Net School Spending Ranking

Here is the ranking of districts based on how much they budgeted over the Required Net School Spending for FY26. This was taken from DESE’s FY25 Net School Spending compliance data.

Ranking Over NSS	District Name	FY26 Required NSS	FY26 Budgeted NSS	Amt Over or Under Req’d	Budgeted as % of Req’d
1	Provincetown	1,696,815	8,843,829	7,147,014	521.2%
2	Truro	2,240,515	7,328,234	5,087,719	327.1%
3	Upisland	5,407,027	17,515,002	12,107,975	323.9%
4	Pelham	994,542	2,944,843	1,950,301	296.1%
5	Rowe	738,129	2,156,313	1,418,184	292.1%
6	Richmond	2,029,918	5,491,621	3,461,703	270.5%
7	Lenox	6,840,967	18,175,047	11,334,080	265.7%
8	Edgartown	6,443,899	15,970,838	9,526,939	247.8%
9	Rockport	8,017,687	19,604,925	11,587,238	244.5%
10	Cambridge	129,510,667	299,094,537	169,583,870	230.9%
11	New Salem Wendell	1,726,325	3,754,387	2,028,062	217.5%
12	Pioneer Valley	9,260,407	20,135,553	10,875,146	217.4%
13	Erving	2,653,776	5,766,563	3,112,787	217.3%
14	Concord	24,705,221	52,595,437	27,890,216	212.9%
15	Wellesley	55,002,556	116,199,671	61,197,115	211.3%
16	Oak Bluffs	7,008,100	14,627,041	7,618,941	208.7%
17	Mattapoisett	5,011,904	10,256,911	5,245,007	204.7%
18	Tisbury	6,777,327	13,833,985	7,056,658	204.1%
19	Whately	1,318,482	2,676,030	1,357,548	203.0%
20	Topsfield	7,207,299	14,575,928	7,368,629	202.2%
21	Brookline	96,417,427	192,927,424	96,509,997	200.1%
22	Berkshire Hills	15,924,818	31,401,386	15,476,568	197.2%
23	Nantucket	27,205,001	53,596,656	26,391,655	197.0%
24	Hatfield	4,254,180	8,374,463	4,120,283	196.9%
25	Manchester Essex	15,858,804	30,777,816	14,919,012	194.1%
26	Leverett	1,498,441	2,904,227	1,405,786	193.8%
27	Lincoln	8,265,929	15,954,663	7,688,734	193.0%
28	Needham	76,281,733	146,093,564	69,811,831	191.5%
29	Lexington	97,403,751	185,286,483	87,882,732	190.2%
30	Hamilton Wenham	21,760,603	41,305,204	19,544,601	189.8%
31	Shutesbury	1,613,950	3,050,969	1,437,019	189.0%
32	Sherborn	5,113,436	9,664,277	4,550,841	189.0%
33	Burlington	51,628,002	97,424,436	45,796,434	188.7%
34	Southborough	15,955,210	30,106,984	14,151,774	188.7%
35	Concord Carlisle	18,326,678	34,563,084	16,236,406	188.6%
36	Carlisle	7,504,857	14,111,523	6,606,666	188.0%
37	Newton	165,580,949	309,247,936	143,666,987	186.8%
38	Nauset	18,521,955	34,447,960	15,926,005	186.0%
39	Masconomet	22,704,349	41,660,280	18,955,931	183.5%
40	Sunderland	2,644,032	4,849,627	2,205,595	183.4%
41	Conway	1,644,083	3,004,036	1,359,953	182.7%
42	Middleton	9,330,790	17,039,070	7,708,280	182.6%
43	Boxford	9,568,097	17,267,074	7,698,977	180.5%
44	Westwood	38,653,799	69,718,392	31,064,593	180.4%
45	Sudbury	31,133,950	55,817,973	24,684,023	179.3%
46	Ipswich	22,263,375	39,662,393	17,399,018	178.2%
