An equity score of 58/100 ranks Palmer #18 of 362 districts in Massachusetts (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $22,554 per pupil, Palmer ranks #196 of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending (Massachusetts districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,154
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$22,554
Per-Pupil Spending
Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Palmer operates 2 public schools serving 1,154 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Massachusetts. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 combined 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 Hampden County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $22,554 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 23.6% local, 64.8% state, and 11.6% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 58/100, ranked #18 of 362 in Massachusetts against a state average of 38, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 2 schools offering Advanced Placement (7 AP courses district-wide), a 147.5:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 33.5% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 72.3% White, 16.7% Hispanic or Latino, 3.1% African American across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Old Mill Pond, enrolling 677 students (62% of the district's total enrollment).
Enrollment across the district's NCES-reporting campuses fell 4.3% between 2022-23 and 2023-24 (1,134 to 1,085 students), and the student-teacher ratio widened by 0.6 students per teacher despite the decline, per the NCES Common Core of Data annual universe files.
Of the district's $29,712,000 in reported FY2023 expenditures, 54.6% went to instruction, 33% to support services, and 0.6% to capital outlay, a fairly typical instruction/support/capital split for a public school district. Figures come from the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey's function-level breakdown, not the aggregate per-pupil figure above.
Old Mill Pond accounts for 58.7% of all Palmer student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Palmer a distant remainder — means Palmer-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade band: combined. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how the district allocates programs, capital, or staff. Because it contains a majority of the affected population, enrollment-weighted aggregates will sit closer to this entity's reported fields than to those of smaller peers; an unweighted entity count answers a different question.
Palmer student-counselor ratio is 148:1 — 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.
Palmer chronic absenteeism rate is 33.5% — 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.