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Gloucester, Massachusetts - 8 schools
An equity score of 42/100 ranks Gloucester #140 of 362 districts in Massachusetts (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $22,410 per pupil, Gloucester ranks #168 of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending (Massachusetts districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,849
Total Enrollment
8
Schools
$22,410
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Gloucester operates 8 public schools serving 2,849 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Massachusetts. The school portfolio breaks down into 5 elementary, 1 high, 1 middle, 1 combined 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 Essex County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $22,410 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 69.5% local, 21.9% state, and 8.6% 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 42/100, ranked #140 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 8 schools offering Advanced Placement (11 AP courses district-wide), a 270.3:1 student-counselor ratio, somewhat above the 250:1 ASCA recommendation, and 33.0% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 77.6% White, 14.8% Hispanic or Latino, 2.0% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Beeman Memorial, with a diversity index of 52.0/100.
Its largest campus is Gloucester High, enrolling 776 students (28% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Gloucester Preschool, at 101 students, a 8x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Gloucester High accounts for 27.2% of all Gloucester student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Gloucester-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.
Gloucester school enrollment varies 7.7× across entities
Gloucester school enrollment ranges from 101 students (lowest) to 776 students (highest), a spread of 675 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Gloucester student-counselor ratio is 270:1 — near the typical range (US average ~408) — within the typical range for U.S. public districts
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 Variation between sub-units within Gloucester is typically wider than the Gloucester-aggregate figure suggests.
Gloucester chronic absenteeism rate is 33.0% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.