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 2017-21, females made up 66% of students in prekindergarten, 48% of students in kindergarten through 12th grade, 58% of undergraduate college students and 62% of graduate or professional students. The share of females in prekindergarten was up 18 percentage points since 2000, the largest increase of any group. The percentage of women who were graduate or professional students also increased 4 percentage points.

Rates in Essex County were similar to 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. (59%).

How do we compare to similar counties?

Essex County was 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 (54% and 57%, respectively). Essex also had a higher percentage of women who were undergraduate college students than Westchester (58%), Middlesex (52%) and Lake (50%).

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. 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, 2017-21

	College	Graduate or Professional School	K-12	Not Enrolled	Pre-K
Essex County, MA	58%	62%	48%	52%	66%
Amesbury	53%	51%	47%	52%	76%
Beverly	65%	52%	51%	53%	59%
Gloucester	65%	71%	40%	52%	54%
Haverhill	61%	76%	43%	52%	66%
Lawrence	65%	39%	47%	50%	61%
Lynn	51%	61%	50%	50%	53%
Methuen	56%	66%	48%	53%	68%
Newburyport	54%	59%	51%	54%	82%
Peabody	61%	73%	45%	52%	62%
Salem	70%	62%	48%	55%	60%
Andover	54%	63%	51%	51%	83%
Boxford	42%	100%	48%	51%	71%
Danvers	50%	85%	53%	53%	80%
Essex	49%	N/A	51%	51%	75%
Georgetown	74%	70%	44%	52%	84%
Groveland	49%	54%	51%	53%	51%
Hamilton	30%	48%	45%	53%	58%
Ipswich	53%	62%	53%	53%	56%
Lynnfield	67%	36%	53%	53%	92%
Manchester	77%	29%	47%	52%	58%
Marblehead	45%	44%	51%	54%	82%
Merrimac	34%	100%	45%	51%	59%
Middleton	34%	100%	43%	43%	57%
Nahant	42%	73%	53%	60%	25%
Newbury	59%	21%	57%	53%	100%
North Andover	50%	35%	46%	52%	76%
Rockport	48%	60%	51%	57%	46%
Rowley	39%	49%	57%	52%	100%
Salisbury	45%	37%	48%	51%	65%
Saugus	48%	62%	55%	51%	36%
Swampscott	33%	86%	49%	54%	81%
Topsfield	45%	67%	31%	53%	86%
Wenham	59%	67%	58%	51%	100%
West Newbury	47%	90%	46%	47%	49%
Middlesex County, MA	52%	54%	49%	51%	68%
Lake County, IL	50%	57%	49%	50%	57%
Westchester County, NY	56%	64%	48%	52%	69%
Massachusetts	56%	57%	49%	51%	65%
United States	55%	59%	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, 2017-21

	College	Graduate or Professional School	K-12	Not Enrolled	Pre-K
Essex County, MA	22,940	5,787	61,175	305,944	6,017
Amesbury	372	115	1,195	6,900	93
Beverly	2,677	342	2,797	15,912	304
Gloucester	588	177	1,270	12,533	199
Haverhill	1,635	530	4,916	25,602	485
Lawrence	2,986	227	7,913	29,717	927
Lynn	2,437	606	8,905	35,966	357
Methuen	1,631	433	4,351	20,110	173
Newburyport	271	71	1,665	7,370	257
Peabody	1,193	560	2,947	22,219	263
Salem	2,405	435	1,959	18,807	241
Andover	1,072	341	3,460	12,960	370
Boxford	135	35	865	2,927	30
Danvers	602	334	2,167	11,038	329
Essex	42	0	354	1,318	49
Georgetown	196	88	716	3,168	119
Groveland	132	14	473	2,672	95
Hamilton	103	93	614	2,773	46
Ipswich	334	119	1,137	5,412	70
Lynnfield	325	45	1,349	4,613	142
Manchester	112	12	519	2,004	37
Marblehead	291	78	2,005	7,965	361
Merrimac	76	22	395	2,603	84
Middleton	44	108	465	3,426	97
Nahant	62	24	148	1,661	3
Newbury	68	14	666	2,728	33
North Andover	1,128	152	2,560	10,868	308
Rockport	87	44	353	3,331	27
Rowley	54	35	474	2,496	10
Salisbury	155	46	497	3,718	58
Saugus	408	192	1,969	11,713	62
Swampscott	170	277	1,054	6,047	186
Topsfield	71	52	357	2,531	104
Wenham	988	66	320	1,272	56
West Newbury	90	100	340	1,564	42
Middlesex County, MA	50,967	25,200	115,930	593,747	13,118
Lake County, IL	17,603	6,224	65,458	250,086	5,048
Westchester County, NY	28,288	10,091	79,763	370,474	8,600
Massachusetts	241,768	82,373	505,216	2,597,086	49,398
United States	9,598,712	2,602,340	26,474,817	120,025,370	2,293,749

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
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	Maintaining
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