Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. District totals are aggregated directly from the schools reporting under this district in the source records. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Salem, Massachusetts - 11 schools
An equity score of 49/100 ranks Salem #74 of 362 districts in Massachusetts (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $26,434 per pupil, Salem ranks #93 of 396 Massachusetts districts by per-pupil spending (Massachusetts districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
Salem operates 11 public schools serving 3,752 students, placing it among the smaller districts in Massachusetts. The school portfolio breaks down into 4 elementary, 3 high, 3 combined, 1 middle 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 $26,434 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 46.5% local, 41.5% state, and 12.0% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 49/100, ranked #74 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 11 schools offering Advanced Placement (34 AP courses district-wide), a 108.3:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 34.6% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 49.3% Hispanic or Latino, 36.7% White, 6.8% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Salem Early Childhood, with a diversity index of 65.0/100.
Its largest campus is Salem High, enrolling 952 students (25% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Salem Prep High School, at 23 students, a 41x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
That concentration means Salem-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade band: high. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how the district allocates programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Salem school enrollment ranges from 23 students (lowest) to 952 students (highest), a spread of 929 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.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
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.
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.
This district has moderate funding equity. There may be room to improve funding diversity or resource allocation.
Average demographic composition across 11 schools in Salem.
Source: NCES CCD School Membership 2024-25.
Average Simpson diversity index across Salem's schools, above the Massachusetts average of 47.3.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
| School | Enrollment |
|---|---|
| Salem High | 952 |
| Collins Middle | 611 |
| Witchcraft Heights | 455 |
| Saltonstall School | 412 |
| Bates | 410 |
| Horace Mann Laboratory | 293 |
| Bentley Academy Innovation School | 286 |
| Carlton | 247 |
| Salem Early Childhood | 106 |
| New Liberty Innovation School | 36 |
| Salem Prep High School | 23 |
The Massachusetts districts closest to this one in total enrollment.
| District | Enrollment | Spending | Funding Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marshfield | Similar size | Lower spending | More locally funded |
| Walpole | Similar size | Lower spending | More locally funded |
| Hingham | Similar size | Lower spending | More locally funded |
| Westborough | Similar size | Lower spending | More locally funded |
| Dracut | Similar size | Lower spending | Less locally funded |
Comparisons are relative to Salem's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
Out-of-state peers matched by enrollment and by per-pupil expenditure, not the same-state lists above.
See how this district compares to others in enrollment, spending, demographics, and academic resources.
Compare vs Boston →Salem has 11 schools, including 3 high, 1 middle, 4 elementary, 3 combined. Total enrollment is 3,752 students.
Salem spends $26,434 per student. The district has an equity score of 49/100, ranking #74 in Massachusetts.
Salem students are 49.3% Hispanic or Latino, 36.7% White, 6.8% African American, 2.1% Asian, averaged across 11 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
Salem has an equity score of 49/100, ranking #74 out of 362 districts in Massachusetts.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.