47	Monomoy	25,452,803	45,180,039	19,727,236	177.5%
48	Dover Sherborn	15,491,744	27,384,362	11,892,618	176.8%
49	Southern Berkshire	10,042,760	17,695,549	7,652,789	176.2%
50	Sandwich	32,544,087	57,261,045	24,716,958	175.9%
51	Cohasset	18,340,792	32,121,469	13,780,677	175.1%
52	Nahant	3,229,140	5,647,938	2,418,798	174.9%
53	Dedham	40,986,144	71,430,040	30,443,896	174.3%
54	Newburyport	28,247,232	49,218,943	20,971,711	174.2%
55	Hull	12,817,624	22,310,950	9,493,326	174.1%
56	Lincoln Sudbury	21,203,438	36,841,694	15,638,256	173.8%
57	Marblehead	34,598,464	59,670,000	25,071,536	172.5%
58	Lee	9,569,336	16,467,118	6,897,782	172.1%
59	Deerfield	4,106,958	7,057,742	2,950,784	171.8%
60	Bedford	35,745,088	61,180,579	25,435,491	171.2%
61	Mashpee	23,337,211	39,674,834	16,337,623	170.0%
62	Amherst	18,435,029	31,290,598	12,855,569	169.7%
63	Wayland	36,934,326	62,213,803	25,279,477	168.4%
64	Marthas Vineyard	16,185,981	27,255,506	11,069,525	168.4%
65	Andover	77,426,406	130,365,653	52,939,247	168.4%
66	Marion	5,255,862	8,788,365	3,532,503	167.2%
67	Falmouth	46,216,368	76,762,783	30,546,415	166.1%
68	Northborough	21,615,001	35,655,373	14,040,372	165.0%
69	Berlin Boylston	14,031,796	23,115,814	9,084,018	164.7%
70	Hawlemont	1,433,004	2,344,040	911,036	163.6%
71	Hingham	47,912,626	78,334,909	30,422,283	163.5%
72	Wilmington	43,931,946	70,804,337	26,872,391	161.2%
73	Scituate	36,731,134	58,638,215	21,907,081	159.6%
74	Florida	1,021,800	1,622,795	600,995	158.8%
75	Farmington River	3,424,818	5,433,516	2,008,698	158.7%
76	Hudson	37,349,316	59,239,928	21,890,612	158.6%
77	Holland	2,560,481	4,056,965	1,496,484	158.4%
78	Maynard	19,588,909	31,011,608	11,422,699	158.3%
79	Harvard	11,501,305	18,153,550	6,652,245	157.8%
80	Avon	10,349,489	16,320,139	5,970,650	157.7%
81	Worthington	1,747,390	2,744,816	997,426	157.1%
82	Mount Greylock	15,912,315	24,899,902	8,987,587	156.5%
83	Natick	71,136,040	111,111,892	39,975,852	156.2%
84	Watertown	45,882,158	71,442,871	25,560,713	155.7%
85	Arlington	82,152,454	125,986,120	43,833,666	153.4%
86	Stoneham	35,464,502	54,364,967	18,900,465	153.3%
87	North Reading	32,692,246	50,061,990	17,369,744	153.1%
88	Gill Montague	15,721,672	23,988,259	8,266,587	152.6%
89	Lynnfield	29,707,299	45,145,316	15,438,017	152.0%
90	Northboro Southboro	17,853,684	27,129,911	9,276,227	152.0%
91	Westborough	53,792,142	81,494,732	27,702,590	151.5%
92	Medfield	32,894,595	49,826,206	16,931,611	151.5%
93	Petersham	1,523,839	2,307,318	783,479	151.4%
94	Carver	22,700,467	34,237,112	11,536,645	150.8%
95	Hancock	1,318,205	1,986,794	668,589	150.7%
96	Wales	1,866,060	2,812,179	946,119	150.7%
97	Sharon	48,374,289	72,861,286	24,486,997	150.6%
98	Winchester	58,676,705	87,634,255	28,957,550	149.4%
