The Best Schools in Boston 2015 — Sortable Chart

For our annual public school rankings, we’ve made a few changes. This year’s list focuses on the top districts inside or bisected by I–495. As always, we used a statistician to crunch numbers provided by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (see more on methodology below), and rewarded schools that have smaller class sizes, lower student-to-teacher ratios, and higher rates of per-pupil spending, among other characteristics. In response to criticism of such rankings, we’ve also tried to deemphasize test results. We still take standardized test scores into account—but we reduced the weight of those scores within the overall rankings. We also changed the way we measure Advanced Placement scores. Previously, we considered only the percentage of Advanced Placement test takers who scored highly on the AP exam. This year, we also looked at the percentage of students in each school who took the exam in the first place.

 

See where your district landed in our exclusive ranking below. Sort 125 school districts by enrollment, test scores, student–teacher ratio, graduation rate, and more.

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DISTRICT	Rank	Enrollment	Avg. Class Size	Student-to-Teacher Ratio	Per-Pupil Spending	Graduation Rate (%)	Attending College (%)	Avg. SAT Reading	Avg. SAT Writing	Avg. SAT Math	AP Participation	AP Scoring 3-5 (%)	3rd Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS Reading (%)	3rd Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS Math (%)	5th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS English (%)	5th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS Math (%)	5th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS Science (%)	8th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS English (%)	8th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS Math (%)	8th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS Science (%)	10th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS English (%)	10th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS Math (%)	10th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS Science (%)
Dover-Sherborn	1	2,036	16.7	11.9	$18,052	97.3	91.9	611	621	628	191	95.1	88	93	92	87	82	95	80	69	99	97	98
Weston	2	2,253	17.2	11.5	$20,579	99.5	85.6	597	594	618	291	82.8	91	92	82	86	73	96	72	76	96	95	81
Lexington	3	6,785	19.6	12.4	$16,812	94.9	86.5	624	630	651	747	92.3	79	87	92	90	80	96	86	79	99	98	95
Wayland	4	2,659	17.1	13.0	$16,177	98.5	87.1	600	601	631	165	89.9	81	86	88	82	76	96	82	78	99	96	91
Bedford	5	2,522	14.8	11.5	$16,993	94.6	85.1	574	574	595	135	95.2	71	89	78	76	60	89	69	54	97	92	89
Concord-Carlisle	6	4,010	17.9	12.9	$17,852	95.5	87.5	589	586	606	178	97.1	80	83	90	90	83	95	82	78	97	95	94
Harvard	7	1,143	17.1	12.9	$14,691	97.1	88.2	592	591	589	118	84.6	72	85	89	84	90	90	70	77	100	95	96
Wellesley	8	5,067	17.4	13.4	$17,232	97.3	88.9	598	596	612	308	94.5	80	87	89	87	69	93	74	59	99	94	82
Westborough	9	3,624	17.3	13.4	$14,306	97.1	91.9	572	569	599	197	95.8	80	87	85	75	75	93	77	66	97	94	93
