of a formal league structure while also being represented in a survey’s weekly participation measure, but the two data sources do not establish how many people are shared between these counts. Their definitions and reference periods differ, so the figures should be read separately. Basketball England, Facts and Figures
The participation pathway also includes people who support games and teams. At 31 March 2025, Basketball England reported 2,151 licensed coaches. Of these, 1,396 qualified for the National League, 2,036 held a level 2 or higher qualification, and 319 were female. The organization also reported 2,960 officials holding at least 1 licence. These are coaching and officiating counts, not player totals, and add context to the organized roles around basketball participation. Basketball England, Facts and Figures