99	Old Rochester	14,492,520	21,608,559	7,116,039	149.1%
100	Woburn	75,880,567	113,031,925	37,151,358	149.0%
101	Canton	47,593,994	70,872,240	23,278,246	148.9%
102	Wakefield	47,239,977	70,296,275	23,056,298	148.8%
103	Triton	34,531,714	51,318,620	16,786,906	148.6%
104	Ralph C Mahar	9,593,236	14,179,395	4,586,159	147.8%
105	Somerville	101,310,910	148,551,390	47,240,480	146.6%
106	Bourne	25,664,708	37,565,295	11,900,587	146.4%
107	Milton	59,591,134	87,153,091	27,561,957	146.3%
108	Northampton	38,824,158	56,583,017	17,758,859	145.7%
109	Swampscott	28,287,967	40,823,145	12,535,178	144.3%
110	Acton Boxborough	71,830,941	103,608,501	31,777,560	144.2%
111	Norwell	28,419,435	40,880,670	12,461,235	143.8%
112	Danvers	46,865,547	67,407,609	20,542,062	143.8%
113	Duxbury	36,200,931	52,056,223	15,855,292	143.8%
114	Millis	17,495,071	24,958,488	7,463,417	142.7%
115	Belmont	62,812,297	89,582,642	26,770,345	142.6%
116	Waltham	111,848,741	159,447,552	47,598,811	142.6%
117	Hopedale	13,655,027	19,462,612	5,807,585	142.5%
118	Amesbury	30,244,289	43,074,238	12,829,949	142.4%
119	Somerset	22,919,162	32,538,346	9,619,184	142.0%
120	Mohawk Trail	13,760,775	19,490,104	5,729,329	141.6%
121	Amherst Pelham	24,752,129	34,809,708	10,057,579	140.6%
122	Bellingham	32,694,776	45,898,498	13,203,722	140.4%
123	Norwood	59,825,304	83,830,709	24,005,405	140.1%
124	Longmeadow	36,472,170	50,936,388	14,464,218	139.7%
125	Frontier	8,654,535	12,058,431	3,403,896	139.3%
126	West Boylston	12,735,237	17,678,024	4,942,787	138.8%
127	Sturbridge	11,681,458	16,193,345	4,511,887	138.6%
128	Brimfield	3,708,078	5,137,515	1,429,437	138.5%
129	Littleton	21,926,879	30,328,330	8,401,451	138.3%
130	Foxborough	39,846,694	54,732,995	14,886,301	137.4%
131	Walpole	50,887,257	69,837,435	18,950,178	137.2%
132	Tewksbury	50,439,483	69,118,297	18,678,814	137.0%
133	Georgetown	18,217,536	24,911,832	6,694,296	136.7%
134	West Bridgewater	16,643,729	22,699,340	6,055,611	136.4%
135	Agawam	55,345,476	75,377,290	20,031,814	136.2%
136	Groton Dunstable	35,217,653	47,951,782	12,734,129	136.2%
137	Norfolk	14,168,382	19,191,645	5,023,263	135.5%
138	Central Berkshire	23,093,648	31,272,225	8,178,577	135.4%
139	Reading	52,562,445	71,160,581	18,598,136	135.4%
140	Ludlow	34,988,620	47,045,583	12,056,963	134.5%
141	Seekonk	28,651,529	38,471,767	9,820,238	134.3%
142	Boston	1,252,532,101	1,676,134,557	423,602,456	133.8%
143	Millbury	24,450,359	32,700,436	8,250,077	133.7%
144	Beverly	67,260,044	89,870,838	22,610,794	133.6%
145	Hanover	33,740,690	44,906,037	11,165,347	133.1%
146	Hampden Wilbraham	38,952,702	51,634,549	12,681,847	132.6%
147	Wrentham	13,890,259	18,386,025	4,495,766	132.4%
