Barnstable
1 high school and 5 elementary schools in our rankings · serves Barnstable
Ranks #196 of 328 Massachusetts school districts.
MCAS is the share of students meeting or exceeding expectations in 2026, grades 3–10 combined. Spending is total per-pupil expenditure in FY2024.
Barnstable is a public school district serving the town of Barnstable, the largest municipality on Cape Cod and the county seat of Barnstable County. Located on the Cape's north shore, the town is roughly 65 miles southeast of Boston and encompasses villages such as Hyannis, Osterville, and Cotuit. The district's secondary education is anchored by Barnstable High School. Single-family homes in the town are assessed above the state median, and per capita income is near the Massachusetts median. Barnstable is known historically as one of the earliest English settlements on Cape Cod, dating to the 1639 incorporation.
How it compares
- Best of its categories: Math MCAS, in the bottom 40% of districts. 26% of students in grades 3–10 met or exceeded expectations in 2026, vs 41% statewide in the same grades.
- Area to watch: Graduation rate ranks in the bottom 14% of districts.
- Trend: Chronic absence has fallen from 39.4% in 2022 to 21.7% in 2025.
- Trend: ELA MCAS is down 8.3 points since 2023 (34.8851% to 26.5373%); statewide it fell 4 points.
A district's overall rank is the average statewide percentile of its ranked schools, with a 10% discount for single-school districts. Category standings compare the average of each district's ranked schools and count only districts with data. How we rank
Schools in Barnstable
We rank high schools that report SAT results and elementary schools with grade 3 MCAS results, so some of the district's schools (middle schools, for example) aren't listed. Elementary ELA and Math are 2024–2026 averages of grade 3 results.
MCAS results
Share of students meeting or exceeding expectations, compared with the state. Statewide 10th-grade results dropped after 2024, when passing the MCAS stopped being a graduation requirement. There was no test in 2020.
High school results
Averages of the district's ranked high schools (Barnstable High). "MA avg" is the average of all Massachusetts districts with high school data.
Students & classrooms
47.4% female · 52.4% male · 0.2% nonbinary
Spending & teachers
Spending is total per-pupil expenditure from all sources. Dollar figures aren't adjusted for inflation. "MA median" is the middle district in each year; small districts can spend far more per student, so the median is a fairer yardstick than the average. Salary is the average across 427 full-time-equivalent teachers.
Attendance
12 days absent per student (MA avg 11) · 4.9% missed 20% or more of school days
About Barnstable
What could you afford here? · All towns A–Z
Town figures are FY2026 averages for single-family homes from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Assessed values usually run below recent sale prices. "MA median" is the median of the state's 351 towns.
Compare Barnstable with nearby districts
Side by side: test scores, spending, class size, home values and taxes. Distance is between district centers. Compare with any district