Chicopee vs Palmer Schools
How the two districts, about 14 miles apart, compare on test scores, high school results, classrooms, spending and housing.
The short answer
- Overall: Palmer ranks higher, #223 to Chicopee's #238 of 328 Massachusetts districts.
- MCAS 2026: Mixed: Chicopee leads in ELA (28% vs 22%), Palmer in Math (28% vs 26%). Statewide: 41% and 41%.
- High school: Palmer has no high school in our rankings (its students may attend a regional high school), so only Chicopee has SAT and graduation figures (SAT average 1077).
- Spending: Similar: $22,445 per student in Chicopee and $23,575 in Palmer.
- Homes: Similar: single-family homes average $301K in Chicopee and $301K in Palmer. The average tax bill is $4,580 in Chicopee and $5,014 in Palmer.
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 | Chicopee | Palmer | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 28% | 22% | 41% |
| 2025 | 28% | 27% | 43% |
| 2024 | 30% | 25% | 42% |
| 2023 | 32% | 34% | 45% |
| 2022 | 29% | 27% | 44% |
| 2021 | 33% | 35% | 49% |
| Year | Chicopee | Palmer | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 26% | 28% | 41% |
| 2025 | 26% | 30% | 41% |
| 2024 | 28% | 30% | 42% |
| 2023 | 28% | 31% | 42% |
| 2022 | 27% | 26% | 40% |
| 2021 | 20% | 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
| Chicopee | Palmer | |
|---|---|---|
| Students in classes | 6,877 | 1,118 |
| English learners | 9.4% | 4.5% |
| Students with disabilities | 21.5% | 19.6% |
| White | 40.6% | 72.3% |
| Asian | 1.6% | 1.9% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 47% | 19% |
| Black/African American | 6.4% | 2.1% |
| Multi-race | 4.2% | 4.8% |
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.