Barnstable vs Nantucket Schools
How the two districts, about 29 miles apart, compare on test scores, high school results, classrooms, spending and housing.
The short answer
- Overall: Barnstable ranks higher, #196 to Nantucket's #240 of 328 Massachusetts districts.
- MCAS 2026: Nantucket students score higher: ELA 29% vs 27%, Math 30% vs 26% met expectations. Statewide: 41% and 41%.
- SAT: Nantucket averages 30 points higher (1080 vs 1050).
- Spending: Nantucket spends $7,084 more per student ($29,898 vs $22,814).
- Homes: Homes cost more in Nantucket: single-family homes average $3.17M vs $823K. The average tax bill is $5,599 in Barnstable and $9,904 in Nantucket.
MCAS results, 2026
Share of students meeting or exceeding expectations, all tested grades combined. Both districts test grades 3–10; "State" is the statewide figure for the same grades.
| Year | Barnstable | Nantucket | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 27% | 29% | 41% |
| 2025 | 29% | 34% | 43% |
| 2024 | 30% | 32% | 42% |
| 2023 | 35% | 36% | 45% |
| 2022 | 34% | 37% | 43% |
| 2021 | 43% | 41% | 49% |
| Year | Barnstable | Nantucket | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 26% | 30% | 41% |
| 2025 | 27% | 26% | 42% |
| 2024 | 29% | 29% | 42% |
| 2023 | 30% | 29% | 42% |
| 2022 | 28% | 26% | 40% |
| 2021 | 25% | 23% | 36% |
No test in 2020. Statewide 10th-grade results dropped after 2024, when passing the MCAS stopped being a graduation requirement.
High school results
Averages of each district's ranked high schools. "MA avg" is the average of all districts with high school data.
Classrooms, teachers & spending
Spending is total per-pupil expenditure from all sources in FY2024. Class size is the average across all classes in the district.
Students
| Barnstable | Nantucket | |
|---|---|---|
| Students in classes | 4,635 | 1,728 |
| English learners | 25.8% | 20.3% |
| Students with disabilities | 18.4% | 20% |
| White | 46.4% | 38.1% |
| Asian | 2.1% | 2.2% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 33.6% | 45.9% |
| Black/African American | 10.1% | 8.7% |
| Multi-race | 7.3% | 5.2% |
Homes & taxes
What could you afford in either town?
FY2026 averages for single-family homes from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue; for a district with several towns, the comparison uses the average of its towns. Assessed values usually run below recent sale prices.