Newton	10	12,674	18.6	12.0	$17,141	95.3	85.3	588	589	608	803	94.7	78	86	84	80	71	93	77	63	97	94	89
Sharon	11	3,483	18.6	13.6	$14,659	95.5	90.6	584	590	608	264	96.1	84	89	89	89	81	95	80	61	97	93	89
Medfield	12	2,638	18.2	13.3	$12,321	97.5	92.4	585	580	610	275	86.0	77	85	79	74	66	96	74	65	99	98	97
Lincoln-Sudbury	13	5,732	19.0	12.7	$16,042	97.1	87.9	591	593	617	246	93.5	75	82	83	84	78	93	75	71	97	94	85
Holliston	14	2,824	16.5	13.6	$12,548	99.0	88.5	566	561	591	147	92.3	84	80	80	71	69	95	83	67	98	95	92
Winchester	15	4,505	19.0	13.5	$12,380	98.5	93.8	576	576	611	224	77.3	82	91	86	85	82	92	69	69	100	99	95
Manchester Essex	16	1,507	17.6	12.0	$14,317	96.6	84.1	562	573	586	144	84.4	76	80	88	79	75	96	79	60	98	97	90
Marblehead	17	3,245	16.8	12.6	$12,706	96.5	89.0	558	560	572	238	83.6	76	81	83	83	78	95	64	72	97	89	89
Northboro-Southboro	18	4,604	17.4	13.0	$13,864	96.9	91.0	554	560	572	326	87.8	73	80	81	71	75	89	64	60	96	93	92
Westford	19	5,139	19.1	14.3	$11,838	98.0	89.8	577	574	606	353	92.8	80	87	83	86	79	96	85	81	98	97	95
Brookline	20	7,508	17.1	13.0	$16,924	91.0	82.0	588	590	618	388	93.0	72	77	82	81	67	93	81	66	96	93	87
Westwood	21	3,204	19.6	13.8	$14,827	99.1	91.0	558	552	575	260	87.8	76	88	91	88	86	93	76	54	98	97	93
Needham	22	5,519	19.1	14.5	$14,320	97.5	91.0	586	590	605	369	92.1	79	84	82	75	63	94	74	70	97	95	92
Hamilton-Wenham	23	1,864	18.2	12.7	$15,057	96.7	84.2	575	573	576	222	67.3	82	91	83	81	83	92	66	66	99	95	92
Masconomet	24	4,087	17.1	13.8	$13,558	98.6	89.6	544	548	577	276	85.6	78	82	82	80	72	88	67	68	97	94	91
Acton-Boxborough	25	5,658	21.0	15.6	$13,962	96.8	90.3	614	620	639	475	97.2	78	81	86	88	81	94	76	72	98	96	96
Andover	26	6,076	18.7	13.3	$14,377	94.9	89.9	563	559	586	487	77.7	75	82	84	84	76	95	73	60	97	92	82
Newburyport	27	2,352	17.7	13.0	$13,428	95.7	90.7	555	546	567	135	90.6	72	76	83	75	65	93	75	54	96	89	79
Hopkinton	28	3,463	20.1	13.7	$13,005	98.7	89.4	563	551	577	457	80.8	76	85	85	79	78	93	82	70	98	95	93
Nashoba	29	3,475	18.5	14.0	$13,107	94.4	86.4	568	556	591	302	89.9	73	84	79	77	68	92	75	60	97	92	90
Hingham	30	4,292	18.9	15.1	$11,430	94.2	89.5	572	571	591	236	96.7	78	88	88	84	85	95	70	60	98	95	89
Cambridge	31	6,539	14.5	10.3	$27,474	88.0	75.1	516	513	529	270	83.6	65	77	67	63	50	76	46	35	87	80	69
Norwell	32	2,261	18.7	14.0	$13,333	96.9	87.9	550	544	560	177	76.4	74	81	84	73	72	94	65	67	98	94	89
Cohasset	33	1,606	19.9	13.9	$13,478	96.1	87.2	568	548	571	133	86.9	72	81	85	85	81	96	59	48	99	99	90
Rockport	34	958	16.9	11.4	$15,877	95.8	82.9	539	530	527	56	62.1	81	72	67	63	60	92	42	58	96	86	78
Foxborough	35	2,712	16.5	13.0	$13,775	91.6	85.6	532	540	544	160	77.0	67	85	69	81	54	90	80	50	96	88	80
Lynnfield	36	2,205	19.3	13.2	$12,615	95.4	88.3	523	536	554	106	83.2	86	94	84	83	68	93	67	55	97	89	90
Arlington	37	5,208	17.6	14.5	$12,546	92.2	81.7	571	566	582	334	84.6	79	83	83	78	75	93	75	63	97	94	86
Duxbury	38	3,242	21.2	13.9	$12,497	96.9	89.0	551	549	574	268	80.8	70	76	83	81	72	92	75	66	99	98	96
Burlington	39	3,499	18.1	11.7	$16,643	91.1	88.4	521	519	534	201	79.1	62	61	69	58	51	88	67	55	97	88	76
Swampscott-Nahant	40	2,422	19.5	12.6	$14,369	98.0	85.0	537	532	548	143	81.9	82	89	71	66	63	91	61	61	92	87	86