148	Shawsheen Valley	28,235,090	37,371,107	9,136,017	132.4%
149	Brookfield	3,413,899	4,488,267	1,074,368	131.5%
150	Plymouth	123,029,891	161,512,089	38,482,198	131.3%
151	Gloucester	51,506,331	67,410,100	15,903,769	130.9%
152	King Philip	29,580,375	38,664,406	9,084,031	130.7%
153	North Andover	62,988,354	82,325,594	19,337,240	130.7%
154	Chelmsford	70,603,389	92,168,286	21,564,897	130.5%
155	East Longmeadow	36,308,859	47,396,050	11,087,191	130.5%
156	Minuteman	14,008,620	18,221,506	4,212,886	130.1%
157	Holliston	36,123,739	46,985,565	10,861,826	130.1%
158	Framingham	173,968,070	226,112,669	52,144,599	130.0%
159	Hopkinton	56,589,708	73,502,064	16,912,356	129.9%
160	Braintree	79,564,346	103,138,216	23,573,870	129.6%
161	North Middlesex	44,970,269	58,090,101	13,119,832	129.2%
162	Wachusett	91,051,333	117,462,908	26,411,575	129.0%
163	Grafton	41,165,405	53,094,010	11,928,605	129.0%
164	Mansfield	57,194,761	73,699,866	16,505,105	128.9%
165	Dennis Yarmouth	57,336,714	73,400,924	16,064,210	128.0%
166	Billerica	76,486,743	97,906,990	21,420,247	128.0%
167	Nashoba	41,699,137	53,299,532	11,600,395	127.8%
168	Hadley	6,836,473	8,720,914	1,884,441	127.6%
169	Shrewsbury	86,948,576	109,500,292	22,551,716	125.9%
170	Plainville	10,295,536	12,946,880	2,651,344	125.8%
171	Swansea	29,437,735	37,018,322	7,580,587	125.8%
172	Westford	64,490,714	80,604,073	16,113,359	125.0%
173	Dartmouth	48,722,739	60,889,124	12,166,385	125.0%
174	Tyngsborough	23,593,615	29,434,380	5,840,765	124.8%
175	Easton	47,823,059	59,653,891	11,830,832	124.7%
176	Medway	32,960,870	41,044,910	8,084,040	124.5%
177	Ashland	40,537,648	50,417,955	9,880,307	124.4%
178	Dighton Rehoboth	39,048,412	48,462,991	9,414,579	124.1%
179	Stoughton	65,412,011	81,112,590	15,700,579	124.0%
180	Somerset Berkley	14,872,589	18,434,741	3,562,152	124.0%
181	Salem	79,288,062	97,967,052	18,678,990	123.6%
182	South Hadley	27,826,753	34,337,759	6,511,006	123.4%
183	Gateway	12,400,899	15,261,122	2,860,223	123.1%
184	North Adams	22,791,831	27,972,799	5,180,968	122.7%
185	Belchertown	29,787,660	36,292,387	6,504,727	121.8%
186	Sutton	20,095,465	24,325,530	4,230,065	121.0%
187	Blackstone Millville	23,905,844	28,935,437	5,029,593	121.0%
188	Easthampton	24,878,449	30,107,165	5,228,716	121.0%
189	Barnstable	94,547,936	114,089,989	19,542,053	120.7%
190	Quabbin	30,788,290	37,074,194	6,285,904	120.4%
191	Lunenburg	22,564,041	27,074,510	4,510,469	120.0%
192	Auburn	34,548,898	41,280,200	6,731,302	119.5%
193	Old Colony	11,670,684	13,942,523	2,271,839	119.5%
194	Rochester	6,779,729	8,067,833	1,288,104	119.0%
195	Norton	37,367,401	44,444,518	7,077,117	118.9%
196	Pentucket	36,627,690	43,420,192	6,792,502	118.5%
197	Uxbridge	27,343,432	32,345,918	5,002,486	118.3%
