Impact Essex County

Why is this important?

Education is increasingly critical to a productive life. Not only do earnings generally rise with increased education levels, but a solid education prepares one to be an informed citizen, consumer and community member. Disparities in enrollment between the genders can mean unequal levels of opportunities for success as adults.

How is our county doing?

In 2013-17, females made up 64% of students in prekindergarten, 49% of students in kindergarten through 12th grade, 58% of undergraduate college students and 63% of graduate or professional students. The share of girls in prekindergarten was up 15 percentage points since 2000, the largest increase of any group. The percentage of women who were graduate or professional students also increased 5 percentage points.

There were generally similar disparities at the state and national levels, although women in Essex County represented a larger share of graduate or professional students compared to Massachusetts (57%) or the U.S. (58%).

How do we compare to similar counties?

Essex County was mostly similar to the comparison counties of Middlesex, MA, Lake, IL and Westchester, NY. Middlesex and Lake had smaller shares of students in graduate or professional school who were female (52% and 56%, respectively). Essex also had a higher percentage of women who were undergraduate college students than Middlesex (53%) and Lake (51%), and was also slightly higher than Westchester (55%).

Notes about the data

The multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval).

The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are released annually in December.

Female Enrollment in School, 2013-17

	College	Graduate or Professional School	K-12	Not Enrolled	Pre-K
Essex County, MA	58%	63%	49%	52%	64%
Amesbury	57%	49%	44%	53%	75%
Beverly	62%	59%	48%	52%	78%
Gloucester	50%	51%	49%	52%	55%
Haverhill	67%	61%	47%	52%	67%
Lawrence	63%	58%	52%	50%	51%
Lynn	55%	73%	50%	51%	43%
Methuen	61%	54%	44%	52%	60%
Newburyport	29%	50%	56%	56%	71%
Peabody	55%	70%	48%	52%	57%
Salem	60%	78%	45%	55%	70%
Andover	52%	64%	48%	52%	84%
Boxford	58%	56%	53%	49%	76%
Danvers	57%	74%	48%	52%	59%
Essex	63%	38%	71%	49%	60%
Georgetown	50%	46%	50%	51%	82%
Groveland	44%	13%	46%	48%	44%
Hamilton	41%	30%	40%	54%	91%
Ipswich	56%	76%	43%	52%	51%
Lynnfield	75%	61%	47%	52%	76%
Manchester	73%	59%	53%	52%	100%
Marblehead	67%	67%	50%	54%	83%
Merrimac	28%	53%	56%	54%	0%
Middleton	50%	88%	41%	44%	83%
Nahant	86%	71%	43%	53%	100%
Newbury	58%	13%	45%	60%	0%
North Andover	46%	68%	45%	53%	78%
Rockport	64%	63%	58%	57%	57%
Rowley	39%	100%	51%	54%	56%
Salisbury	40%	74%	40%	49%	48%
Saugus	55%	50%	51%	53%	45%
Swampscott	55%	81%	59%	53%	41%
Topsfield	44%	59%	55%	54%	62%
Wenham	63%	92%	51%	56%	100%
West Newbury	71%	60%	50%	51%	29%
Middlesex County, MA	53%	52%	49%	52%	68%
Lake County, IL	51%	56%	49%	51%	62%
Westchester County, NY	55%	64%	49%	52%	69%
Massachusetts	55%	57%	49%	52%	65%
United States	55%	58%	49%	51%	61%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Notes: Multiyear results are from rolling American Community Survey. * Margin of error between 20% & 35% of estimate; ** margin of error between 35% & 50%; *** margin of error greater than 50%.