Stoneham	41	2,317	16.1	12.4	$13,864	93.2	88.2	517	506	518	125	67.6	61	69	69	63	52	91	73	61	95	79	78
Mansfield	42	4,144	17.6	13.6	$12,101	95.4	86.2	538	540	564	213	84.6	69	79	74	68	65	85	61	45	98	94	91
Scituate	43	3,092	18.3	12.6	$12,321	90.4	87.4	525	527	541	221	70.2	75	83	86	76	75	93	65	50	97	93	79
Littleton	44	1,596	18.9	15.0	$12,719	90.5	89.4	552	555	548	74	92.9	77	81	70	71	66	92	80	75	98	95	93
Belmont	45	4,283	21.1	17.2	$12,659	95.3	85.3	592	587	610	454	91.7	81	89	91	88	81	97	83	78	98	96	91
Chelmsford	46	5,056	19.1	14.1	$12,158	94.6	88.5	547	526	569	232	82.4	69	78	77	73	70	91	70	67	97	93	88
Ashland	47	2,595	18.3	14.2	$12,677	95.4	88.4	538	520	566	167	86.2	66	71	66	64	47	90	68	62	95	94	83
North Reading	48	2,556	20.9	13.2	$13,471	93.4	92.7	527	527	540	229	61.9	70	81	81	79	73	91	64	53	96	88	89
Berlin-Boylston	49	1,034	16.7	12.4	$14,266	91.5	83.0	537	513	539	46	50.6	64	72	73	66	60	82	54	62	100	93	97
Natick	50	5,368	19.6	14.6	$13,511	93.2	88.8	544	533	558	270	79.2	78	82	79	75	69	89	70	56	97	92	89
Franklin	51	5,633	20.1	13.9	$11,131	96.3	86.0	544	538	559	291	81.4	72	83	78	75	66	89	70	63	97	95	94
Hanover	52	2,638	19.3	13.2	$11,261	98.5	89.2	508	494	510	178	63.1	74	78	81	69	73	95	66	64	97	86	86
Braintree	53	5,686	17.6	13.9	$12,215	91.6	80.7	524	514	546	287	92.1	71	77	81	81	78	91	71	62	94	92	87
Pentucket	54	2,718	18.3	12.5	$12,327	92.8	83.9	534	519	538	168	71.6	63	75	73	66	61	93	57	50	98	89	85
Reading	55	4,407	19.4	14.1	$11,281	94.2	90.6	542	541	563	190	79.2	67	70	76	69	59	91	59	57	98	89	86
Canton	56	3,326	19.5	14.1	$13,739	95.7	85.1	526	531	556	172	74.7	72	81	83	78	71	87	69	56	94	88	88
Dedham	57	2,776	16.7	12.0	$16,434	91.8	82.3	489	468	501	186	55.7	64	78	70	70	69	82	57	38	95	93	87
Walpole	58	3,946	20.2	13.6	$12,768	94.1	88.4	526	526	529	162	80.6	73	85	84	76	77	88	63	53	96	88	89
Ipswich	59	1,918	17.3	13.6	$11,944	94.7	87.1	533	517	527	102	75.7	61	83	63	65	62	83	56	40	99	85	75
Milton	60	4,011	19.0	14.0	$12,992	94.0	87.7	516	504	539	220	74.6	69	83	82	79	63	87	66	47	95	90	93
Wilmington	61	3,448	18.8	12.7	$14,049	92.9	87.1	517	501	543	118	65.2	70	77	74	73	60	87	65	48	99	92	79
Georgetown	62	1,462	18.6	13.4	$11,056	93.8	88.9	532	530	540	42	97.4	65	81	72	80	59	85	48	40	94	85	87
Medway	63	2,395	18.8	16.3	$12,432	95.2	86.5	539	534	545	268	75.1	76	82	83	85	76	92	73	57	97	89	76
Easton	64	3,795	19.9	14.3	$11,476	95.2	88.4	543	528	547	332	64.9	61	72	75	76	66	91	65	59	96	89	73
Watertown	65	2,484	17.1	10.8	$17,279	87.4	77.5	497	491	535	105	72.0	59	70	68	66	59	79	56	40	93	89	78
Wakefield	66	3,439	18.6	13.5	$12,418	92.8	85.0	528	527	554	141	72.4	64	77	75	64	63	85	63	50	95	88	86
King Philip	67	4,793	20.8	15.0	$12,672	93.9	86.3	541	533	550	307	78.5	71	78	82	76	77	88	61	60	96	88	91
Millis	68	1,407	18.4	14.7	$11,714	94.5	88.5	508	507	503	74	84.3	68	86	64	75	59	92	56	35	97	84	80
Triton	69	2,753	18.0	12.5	$13,451	85.8	82.5	518	500	551	112	73.8	63	74	72	69	65	82	63	54	95	88	81
Framingham	70	8,153	16.8	11.7	$16,515	84.6	78.0	520	515	550	368	91.2	48	58	56	47	43	74	48	35	94	84	85
Hull	71	1,034	15.3	11.9	$15,614	81.9	80.2	512	509	522	67	46.8	62	79	62	64	45	74	46	35	89	79	79
