The student-to-teacher ratio in Massachusetts dropped to around 12:1 in the 2021-2022 academic year, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Suffolk County had the best student to teacher ratio of 8.6:1.
The highest student-to-teacher ratio was found in Plymouth County, where there were roughly 24 students per teacher, 96.7% more than the state’s average of 12:1 (12.3:1 the previous year).
There were nearly 905,000 students being taught by more than 75,000 teachers in Massachusetts in 2021-2022.
Massachusetts has one teacher for every 12 students, which is better than the national average of one teacher for every 16 students.
However, the state is facing a teacher shortage, just like the rest of the country; NewsNation reported reported that the state was offering emergency teaching licenses to educators who only had bachelor’s degrees, in an effort to get more teachers into schools.
Despite the shortage, under-representation of ethnicities among teachers was found to be a concern. The Rennie Center reported that only 9% of teachers are people of color.
Massachusetts was ranked as the eighth best state for teachers, according to a WalletHub study.
| County | Student-to-teacher ratio in 2020-2021 | Student-to-teacher ratio in 2021-2022 | Percentage difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essex County | 12.5:1 | 11.9:1 | -5% |
| Worcester County | 13.4:1 | 12.7:1 | -5% |
| Hampden County | 11.8:1 | 11.3:1 | -4% |
| Plymouth County | 13.3:1 | 12.9:1 | -3% |
| Barnstable County | 10.8:1 | 10.5:1 | -3% |
| Nantucket County | 10.8:1 | 10.6:1 | -2% |
| Bristol County | 13.2:1 | 12.9:1 | -2% |
| Norfolk County | 12.7:1 | 12.4:1 | -2% |
| Middlesex County | 12.1:1 | 11.8:1 | -2% |
| Berkshire County | 10.4:1 | 10.3:1 | -1% |
| Suffolk County | 11.3:1 | 11.2:1 | -1% |
| Hampshire County | 10.8:1 | 10.7:1 | -1% |
| Dukes County | 8.6:1 | 8.6:1 | 0% |
| Franklin County | 10.7:1 | 10.9:1 | 1% |