Number of Female Students, 2013-17

	College	Graduate or Professional School	K-12	Not Enrolled	Pre-K
Essex County, MA	24,473	5,907	61,728	291,386	6,128
Amesbury	292	86	1,242	6,838	112
Beverly	2,666	349	2,652	15,398	410
Gloucester	410	147	1,774	12,496	180
Haverhill	2,028	479	4,839	23,143	420
Lawrence	2,714	259	8,067	27,347	511
Lynn	2,922	607	7,804	33,464	399
Methuen	1,990	339	3,787	18,302	269
Newburyport	127	99	1,460	7,707	290
Peabody	1,313	480	3,099	21,230	392
Salem	2,185	519	2,342	17,254	444
Andover	1,157	349	3,561	12,156	612
Boxford	176	40	877	2,908	62
Danvers	663	341	2,085	10,750	139
Essex	57	15	427	1,337	42
Georgetown	108	60	832	3,125	124
Groveland	172	1	551	2,321	34
Hamilton	163	101	692	2,770	107
Ipswich	333	171	1,045	5,294	82
Lynnfield	376	55	1,179	4,750	121
Manchester	166	17	465	2,067	28
Marblehead	380	168	1,963	7,869	398
Merrimac	83	56	692	2,641	0
Middleton	169	135	611	3,204	129
Nahant	57	44	187	1,520	11
Newbury	235	25	534	3,025	0
North Andover	978	345	2,396	10,852	407
Rockport	56	40	545	3,300	83
Rowley	85	32	517	2,519	34
Salisbury	193	92	426	3,429	24
Saugus	598	95	2,117	11,390	96
Swampscott	349	211	1,385	5,454	50
Topsfield	94	51	759	2,472	47
Wenham	1,039	90	373	1,406	57
West Newbury	139	9	443	1,648	14
Middlesex County, MA	53,252	24,371	114,811	577,498	14,693
Lake County, IL	18,217	4,602	66,455	245,642	6,184
Westchester County, NY	28,753	8,884	81,154	360,636	8,557
Massachusetts	249,093	79,923	504,440	2,505,146	54,398
United States	10,207,942	2,409,637	26,304,292	115,977,712	2,384,703

Female Enrollment in School, 2000

	College	Graduate or Professional School	K-12	Not Enrolled	Pre-K
Essex County, MA	58%	58%	48%	53%	49%
Beverly	62%	67%	46%	53%	58%
Gloucester	54%	51%	47%	53%	49%
Haverhill	64%	55%	49%	53%	43%
Lawrence	60%	46%	49%	54%	50%
Lynn	58%	50%	47%	53%	46%
Methuen	52%	56%	47%	54%	56%
Newburyport	60%	64%	48%	54%	50%
Peabody	59%	61%	48%	53%	48%
Salem	59%	62%	50%	54%	40%
Andover	52%	58%	47%	54%	46%
Boxford	57%	61%	49%	51%	52%
Danvers	68%	64%	50%	53%	53%
Essex	61%	75%	45%	50%	58%
Georgetown	49%	70%	41%	52%	62%
Groveland	77%	59%	47%	50%	55%
Hamilton	56%	43%	49%	53%	48%
Ipswich	61%	70%	51%	53%	43%
Lynnfield	44%	71%	48%	52%	57%
Manchester	62%	59%	51%	53%	57%
Marblehead	61%	68%	49%	54%	45%
Merrimac	50%	43%	47%	53%	44%
Middleton	43%	100%	35%	43%	48%
Nahant	54%	61%	48%	54%	52%
Newbury	75%	55%	48%	52%	57%
North Andover	52%	43%	46%	55%	45%
Rockport	51%	79%	48%	55%	38%
Rowley	61%	100%	45%	52%	33%
Salisbury	64%	64%	51%	50%	55%
Saugus	48%	47%	47%	53%	46%
Swampscott	56%	64%	47%	54%	56%
Topsfield	61%	68%	48%	53%	44%
Wenham	61%	48%	52%	53%	68%
West Newbury	46%	59%	48%	51%	48%
Middlesex County, MA	54%	50%	48%	53%	49%
Lake County, IL	55%	52%	49%	50%	50%
Westchester County, NY	58%	62%	49%	53%	48%
Massachusetts	55%	54%	48%	53%	48%
United States	55%	54%	49%	52%	48%

