Chelsea
1 high school and 4 elementary schools in our rankings · serves Chelsea
Ranks #280 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.
Chelsea is a city located just across the Mystic River from Boston, roughly 3 miles northeast of downtown in Suffolk County. Its public school district serves the city's students through Chelsea High School, and the district is part of a densely populated urban community with a long industrial and maritime history along the Chelsea Creek. The city is known for its diverse, immigrant-rich neighborhoods and its role as one of the original gateway communities into the Greater Boston area. Chelsea was incorporated as a city in 1857 and is home to the Bellingham Square and Chelsea Soldiers' Home, the latter of which dates to 1874.
How it compares
- Best of its categories: Math MCAS, in the bottom 31% of districts. 21% of students in grades 3–10 met or exceeded expectations in 2026, vs 41% statewide in the same grades.
- Area to watch: ELA MCAS ranks in the bottom 5% of districts.
- Trend: Chronic absence has fallen from 39.8% in 2022 to 36% 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 Chelsea
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 (Chelsea High). "MA avg" is the average of all Massachusetts districts with high school data.
Students & classrooms
48.2% female · 51.8% male
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 491 full-time-equivalent teachers.
Attendance
18.8 days absent per student (MA avg 11) · 15% missed 20% or more of school days
About Chelsea
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 Chelsea with nearby districts
Side by side: test scores, spending, class size, home values and taxes. Distance is between district centers. Compare with any district