Cambridge
1 high school and 11 elementary schools in our rankings · serves Cambridge
Ranks #69 of 328 Massachusetts school districts — top 22%.
MCAS is the share of students meeting or exceeding expectations in 2026, grades 3–10 combined. Spending is total per-pupil expenditure in FY2024.
Cambridge is a city of roughly 118,000 residents directly across the Charles River from Boston, in Middlesex County. The Cambridge Public Schools district serves the entire city and operates Cambridge Rindge and Latin, one of the oldest public high schools in the United States, with roots dating to 1648. Cambridge is home to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, giving it a distinctive academic and research character. Single-family homes in the city carry some of the highest assessed values in the Commonwealth, and per capita income is also notably high.
How it compares
- Strongest area: ELA MCAS, in the top 18% of districts. 59% of students in grades 3–10 met or exceeded expectations in 2026, vs 41% statewide in the same grades.
- Area to watch: Attendance ranks in the bottom 40% of districts.
- Top school: Maria L. Baldwin, #14 of 895 Massachusetts elementary schools.
- Trend: Chronic absence has fallen from 27.8% in 2022 to 21.7% in 2025.
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 Cambridge
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 (Cambridge Rindge and Latin). "MA avg" is the average of all Massachusetts districts with high school data.
Students & classrooms
48.8% female · 50.9% male · 0.3% 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 763 full-time-equivalent teachers.
Attendance
12.7 days absent per student (MA avg 11) · 7% missed 20% or more of school days
About Cambridge
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 Cambridge with nearby districts
Side by side: test scores, spending, class size, home values and taxes. Distance is between district centers. Compare with any district