Number of Female Students, 2000

	College	Graduate or Professional School	K-12	Not Enrolled	Pre-K
Essex County, MA	19,179	4,670	65,979	265,850	7,365
Beverly	1,634	256	2,967	15,129	438
Gloucester	575	115	2,369	11,820	290
Haverhill	1,752	381	5,331	21,734	518
Lawrence	1,870	163	8,687	24,498	709
Lynn	2,253	350	8,435	32,010	777
Methuen	1,080	228	3,939	16,470	386
Newburyport	398	220	1,312	6,784	180
Peabody	1,131	365	3,930	18,388	518
Salem	1,656	436	3,087	15,356	287
Andover	399	374	3,242	11,151	390
Boxford	131	66	947	2,578	144
Danvers	781	205	2,198	9,613	320
Essex	63	18	295	1,163	45
Georgetown	112	35	626	2,593	149
Groveland	151	42	639	2,006	82
Hamilton	237	138	856	2,792	82
Ipswich	275	74	1,171	5,019	142
Lynnfield	157	89	1,057	4,217	178
Manchester	128	30	534	1,957	73
Marblehead	281	171	1,817	7,922	245
Merrimac	91	23	620	2,228	60
Middleton	98	53	589	2,252	113
Nahant	81	20	252	1,502	14
Newbury	182	46	689	2,338	60
North Andover	1,162	147	2,342	9,697	292
Rockport	118	116	657	3,124	23
Rowley	80	17	535	1,985	37
Salisbury	235	27	659	2,835	88
Saugus	516	134	1,969	10,380	144
Swampscott	381	129	1,195	5,516	192
Topsfield	134	58	633	2,162	73
Wenham	630	23	376	1,269	73
West Newbury	63	47	442	1,403	58
Middlesex County, MA	43,749	20,060	115,993	534,716	15,187
Lake County, IL	13,245	4,459	66,246	213,731	8,384
Westchester County, NY	22,428	8,756	83,097	340,432	10,251
Massachusetts	198,240	62,851	545,782	2,309,064	59,570
United States	7,874,923	1,688,711	26,350,986	99,662,001	2,396,814

INDICATORS	TREND \| ESSEX COUNTY
Bachelor's Degree or Higher by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Early Prenatal Care by Mother's Race/Ethnicity	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
Child Abuse and Neglect	Increasing
Disengaged Youth	Decreasing
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	Decreasing
Daily Water Use per Resident	Decreasing
Crimes Against People	Increasing
Crimes Against Property	Increasing
Drug-Related Arrests	Maintaining
Reports of Domestic Violence	Increasing
Incarceration Rates	Decreasing
Recidivism	Decreasing
Households Without Vehicles	Maintaining
Means of Transportation to Work	Not Applicable
Traffic Injuries and Fatalities	Maintaining
Households With Internet Access	Increasing
Change in Total Population	Increasing
Change in Population by Age/Gender	Not Applicable
People 65 or Older Living Alone	Decreasing
People with Disabilities	Increasing
Households by Type	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Gender	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	Decreasing
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	Maintaining
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
Income in Relation to Poverty Level	Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income	Decreasing
Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income by Household Type	Not Applicable
Living Wage Rate by Household Type	Not Applicable
Households Receiving Temporary Assistance	Maintaining
Households Receiving Federal Food Assistance	Increasing
Participation in Food Assistance by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Earned Income Tax Credit Participation	Maintaining
Economically Disadvantaged Students	Increasing
Median Home Value	Increasing
Housing Affordability for Homeowners	Increasing
Housing Affordability for Renters	Increasing
Homeownership Rates	Maintaining
Homeownership Rates by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Homeless Persons	Increasing
People Without Health Insurance	Decreasing
Medical Care Expenses	Increasing
Prevalence of Children with Asthma	Maintaining
Prevalence of Overweight Children	Decreasing
Prevalence of Overweight Adults	Not Applicable
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

INDICATORS

TREND | ESSEX COUNTY

Bachelor's Degree or Higher by Race/Ethnicity

Not Applicable