Norwood	72	3,480	16.9	12.8	$13,985	85.7	82.6	502	491	508	106	77.3	68	69	63	59	57	89	63	41	93	84	79
North Andover	73	4,795	22.1	16.4	$11,769	95.1	91.8	545	536	552	275	89.1	70	75	77	70	62	89	69	43	96	81	86
Danvers	74	3,588	19.4	13.3	$13,232	93.2	85.2	505	498	525	240	69.1	63	80	67	62	45	83	51	43	92	81	80
West Bridgewater	75	1,308	19.9	14.3	$10,635	98.1	82.1	510	496	522	85	55.0	78	95	82	68	69	84	62	39	97	94	88
Amesbury	76	2,280	19.0	14.7	$13,036	89.4	86.9	529	525	541	80	86.5	64	68	64	58	66	77	57	55	94	80	80
Marshfield	77	4,267	22.3	12.9	$11,424	92.4	86.5	518	515	527	209	67.1	72	82	80	76	70	90	57	41	96	84	80
Melrose	78	3,711	20.6	14.5	$11,505	96.1	84.0	515	498	519	171	67.3	76	84	83	74	64	89	60	50	97	84	82
Norton	79	2,526	18.4	13.5	$12,848	87.5	83.4	513	498	523	163	58.4	60	56	71	67	60	88	55	54	91	84	84
Stoughton	80	3,658	16.9	12.5	$12,394	87.6	82.7	482	472	494	110	64.0	63	70	69	59	54	80	55	44	95	80	84
Hudson	81	2,876	18.0	12.0	$14,014	90.7	80.3	513	511	511	157	64.6	58	69	64	50	43	74	27	25	91	79	69
Silver Lake	82	3,742	20.8	14.6	$12,407	97.9	80.1	514	508	542	191	68.3	70	79	68	68	65	90	57	51	96	88	69
Medford	83	4,514	16.2	11.5	$13,960	86.7	77.5	486	486	502	152	81.4	47	51	58	48	48	75	43	45	92	84	65
Waltham	84	5,254	16.1	11.1	$18,866	84.7	74.8	473	472	502	182	69.4	47	55	58	53	52	81	40	34	90	75	68
Maynard	85	1,418	17.3	13.4	$14,326	88.9	83.3	521	503	517	77	68.1	61	52	60	41	45	76	43	33	83	74	67
Woburn	86	4,761	17.5	13.1	$14,154	84.6	80.8	490	480	505	150	75.5	62	70	63	59	60	83	47	41	90	76	66
Tewksbury	87	3,658	20.0	14.7	$13,161	93.1	83.1	493	481	509	147	69.2	64	70	68	66	58	84	55	39	96	89	81
Billerica	88	5,144	19.1	13.6	$13,609	89.9	77.6	511	510	530	167	70.6	56	64	62	59	41	84	48	44	95	88	91
Quincy	89	9,229	15.6	13.3	$14,642	85.7	77.1	466	470	516	302	76.0	56	71	61	57	51	77	51	39	86	73	69
Beverly	90	4,500	19.0	14.8	$12,631	90.7	76.9	518	510	525	189	58.8	61	73	69	69	50	86	57	54	91	76	81
Milford	91	4,176	18.7	13.1	$12,428	86.6	76.1	491	488	500	271	60.1	58	66	65	48	55	86	54	51	94	82	74
Plymouth	92	7,703	17.2	12.5	$13,453	88.9	69.5	474	457	493	298	68.3	57	73	67	58	56	82	60	43	91	81	78
Avon	93	741	16.4	11.8	$12,755	83.9	81.1	475	454	458	13	45.0	67	82	78	81	62	89	48	26	88	71	72
Gloucester	94	2,963	18.0	11.2	$14,489	89.5	63.4	500	487	511	93	69.2	54	61	68	60	57	76	53	27	91	74	76
Pembroke	95	3,224	20.5	16.6	$10,774	92.7	78.2	503	499	525	214	62.2	62	74	67	77	67	88	72	45	95	86	82
Peabody	96	5,972	17.8	13.7	$12,396	88.3	71.7	503	487	514	410	68.5	62	67	65	54	50	77	40	32	88	77	66
Carver	97	1,641	18.2	13.4	$12,904	95.0	64.3	523	510	550	75	63.9	53	69	61	56	45	81	43	31	91	81	60
Marlborough	98	4,543	17.5	12.3	$14,723	81.6	73.0	493	480	521	225	56.0	51	70	57	50	46	73	41	31	85	76	74
Winthrop	99	1,938	19.9	12.9	$11,622	88.2	82.5	471	458	501	166	38.9	55	66	64	51	49	75	45	33	89	83	77
Bridgewater-Raynham	100	5,301	20.3	16.2	$11,976	91.9	76.3	501	493	518	191	65.6	66	75	67	65	59	86	65	51	91	83	83
Salem	101	4,199	16.2	10.0	$14,837	85.4	72.7	458	445	474	250	42.9	47	60	45	48	38	64	32	20	77	53	60
Bellingham	102	2,381	18.0	14.6	$12,454	87.8	67.5	515	499	519	130	42.1	63	74	67	56	60	81	48	40	93	81	72
