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Needham, Massachusetts - 8 schools
An equity score of 30/100 ranks Needham #252 of 362 districts in Massachusetts (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $23,810 per pupil, Needham ranks #118 of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending (Massachusetts districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
5,594
Total Enrollment
8
Schools
$23,810
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Middle
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Needham operates 8 public schools serving 5,594 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Massachusetts. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 elementary, 2 middle, 1 high, 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 Norfolk County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $23,810 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 75.6% local, 20.3% state, and 4.1% 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 30/100, ranked #252 of 362 in Massachusetts against a state average of 38, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 8 schools offering Advanced Placement (16 AP courses district-wide), a 216.3:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 11.9% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 70.1% White, 12.7% Asian, 6.9% Hispanic or Latino across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is John Eliot, with a diversity index of 62.6/100.
Its largest campus is Needham High, enrolling 1,633 students (30% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is John Eliot, at 397 students, a 4x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Needham High accounts for 29.2% of all Needham student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Needham-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.
Needham school enrollment varies 4.1× across entities
Needham school enrollment ranges from 397 students (lowest) to 1,633 students (highest), a spread of 1,236 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.
Needham student-counselor ratio is 216:1 — 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.
Needham chronic absenteeism rate is 11.9% — 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.