Nahant vs Swampscott Schools
How the two districts, about 4 miles apart, compare on test scores, high school results, classrooms, spending and housing.
The short answer
- Overall: Swampscott ranks higher, #88 to Nahant's #275 of 328 Massachusetts districts.
- MCAS 2026: Swampscott students score higher: ELA 49% vs 44%, Math 48% vs 44% met expectations.
- High school: Nahant has no high school in our rankings (its students may attend a regional high school), so only Swampscott has SAT and graduation figures (SAT average 1179).
- Spending: Similar: $22,912 per student in Nahant and $21,736 in Swampscott.
- Homes: Homes cost more in Nahant: single-family homes average $1.07M vs $957K. The average tax bill is $9,654 in Nahant and $11,478 in Swampscott.
MCAS results, 2026
Share of students meeting or exceeding expectations, all tested grades combined. The districts serve different grades (Nahant: grades 3–6; Swampscott: grades 3–10), so the state figure isn't shown.
| Year | Nahant | Swampscott |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 44% | 49% |
| 2025 | — | 47% |
| 2024 | — | 54% |
| 2023 | — | 49% |
| 2022 | 50% | 51% |
| 2021 | 60% | 59% |
| Year | Nahant | Swampscott |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 44% | 48% |
| 2025 | — | 46% |
| 2024 | — | 52% |
| 2023 | — | 48% |
| 2022 | 57% | 46% |
| 2021 | 40% | 44% |
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
| Nahant | Swampscott | |
|---|---|---|
| Students in classes | 169 | 2,118 |
| English learners | 0% | 4.5% |
| Students with disabilities | 23.7% | 23.3% |
| White | 84% | 73.4% |
| Asian | 1.1% | 2.7% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 9.1% | 15.3% |
| Black/African American | 1.1% | 3.9% |
| Multi-race | 4.6% | 4.1% |
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.