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Brookline, Massachusetts - 13 schools
An equity score of 40/100 ranks Brookline #157 of 362 districts in Massachusetts (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $28,587 per pupil, Brookline ranks #41 of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending (Massachusetts districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
7,116
Total Enrollment
13
Schools
$28,587
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, Elementary
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Brookline operates 13 public schools serving 7,116 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Massachusetts. The school portfolio breaks down into 6 combined, 6 elementary, 1 high schools, a compact enough portfolio that families can compare every campus directly before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Norfolk County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $28,587 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending. See how Massachusetts compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 78.2% local, 17.6% state, and 4.2% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers. The district's equity score is 40/100, ranked #157 of 362 in Massachusetts against a state average of 38, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 13 schools offering Advanced Placement (18 AP courses district-wide), a 204.4:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 15.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 43.0% White, 27.5% Asian, 11.1% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is William H Lincoln, with a diversity index of 74.3/100.
Its largest campus is Brookline High, enrolling 2,181 students (31% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Brookline Early Education Program at Putterham, at 46 students, a 47x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Brookline High accounts for 30.6% of all Brookline student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Brookline-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Brookline school enrollment varies 47× across entities
Brookline school enrollment ranges from 46 students (lowest) to 2,181 students (highest), a spread of 2,135 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme enrollment heterogeneity, the district operates both small specialty programs and large comprehensive campuses inside a single budgeting unit. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Brookline student-counselor ratio is 204:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Brookline chronic absenteeism rate is 15.1% — near the typical range (US average ~28) — aligned with the national post-pandemic baseline of roughly 28% chronic absenteeism
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Variation between sub-units within Brookline is typically wider than the Brookline-aggregate figure suggests.