198	Ayer Shirley	25,948,809	30,622,007	4,673,198	118.0%
199	Norfolk County	6,011,804	7,089,589	1,077,785	117.9%
200	Winthrop	31,770,290	37,198,923	5,428,633	117.1%
201	Rockland	37,854,417	44,284,828	6,430,411	117.0%
202	East Bridgewater	28,847,459	33,740,766	4,893,307	117.0%
203	Blue Hills	20,652,851	24,054,080	3,401,229	116.5%
204	Savoy	951,147	1,107,534	156,387	116.4%
205	Middleborough	48,162,088	55,729,467	7,567,379	115.7%
206	Leicester	23,315,301	26,975,588	3,660,287	115.7%
207	Abington	33,612,890	38,889,043	5,276,153	115.7%
208	Milford	86,368,279	99,742,144	13,373,865	115.5%
209	Granby	11,268,606	12,981,707	1,713,101	115.2%
210	Mendon Upton	33,796,669	38,898,705	5,102,036	115.1%
211	Palmer	20,132,069	23,168,312	3,036,243	115.1%
212	Westport	23,789,023	27,363,237	3,574,214	115.0%
213	Berkley	9,551,060	10,983,735	1,432,675	115.0%
214	Whitman Hanson	52,568,695	60,401,675	7,832,980	114.9%
215	Blackstone Valley	25,466,212	29,236,115	3,769,903	114.8%
216	Pittsfield	104,024,895	119,378,120	15,353,225	114.8%
217	Dudley Charlton	49,677,289	56,719,206	7,041,917	114.2%
218	Franklin	82,899,665	94,267,558	11,367,893	113.7%
219	Bristol County	11,148,674	12,677,116	1,528,442	113.7%
220	South Middlesex	21,738,500	24,717,336	2,978,836	113.7%
221	Marshfield	58,039,482	65,915,276	7,875,794	113.6%
222	Weymouth	104,369,623	118,346,074	13,976,451	113.4%
223	Pembroke	41,125,478	46,585,405	5,459,927	113.3%
224	Narragansett	20,521,967	23,245,992	2,724,025	113.3%
225	Hoosac Valley	19,020,586	21,411,061	2,390,475	112.6%
226	Peabody	98,600,552	110,633,092	12,032,540	112.2%
227	Tantasqua	25,312,677	28,394,563	3,081,886	112.2%
228	Marlborough	97,477,475	109,242,647	11,765,172	112.1%
229	Ashburnham Westminster	31,926,145	35,758,771	3,832,626	112.0%
230	Clinton	36,558,782	40,941,641	4,382,859	112.0%
231	Chicopee	136,705,069	152,008,495	15,303,426	111.2%
232	Quincy	182,770,122	203,079,670	20,309,548	111.1%
233	Orange	9,504,883	10,548,690	1,043,807	111.0%
234	Quaboag	17,771,376	19,707,113	1,935,737	110.9%
235	North Attleborough	58,590,829	64,727,461	6,136,632	110.5%
236	Freetown Lakeville	38,506,101	42,469,856	3,963,755	110.3%
237	Melrose	56,510,054	62,114,687	5,604,633	109.9%
238	Southwick Tolland	22,470,980	24,694,882	2,223,902	109.9%
239	Cape Cod	15,338,059	16,687,772	1,349,713	108.8%
240	Pathfinder	14,168,219	15,384,675	1,216,456	108.6%
241	Westfield	80,715,329	86,981,989	6,266,660	107.8%
242	Bridgewater Raynham	81,321,445	87,387,476	6,066,031	107.5%
243	Monson	14,675,260	15,755,774	1,080,514	107.4%
244	Douglas	18,517,197	19,826,007	1,308,810	107.1%
245	Clarksburg	2,998,079	3,206,794	208,715	107.0%
246	Oxford	24,697,484	26,328,907	1,631,423	106.6%