East Bridgewater	103	2,288	23.1	16.9	$10,384	95.6	82.5	503	493	494	137	53.4	61	68	75	67	82	84	55	40	96	92	79
Saugus	104	2,725	17.6	13.1	$13,017	81.8	75.8	456	443	470	95	68.2	66	72	65	59	46	70	35	26	92	75	65
Middleborough	105	3,120	20.0	13.7	$12,536	90.1	73.0	495	468	506	128	53.0	56	74	62	55	50	80	32	33	92	76	64
Weymouth	106	6,721	19.0	16.2	$12,610	87.8	73.6	505	492	508	188	75.9	66	71	62	59	55	74	31	31	95	80	79
Somerville	107	4,987	17.6	11.8	$16,494	77.0	68.2	450	456	467	145	71.6	48	49	56	51	43	73	45	38	82	68	67
Randolph	108	2,904	18.3	11.4	$15,587	75.7	76.1	439	437	469	123	53.7	50	60	51	45	30	63	33	26	81	67	54
Abington	109	1,956	21.4	15.4	$11,988	83.3	82.0	488	477	496	56	53.4	54	68	64	60	39	83	45	31	91	79	80
Whitman-Hanson	110	4,052	23.1	16.9	$10,450	93.8	72.7	509	513	521	279	66.3	61	74	63	66	60	80	36	40	92	82	80
Holbrook	111	1,198	16.6	14.1	$13,829	79.2	69.8	462	461	481	37	27.5	52	57	61	66	63	79	63	30	91	67	61
Rockland	112	2,263	18.7	15.8	$13,477	89.9	76.7	472	479	488	69	40.4	35	58	66	55	56	74	42	21	91	79	55
Methuen	113	6,953	20.5	14.7	$11,875	86.4	78.8	474	458	484	423	39.8	41	52	50	51	34	70	39	23	85	65	65
Haverhill	114	7,240	17.9	14.8	$12,115	74.5	74.0	494	481	502	261	58.3	49	60	54	46	46	68	43	26	78	64	59
Malden	115	6,564	20.8	14.5	$12,792	79.9	74.0	455	447	508	443	49.4	37	47	50	49	42	69	45	32	84	76	63
Boston	116	54,312	17.3	12.8	$17,598	66.7	71.5	432	432	467	2752	51.4	36	53	41	41	22	63	37	15	76	64	47
Lowell	117	14,075	19.3	14.0	$13,167	73.8	81.9	462	449	493	261	65.0	42	60	39	42	24	60	40	18	80	65	50
Revere	118	7,025	20.0	13.7	$13,933	77.8	62.3	424	419	448	262	53.2	53	66	67	59	51	75	48	40	87	76	70
Taunton	119	7,910	20.6	15.2	$11,913	80.6	66.5	480	470	487	183	58.1	54	63	55	46	38	71	36	33	86	71	57
Wareham	120	2,623	16.9	13.0	$14,000	73.5	53.8	466	463	460	78	36.3	43	55	48	45	51	70	38	33	81	62	54
Everett	121	7,071	20.2	13.8	$12,484	76.9	70.3	415	401	427	157	40.9	39	54	47	42	31	67	25	19	78	62	48
Brockton	122	17,186	18.9	15.0	$12,991	72.7	74.3	443	429	460	224	46.3	30	45	38	38	21	65	32	20	82	62	58
Lynn	123	14,871	19.6	14.2	$13,169	75.8	64.0	439	419	450	279	32.8	42	60	46	44	33	57	31	22	78	58	45
Lawrence	124	13,889	18.8	13.6	$13,852	66.9	67.2	390	383	400	249	37.1	29	58	39	38	27	57	36	17	63	44	18
Chelsea	125	6,350	21.4	15.2	$13,460	63.6	61.4	430	414	450	221	48.2	25	57	23	28	12	49	34	11	77	56	59

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METHODOLOGY: We ranked the 125 school districts that lie primarily inside I-495. We used the most recent data available at press time from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. For each district, statistician George Recck, director of the Math Resource Center at Babson College, created a weighted average value based on the best available data for the district’s individual schools—including high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. Recck then compared each district’s data values with the overall average for all districts and applied a percentage weight to the standardized value for each, to create an aggregate score. Finally, the districts were ranked based on that statistical score.