New Bedford
1 high school and 17 elementary schools in our rankings · serves New Bedford
Ranks #258 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.
New Bedford is a city on Buzzards Bay in Bristol County, roughly 55 miles south of Boston on Massachusetts' South Coast. Historically one of the world's leading whaling ports in the nineteenth century, the city's waterfront and industrial heritage are recognized today through the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. New Bedford is served by a single public school district, which includes New Bedford High School, and the city is also home to the Fairhaven-adjacent working harbor and a growing creative economy centered in its downtown and historic district.
How it compares
- Best of its categories: Attendance, in the bottom 42% of districts. Students attend 92.3% of school days, vs 93.7% for the average MA district.
- Area to watch: Graduation rate ranks in the bottom 11% of districts.
- Top school: William H Taylor, #206 of 895 Massachusetts elementary schools.
- Trend: Chronic absence has fallen from 47.9% in 2022 to 24.2% 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 New Bedford
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 (New Bedford High). "MA avg" is the average of all Massachusetts districts with high school data.
Students & classrooms
47.6% female · 52.3% 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 1,034 full-time-equivalent teachers.
Attendance
13.2 days absent per student (MA avg 11) · 7.3% missed 20% or more of school days
About New Bedford
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 New Bedford with nearby districts
Side by side: test scores, spending, class size, home values and taxes. Distance is between district centers. Compare with any district