247	Acushnet	16,750,670	17,832,251	1,081,581	106.5%
248	Haverhill	149,713,125	158,572,310	8,859,185	105.9%
249	Chelsea	155,824,471	164,618,885	8,794,414	105.6%
250	Nashoba Valley	16,218,588	17,074,285	855,697	105.3%
251	Whittier	28,238,744	29,680,087	1,441,343	105.1%
252	Winchendon	21,245,551	22,188,620	943,069	104.4%
253	Southern Worcester	27,241,446	28,431,810	1,190,363	104.4%
254	South Shore	14,848,258	15,446,442	598,184	104.0%
255	Northampton Smith	4,540,275	4,703,827	163,552	103.6%
256	Northern Berkshire	11,128,802	11,500,559	371,757	103.3%
257	Webster	35,685,384	36,860,463	1,175,079	103.3%
258	Spencer East Brookfield	25,877,046	26,704,397	827,351	103.2%
259	Athol Royalston	30,926,969	31,899,038	972,068	103.1%
260	West Springfield	72,601,734	74,855,473	2,253,739	103.1%
261	Ware	21,252,179	21,891,265	639,086	103.0%
262	Fairhaven	25,896,938	26,612,788	715,850	102.8%
263	Dracut	57,465,604	58,912,135	1,446,531	102.5%
264	Lowell	330,445,792	338,563,410	8,117,618	102.5%
265	Lawrence	334,318,936	341,822,369	7,503,433	102.2%
266	Taunton	153,498,975	156,722,988	3,224,013	102.1%
267	Bristol Plymouth	28,839,784	29,406,426	566,642	102.0%
268	Revere	163,372,123	166,250,691	2,878,568	101.8%
269	Montachusett	30,990,414	31,499,824	509,410	101.6%
270	Assabet Valley	26,123,456	26,519,850	396,394	101.5%
271	Attleboro	110,074,456	111,700,152	1,625,696	101.5%
272	Methuen	120,570,223	122,141,558	1,571,335	101.3%
273	Saugus	50,782,366	51,402,166	619,800	101.2%
274	Upper Cape Cod	19,383,684	19,613,675	229,991	101.2%
275	Greater New Bedford	51,145,207	51,573,527	428,320	100.8%
276	Fall River	273,966,514	275,705,361	1,738,847	100.6%
277	Fitchburg	110,732,185	111,423,878	691,693	100.6%
278	Southbridge	44,392,356	44,621,778	229,422	100.5%
279	Gardner	45,038,410	45,258,504	220,094	100.5%
280	Worcester	549,403,109	552,004,676	2,601,567	100.5%
281	Everett	172,711,735	173,457,122	745,387	100.4%
282	Holyoke	124,458,254	124,931,826	473,573	100.4%
283	Essex North Shore	31,042,516	31,133,830	91,314	100.3%
284	Northeast Metropolitan	34,438,284	34,526,132	87,848	100.3%
285	Southeastern	38,826,302	38,842,804	16,502	100.0%
286	Lynn	384,629,299	384,684,153	54,854	100.0%
287	Springfield	600,170,350	600,237,749	67,399	100.0%
288	Leominster	111,313,888	111,318,708	4,820	100.0%
289	Greater Fall River	35,109,152	35,109,152	0	100.0%
290	New Bedford	295,054,095	294,825,036	(229,059)	99.9%
291	Tri County	22,245,823	22,171,098	(74,725)	99.7%
292	Greater Lowell	55,719,987	55,468,222	(251,765)	99.5%
293	Holbrook	23,413,602	22,943,763	(469,839)	98.0%
294	Malden	132,114,202	128,253,528	(3,860,674)	97.1%
295	Northbridge	32,816,827	31,729,457	(1,087,369)	96.7%
296	Greater Lawrence	51,977,920	50,255,643	(1,722,278)	96.7%