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Ipswich, Massachusetts - 4 schools
An equity score of 44/100 ranks Ipswich #126 of 362 districts in Massachusetts (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $22,408 per pupil, Ipswich ranks #169 of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending (Massachusetts districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,624
Total Enrollment
4
Schools
$22,408
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined, High
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Ipswich operates 4 public schools serving 1,624 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Massachusetts. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined, 1 high, 1 middle schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. 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 $22,408 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 73.3% local, 21.1% state, and 5.7% 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 44/100, ranked #126 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 4 schools offering Advanced Placement (14 AP courses district-wide), a 103:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 11.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 82.1% White, 9.6% Hispanic or Latino, 1.6% Asian across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Winthrop, with a diversity index of 32.7/100.
Its largest campus is Ipswich High, enrolling 447 students (29% of the district's total enrollment).
Ipswich High accounts for 27.5% of all Ipswich student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Ipswich-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.
Ipswich student-counselor ratio is 103:1 — well below typical (typically associated with unusually small scale or exceptionally high per-unit investment)
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 Values this far below typical often correlate with unusually small scale or population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se — worth checking whether the underlying denominator is itself an outlier.
Ipswich chronic absenteeism rate is 11.1% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.