Wakefield
1 high school and 4 elementary schools in our rankings · serves Wakefield
Ranks #74 of 328 Massachusetts school districts — top 23%.
MCAS is the share of students meeting or exceeding expectations in 2026, grades 3–10 combined. Spending is total per-pupil expenditure in FY2024.
Wakefield is a suburban town located about 10 miles north of Boston in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The town is known for Lake Quannapowitt, a 300-acre lake at its center that draws residents for recreation and offers views from the surrounding neighborhoods. Wakefield's history includes its origins as a settlement in the 1640s and its later development as a manufacturing and rail town, and it is home to the Wakefield Historical Society. With single-family assessed values and per capita income that place it well above the state average, Wakefield offers a residential, community-oriented character within easy commuting distance of Boston.
How it compares
- Strongest area: Math MCAS, in the top 12% of districts. 55% 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 14% of districts.
- Top school: Greenwood, #99 of 895 Massachusetts elementary schools.
- Trend: Chronic absence has risen from 16% in 2022 to 21.1% 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 Wakefield
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 (Wakefield Memorial High). "MA avg" is the average of all Massachusetts districts with high school data.
Students & classrooms
49.1% female · 50.8% 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 287 full-time-equivalent teachers.
Attendance
14.5 days absent per student (MA avg 11) · 3.6% missed 20% or more of school days
About Wakefield
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 Wakefield with nearby districts
Side by side: test scores, spending, class size, home values and taxes. Distance is between district centers. Compare with any district