On this page
If you searched this, you probably want one of two answers. Either how old your child has to be before they can start school, or what date classes actually begin this year. This page answers the age question in detail, because it is the one with real rules attached, and covers the calendar question at the end.
The three grades, and the ages that go with them
Almost every US school system uses the same ladder. The ages below are the standard pattern. Your state's cutoff date decides which side of a line your particular child falls on.
The standard ladder
Pre-K at 4, kindergarten at 5, first grade at 6
Typical ages in the United States. The exact rule is set by your state's cutoff date.
Kindergarten cutoff dates and required ages, by state
This is the rule that decides everything. Your child must turn 5 on or before your state's cutoff date to start kindergarten that school year. Miss it by a day and they wait a year.
Point at any state below, or tap it on a phone, to see its cutoff date and the age at which school becomes required there. The full list is in the table underneath.
All 50 states and DC
Cutoff dates span five months, from July 1 in West Virginia to December 1 in New York
The date your child must have turned 5 by, to start kindergarten that year. States are drawn as equal squares in roughly their geographic positions, so small states stay readable.
View all 51 rows as a table
| State | Must turn 5 by | School required at age | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | September 1 | 6 | – |
| Alaska | September 1 | 7 | – |
| Arizona | September 1 | 6 | – |
| Arkansas | August 1 | 5 | – |
| California | September 1 | 6 | Transitional kindergarten covers younger fours |
| Colorado | October 1 | 6 | Districts may set an earlier date |
| Connecticut | Set by district | 5 | State guideline is January 1 |
| Delaware | August 31 | 5 | – |
| District of Columbia | September 30 | 5 | – |
| Florida | September 1 | 6 | – |
| Georgia | September 1 | 6 | – |
| Hawaii | July 31 | 5 | – |
| Idaho | September 1 | 7 | – |
| Illinois | September 1 | 6 | – |
| Indiana | August 1 | 7 | – |
| Iowa | September 15 | 6 | – |
| Kansas | August 31 | 7 | – |
| Kentucky | August 1 | 6 | – |
| Louisiana | September 30 | 7 | – |
| Maine | October 15 | 6 | – |
| Maryland | September 1 | 5 | – |
| Massachusetts | Set by district | 6 | Commonly September 1 or August 31 |
| Michigan | September 1 | 6 | Waiver possible for children turning 5 by December 1 |
| Minnesota | September 1 | 7 | – |
| Mississippi | September 1 | 6 | – |
| Missouri | August 1 | 7 | – |
| Montana | September 10 | 7 | – |
| Nebraska | July 31 | 6 | – |
| Nevada | September 30 | 7 | – |
| New Hampshire | Set by district | 6 | Most districts use September 30 |
| New Jersey | October 1 | 6 | Districts may set an earlier date |
| New Mexico | September 1 | 5 | – |
| New York | December 1 | 6 | One of the latest cutoffs in the country |
| North Carolina | August 31 | 7 | – |
| North Dakota | August 1 | 7 | – |
| Ohio | September 30 | 6 | Districts may set August 1 instead |
| Oklahoma | September 1 | 5 | – |
| Oregon | September 1 | 6 | – |
| Pennsylvania | Set by district | 6 | Most districts use September 1 |
| Rhode Island | September 1 | 5 | – |
| South Carolina | September 1 | 5 | – |
| South Dakota | September 1 | 5 | – |
| Tennessee | August 15 | 6 | – |
| Texas | September 1 | 6 | – |
| Utah | September 1 | 6 | – |
| Vermont | Set by district | 6 | Most districts use January 1 or September 1 |
| Virginia | September 30 | 5 | – |
| Washington | August 31 | 8 | Latest compulsory age in the country |
| West Virginia | July 1 | 6 | Earliest cutoff in the country |
| Wisconsin | September 1 | 6 | – |
| Wyoming | September 15 | 7 | – |
Important: These are state-level defaults and they change. Districts in several states set their own dates within a range, and a few states allow waivers for children who miss the cutoff narrowly. Treat this as a starting point and confirm with your district before making a decision.
How a cutoff date works in practice
Take a state with a September 1 cutoff, which covers 21 states.
- A child born August 20, 2021 turns 5 on August 20, 2026. That is before September 1, so they start kindergarten in autumn 2026.
- A child born September 20, 2021 turns 5 after the cutoff. They wait, and start kindergarten in autumn 2027 as one of the oldest in their class.
One month of birthday separates those two children by a full school year. This is the single most common surprise for parents, and it is worth checking your own child's date against your state's line before you plan anything else.
Being allowed to start is not the same as being required to start
These are two separate rules and they frequently do not match, which is why the map above shows both.
The cutoff date tells you the earliest your child may enroll in kindergarten.
The compulsory attendance age tells you when your child must be in school. In some states that is 5, meaning kindergarten is effectively required. In others it is 6, 7, or even 8, meaning a family can legally delay the start of formal school.
Compulsory attendance
Twenty-six states do not require school until age 6, and Washington waits until 8
The age at which school attendance becomes legally required, across the 50 states and DC.
View the counts
| School becomes required at | Number of states, including DC |
|---|---|
| Age 5 | 11 states + DC |
| Age 6 | 26 states |
| Age 7 | 12 states |
| Age 8 | 1 state (Washington) |
This matters if you are considering holding a child back a year, sometimes called redshirting, or if your child has a summer birthday. In a state where school is not required until 6, waiting a year is a legal choice rather than a request you have to win.
What about pre-K, before any of this starts?
Pre-K is optional everywhere in the US, and availability varies enormously. Some states fund a free public program for four-year-olds, some fund it only for lower-income families, and a few fund none at all. The name changes by state: VPK in Florida, 4K in Wisconsin, UPK in Colorado, TK in California.
If you are looking for a free public option, search your state's name plus "state funded preschool", or go directly to your school district's enrollment page. Searching "pre-K" alone often returns private preschools with tuition.
And when does the school year actually begin?
This one has a shorter answer: your local school district decides, and there is no national or even statewide standard in most places.
Broadly, start dates run from late July or early August in much of the South and Southwest, through mid to late August across the Midwest and West, to just after Labor Day in much of the Northeast. Some districts run a year-round or balanced calendar with a shorter summer and longer breaks during the year.
The only reliable source is your own district's academic calendar, usually published on its website several months ahead. Search your district name plus "academic calendar" or "first day of school".
What to check this week
Three things, in this order.
- Find your state on the map above and write down the cutoff date. Compare it to your child's birthday.
- Open your school district's enrollment page and note the registration window. That is the only date here that can expire.
- Call the district office and ask one question: "My child was born on this date. Which grade are they eligible for this year, and when do I register?" They answer this all day and the call takes two minutes.
Sources
- National Center for Education Statistics. Table 1.2: Compulsory school attendance laws, minimum and maximum age limits for required free education, by state. nces.ed.gov. Accessed July 28, 2026. Primary source for every compulsory attendance age on this page, and for the counts in the third figure. The table reflects statutes as of 2020, which is the most recent version NCES publishes in this series. Several states have footnoted local variation.
- Kindergarten entrance cutoff dates compiled from state policy summaries citing the Education Commission of the States 50-state kindergarten policy database, updated February 2026. ecs.org. Accessed July 28, 2026. Secondhand. The compiled table was read from a policy summary rather than from the ECS database directly, so individual dates should be confirmed with your state or district. This is stated in the map caption as well.
- Education Commission of the States. 50-State Comparison: Free and Compulsory School Age Requirements, 2025. ecs.org. Accessed July 28, 2026. Used to corroborate that eight states set kindergarten entrance age at the district level and that compulsory ages range from 5 to 8.