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 2015-19, females made up 65% of students in prekindergarten, 48% of students in kindergarten through 12th grade, 56% of undergraduate college students and 63% of graduate or professional students. The share of girls in prekindergarten was up 16 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 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 (53% and 57%, respectively). Essex also had a higher percentage of women who were undergraduate college students than Middlesex (52%) and Lake (51%), and was also slightly higher than Westchester (54%).

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, 2015-19

	College	Graduate or Professional School	K-12	Not Enrolled	Pre-K
Essex County, MA	56%	63%	48%	52%	65%
Amesbury	51%	48%	48%	52%	69%
Beverly	60%	55%	50%	54%	68%
Gloucester	54%	61%	44%	53%	58%
Haverhill	61%	74%	45%	53%	65%
Lawrence	63%	60%	51%	50%	57%
Lynn	55%	73%	47%	50%	49%
Methuen	58%	61%	46%	53%	70%
Newburyport	36%	59%	54%	55%	80%
Peabody	47%	71%	47%	53%	66%
Salem	63%	68%	50%	54%	62%
Andover	50%	54%	51%	52%	86%
Boxford	60%	67%	49%	48%	75%
Danvers	47%	79%	51%	55%	78%
Essex	46%	65%	54%	51%	74%
Georgetown	62%	58%	44%	50%	83%
Groveland	43%	52%	49%	51%	46%
Hamilton	47%	40%	38%	52%	73%
Ipswich	61%	48%	49%	53%	48%
Lynnfield	74%	47%	47%	51%	82%
Manchester	58%	0%	41%	52%	51%
Marblehead	51%	61%	50%	54%	78%
Merrimac	6%	64%	59%	52%	0%
Middleton	56%	82%	42%	46%	80%
Nahant	52%	71%	46%	55%	100%
Newbury	65%	22%	49%	58%	100%
North Andover	52%	67%	51%	54%	67%
Rockport	62%	56%	48%	57%	64%
Rowley	50%	100%	56%	53%	63%
Salisbury	47%	42%	49%	51%	62%
Saugus	64%	57%	50%	51%	75%
Swampscott	49%	84%	54%	54%	50%
Topsfield	34%	41%	45%	53%	81%
Wenham	61%	70%	60%	53%	100%
West Newbury	53%	82%	39%	50%	28%
Middlesex County, MA	52%	53%	49%	52%	67%
Lake County, IL	51%	57%	49%	50%	62%
Westchester County, NY	54%	66%	48%	52%	68%
Massachusetts	55%	57%	49%	52%	65%
United States	54%	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, 2015-19

	College	Graduate or Professional School	K-12	Not Enrolled	Pre-K
Essex County, MA	22,488	5,870	60,543	298,431	5,946
Amesbury	351	107	1,247	6,952	79
Beverly	2,316	352	2,816	16,018	311
Gloucester	453	163	1,355	12,870	236
Haverhill	1,736	449	4,935	24,129	441
Lawrence	2,570	272	7,811	27,589	684
Lynn	2,795	654	7,333	33,065	445
Methuen	1,513	314	3,862	19,386	342
Newburyport	175	104	1,593	7,548	304
Peabody	894	522	2,835	22,074	341
Salem	2,375	421	2,307	17,483	311
Andover	989	298	3,635	12,677	439
Boxford	219	41	875	2,766	38
Danvers	503	404	2,014	11,469	259
Essex	28	17	341	1,420	34
Georgetown	189	110	707	3,122	97
Groveland	166	17	472	2,563	73
Hamilton	164	129	623	2,777	66
Ipswich	349	86	1,132	5,456	83
Lynnfield	422	70	1,160	4,641	117
Manchester	120	0	409	2,069	21
Marblehead	299	158	2,004	8,007	250
Merrimac	17	39	750	2,608	0
Middleton	175	89	582	3,519	146
Nahant	65	47	207	1,542	4
Newbury	74	30	827	2,891	16
North Andover	1,167	230	2,896	11,146	290
Rockport	89	44	371	3,395	89
Rowley	103	43	592	2,546	30
Salisbury	152	39	582	3,775	37
Saugus	578	159	1,786	11,465	109
Swampscott	277	256	1,239	5,906	62
Topsfield	64	34	572	2,472	124
Wenham	1,007	69	355	1,404	59
West Newbury	94	103	318	1,681	9
Middlesex County, MA	53,293	24,329	114,877	585,976	14,381
Lake County, IL	17,546	5,207	64,907	246,595	5,766
Westchester County, NY	27,441	9,363	78,524	360,918	8,515
Massachusetts	245,708	80,557	501,063	2,543,079	53,197
United States	9,854,103	2,466,324	26,222,031	118,187,953	2,407,404

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
Prevalence of Overweight Adults	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	Maintaining
Live Births to Teen Mothers	Decreasing
Youth Arrests	Decreasing
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Establishments	Increasing
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Employment	Maintaining
Tourism Spending	Increasing
Voter Participation Rate	Decreasing
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	Decreasing
Crimes Against Property	Decreasing
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	Not Applicable
Change in Total Population	Increasing
Change in Population by Age/Gender	Not Applicable
People 65 or Older Living Alone	Decreasing
People with Disabilities	Maintaining
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	Increasing
Unemployment Rate	Maintaining
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	Maintaining
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	Decreasing
Participation in Food Assistance by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Earned Income Tax Credit Participation	Decreasing
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	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