Gloucester
1 high school and 4 elementary schools in our rankings · serves Gloucester
Ranks #228 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.
Gloucester is a coastal city on Cape Ann, roughly 35 miles north of Boston on the North Shore. Settled in 1623, it is among the oldest seaports in the United States and has long been tied to commercial fishing, shipbuilding, and maritime industry. The city's harbor, rocky shoreline, and artists' colonies, including the Rocky Neck art community, have made it a destination for visual artists and visitors. Gloucester Public Schools serves the city through Gloucester High School, and the district's average single-family assessed value and per capita income place the community among the more affluent areas of the North Shore.
How it compares
- Strongest area: SAT scores, in the top 34% of districts. Its high schools average 1150 on the SAT, vs 1113 for the average MA district.
- Area to watch: Attendance ranks in the bottom 16% of districts.
- Trend: Chronic absence has fallen from 34.5% in 2022 to 27.5% 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 Gloucester
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 (Gloucester High). "MA avg" is the average of all Massachusetts districts with high school data.
Students & classrooms
49.7% female · 50.2% male · 0.1% 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 268 full-time-equivalent teachers.
Attendance
14.4 days absent per student (MA avg 11) · 7.1% missed 20% or more of school days
About Gloucester
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 Gloucester with nearby districts
Side by side: test scores, spending, class size, home values and taxes. Distance is between district centers. Compare with any district