Impact Essex County

How is our county doing?

In 2026, 46% of students in Essex County were economically disadvantaged, above the statewide rate of 41%. Essex County's rate has increased from 32% in 2017, rising at a similar rate to the state.

Of the 42 school districts and charter schools in Essex County with data in 2026, 20 had economically disadvantaged students make up more than 25% of their student body, and 10 had rates of 50% or more. The Lawrence School District had the highest rate in Essex County at 83%, followed by the Lynn School District at 74%, the Lawrence Family Development Charter at 72% and the Community Day Charter Public School-Prospect at 70%.

Notes about the data

Data is from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Students are considered economically disadvantaged if they participate in one or more of the following state-administered programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC); the Department of Children and Families' (DCF) foster care program; and MassHealth (Medicaid). It is important to note that a lower share of students is identified as economically disadvantaged under this measure than was identified under the previously used free or reduced-price lunch measure. National data is not available for this measure.

Economically Disadvantaged Students

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Essex County, MA	32%	34%	33%	36%	40%	48%	47%	47%	47%	46%
Middlesex County, MA	20%	21%	21%	22%	25%	32%	31%	30%	31%	30%
Massachusetts	30%	32%	31%	33%	37%	44%	42%	42%	42%	41%
School Districts in Essex
Amesbury	22%	23%	23%	23%	28%	34%	34%	33%	34%	33%
Andover	6%	7%	8%	9%	10%	12%	12%	12%	12%	12%
Beverly	26%	26%	25%	26%	28%	35%	33%	32%	32%	31%
Boxford	4%	5%	4%	6%	7%	9%	9%	7%	6%	6%
Community Day Charter Public School - Gateway	51%	51%	50%	51%	65%	74%
Community Day Charter Public School - Prospect	48%	54%	48%	49%	63%	78%	74%	71%	74%	70%
Community Day Charter Public School - R. Kingman Webster	49%	52%	49%	53%	60%	76%
Danvers	16%	16%	16%	18%	21%	27%	25%	26%	27%	24%
Essex Agricultural Technical	21%	18%	17%	18%	19%	24%	24%	24%	25%	26%
Georgetown	9%	9%	9%	9%	11%	15%	15%	14%	13%	14%
Gloucester	35%	37%	35%	38%	41%	48%	48%	44%	45%	44%
Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational Technical	52%	53%	50%	55%	61%	71%	67%	65%	63%	62%
Hamilton-Wenham	7%	7%	7%	7%	7%	11%	8%	8%	8%	6%
Haverhill	45%	47%	46%	48%	54%	63%	61%	61%	61%	61%
Hill View Montessori Charter Public	15%	18%	17%	19%	31%	37%	42%	42%	36%	37%
Ipswich	12%	14%	14%	15%	17%	21%	20%	19%	19%	18%
KIPP Academy Lynn Charter	48%	51%	49%	51%	58%	72%	67%	65%	65%	64%
Lawrence	65%	64%	63%	71%	79%	89%	86%	85%	85%	83%
Lawrence Family Development Charter	55%	60%	55%	59%	67%	84%	76%	78%	73%	72%
Lynn	52%	59%	57%	58%	65%	76%	74%	74%	74%	74%
Lynnfield	7%	8%	7%	7%	9%	11%	10%	10%	10%	10%
Manchester Essex Regional	8%	8%	8%	8%	11%	14%	14%	13%	13%	12%
Marblehead	9%	10%	9%	10%	11%	14%	13%	13%	12%	13%
Marblehead Community Charter Public	3%	11%	12%	14%	17%	22%	22%	28%	29%	28%
Masconomet	6%	6%	6%	6%	8%	11%	8%	11%	10%	9%
Methuen	32%	35%	35%	36%	42%	54%	53%	54%	54%	53%
Middleton	8%	9%	8%	8%	9%	12%	12%	11%	14%	12%
Nahant	20%	20%	17%	20%	22%	24%	20%	17%	17%	19%
Newburyport	9%	10%	8%	10%	12%	13%	12%	13%	13%	12%
North Andover	13%	14%	15%	16%	19%	23%	23%	22%	23%	22%
Peabody	30%	31%	30%	32%	37%	46%	46%	45%	45%	44%
Pentucket	10%	12%	12%	11%	13%	16%	16%	17%	16%	14%
River Valley Charter	6%	8%	9%	8%	8%	10%	8%	9%	8%	7%
Rockport	17%	18%	19%	20%	21%	29%	28%	27%	26%	23%
Salem	47%	49%	48%	49%	55%	63%	60%	62%	60%	57%
Salem Academy Charter	32%	31%	30%	33%	38%	54%	50%	55%	54%	57%
Saugus	27%	29%	30%	33%	37%	47%	46%	47%	48%	46%
Silver Hill Horace Mann Charter	25%	29%
Swampscott	14%	15%	15%	16%	19%	24%	21%	21%	20%	20%
Topsfield	7%	4%	4%	4%	4%	7%	6%	7%	5%	6%
Triton	18%	21%	20%	22%	25%	34%	31%	30%	28%	26%
Whittier Regional Vocational Technical	29%	30%	28%	31%	34%	41%	39%	38%	37%	36%

Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education

Number of Economically Disadvantaged Students

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Essex County, MA	36,767	39,074	38,410	41,010	44,587	53,249	51,270	51,901	52,305	50,167
Middlesex County, MA	43,846	46,947	45,027	48,459	53,499	67,138	65,598	65,372	66,035	63,189
Massachusetts	288,465	305,203	297,120	310,873	333,843	399,140	386,060	385,697	385,161	369,909
School Districts in Essex
Amesbury	482	501	473	465	524	603	602	606	608	594
Andover	376	416	449	501	549	673	634	665	661	630
Beverly	1,161	1,155	1,160	1,234	1,309	1,600	1,497	1,428	1,440	1,397
Boxford	28	39	29	41	50	63	65	55	49	43
Community Day Charter Public School - Gateway	142	164	181	204	259	298
Community Day Charter Public School - Prospect	193	215	191	196	250	311	885	854	882	835
Community Day Charter Public School - R. Kingman Webster	136	167	178	212	241	301
Danvers	547	559	554	598	685	860	813	842	870	741
Essex Agricultural Technical	274	253	243	265	300	402	401	415	455	507
Georgetown	127	132	123	119	135	192	189	180	160	145
Gloucester	1,017	1,063	1,019	1,070	1,127	1,368	1,332	1,265	1,263	1,215
Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational Technical	768	796	786	878	994	1,168	1,128	1,155	1,158	1,171
Hamilton-Wenham	122	120	126	128	123	179	137	133	127	100
Haverhill	3,362	3,530	3,661	3,891	4,165	4,855	4,734	4,818	4,843	4,698
Hill View Montessori Charter Public	45	55	51	58	95	114	127	128	111	112
Ipswich	221	246	234	245	263	333	314	303	304	267
KIPP Academy Lynn Charter	575	687	716	824	932	1,164	1,076	1,044	1,059	1,035
Lawrence	8,991	8,875	8,645	9,577	10,081	11,359	10,995	11,064	11,282	10,732
Lawrence Family Development Charter	392	440	416	461	523	669	647	681	660	662
Lynn	7,904	9,098	8,936	9,369	10,154	11,995	11,447	11,776	12,095	11,691
Lynnfield	145	169	158	156	204	233	224	220	213	219
Manchester Essex Regional	111	112	108	115	142	169	172	161	153	137
Marblehead	293	301	288	290	305	361	327	341	300	304
Marblehead Community Charter Public	7	24	27	29	36	49	49	49	55	63
Masconomet	110	113	100	103	140	172	128	161	150	136
Methuen	2,190	2,410	2,389	2,444	2,702	3,454	3,403	3,548	3,511	3,316
Middleton	55	61	53	57	62	86	87	80	102	84
Nahant	28	29	26	31	33	40	31	25	28	34
Newburyport	206	225	182	215	245	286	267	276	273	242
North Andover	607	694	698	749	840	1,050	1,017	988	1,006	946
Peabody	1,789	1,839	1,811	1,945	2,159	2,724	2,702	2,609	2,616	2,466
Pentucket	260	290	292	268	290	357	363	369	351	321
River Valley Charter	18	22	25	23	23	28	22	26	24	21
Rockport	154	163	172	171	158	213	202	178	166	141
Salem	1,759	1,808	1,793	1,784	2,055	2,313	2,235	2,372	2,289	2,221
Salem Academy Charter	141	146	148	161	190	267	245	270	260	274
Saugus	689	740	774	847	846	1,142	1,132	1,216	1,282	1,204
Silver Hill Horace Mann Charter	140	164
Swampscott	315	324	330	355	397	483	421	427	427	423
Topsfield	44	27	23	27	25	43	40	44	29	37
Triton	462	529	491	520	546	744	683	639	574	543
Whittier Regional Vocational Technical	381	373	351	384	430	528	497	490	469	460

Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education

INDICATORS	TREND \| ESSEX COUNTY
People 65 or Older Living Alone	Decreasing
Early Prenatal Care by Mother's Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Prevalence of Overweight Adults	Not Applicable
Preterm Births	Increasing
Infant Mortality Rate	Maintaining
Children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels	Decreasing
Children Living in Poverty	Increasing
Children Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Disengaged Youth	Maintaining
Live Births to Teen Mothers	Decreasing
Youth Arrests	Decreasing
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Establishments	Maintaining
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Employment	Maintaining
Tourism Spending	Increasing
Voter Participation Rate	Increasing
Charitable Contributions	Maintaining
Protected Land	Not Applicable
Days with Good Air Quality	Increasing
Beach Contamination	Increasing
Daily Water Use per Resident	Decreasing
Crimes Against People	Maintaining
Crimes Against Property	Decreasing
Drug-Related Arrests	Maintaining
Reports of Domestic Violence	Increasing
Incarceration Rates	Decreasing
Recidivism	Decreasing
Households Without Vehicles	Decreasing
Means of Transportation to Work	Not Applicable
Traffic Injuries and Fatalities	Maintaining
Households With Internet Access	Not Applicable
Change in Total Population	Increasing
Change in Population by Age/Sex	Not Applicable
People with Disabilities	Maintaining
Households by Type	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Sex	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Change in Population by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Foreign-Born Population	Increasing
Language Diversity	Increasing
Change in Total Jobs	Increasing
Change in Jobs by Sector	Not Applicable
Change in Average Salary	Increasing
Change in Average Salary by Sector	Not Applicable
Average Salary by Sector	Not Applicable
Median Earnings by Occupation by Gender	Not Applicable
People Entering/Leaving County for Work	Not Applicable
Employer Size	Not Applicable
Self-Employment Revenue	Increasing
Business Ownership by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Unemployment Rate	Increasing
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Prekindergarten Participation	Not Applicable
Female Enrollment in School	Not Applicable
Chronically Absent Students	Increasing
Per-Student Spending	Increasing
Bullying	Decreasing
Student Performance on Grade 3 Reading	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 8 Math by Student Group	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 English Language Arts	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 Math	Not Applicable
High School Cohort Graduation Rate	Increasing
High School Cohort Graduation Rate by Student Group	Not Applicable
Education Levels of Adults	Not Applicable
Bachelor's Degree or Higher by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Income in Relation to Poverty Level	Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income	Increasing
Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income by Household Type	Not Applicable
Living Wage Rate by Household Type	Not Applicable
Access to Financial Services, by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Households Receiving Temporary Assistance	Increasing
Households Receiving Federal Food Assistance	Increasing
Participation in Food Assistance by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Earned Income Tax Credit Participation	Decreasing
Economically Disadvantaged Students	Increasing
Median Home Value	Increasing
Cost of Homeownership	Increasing
Cost of Renting	Increasing
Homeownership Rates	Maintaining
Homeownership Rates by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Homeless Persons	Not Applicable
People Without Health Insurance	Decreasing
Medical Care Expenses	Increasing
Prevalence of Children with Asthma	Maintaining
Prevalence of Overweight Children	Maintaining
Diabetes Incidence	Decreasing
Chronic Disease Among Older Adults	Increasing
Cancer Incidence	Decreasing
Cancer Mortality Rate	Decreasing
Heart Disease Mortality Rate	Decreasing
Mortality Rate	Decreasing
People who Smoke	Not Applicable
Use of Illegal Drugs	Not Applicable
Youth Use of Illegal Drugs	Not Applicable
Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions	Not Applicable
Drug Overdose Mortality Rate	Increasing
Prevalence of Mental Illness	Maintaining
Suicide Rate	Maintaining
Children Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Change in Population by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 3 Reading	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 8 Math by Student Group	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 English Language Arts	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 Math	Not Applicable
High School Cohort Graduation Rate by Student Group	Not Applicable
Bachelor's Degree or Higher by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Participation in Food Assistance by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Homeownership Rates by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable

INDICATORS

TREND | ESSEX COUNTY