Northampton
1 high school and 4 elementary schools in our rankings · serves Northampton
Ranks #128 of 328 Massachusetts school districts — top 40%.
MCAS is the share of students meeting or exceeding expectations in 2026, grades 3–10 combined. Spending is total per-pupil expenditure in FY2024.
Northampton is a city in Hampshire County in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, roughly 90 miles west of Boston and situated along the Connecticut River. The Northampton Public Schools serve the city and are anchored by Northampton High School. The city is known for its college town character, as it is home to Smith College, one of the largest private liberal arts colleges for women in the country, and it has a historic downtown with a long tradition of arts and independent culture. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, practiced law in Northampton and later lived in the city, and the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Room remains part of the local landmarks.
How it compares
- Strongest area: SAT scores, in the top 8% of districts. Its high schools average 1264 on the SAT, vs 1113 for the average MA district.
- Area to watch: Graduation rate ranks in the bottom 46% of districts.
- Top school: Northampton High, #41 of 335 Massachusetts high schools.
- Trend: Chronic absence has fallen from 24.3% in 2022 to 15.9% 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 Northampton
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 (Northampton High). "MA avg" is the average of all Massachusetts districts with high school data.
Students & classrooms
47.3% female · 51.7% male · 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 240 full-time-equivalent teachers.
Attendance
10.8 days absent per student (MA avg 11) · 4.7% missed 20% or more of school days
About Northampton
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 Northampton with nearby districts
Side by side: test scores, spending, class size, home values and taxes. Distance is between district centers. Compare with any district