Public Data

Somewhere in a state database right now is the exact amount your district spends per student, the average tax bill on a single-family house on your street, and how many crashes happened at the intersection you bike through. None of it is hidden and none of it costs anything. The hard part is knowing which door to open, so here are the doors, and how to get your own town’s numbers out of each one.

Why Public Data Matters

An argument that carries a number from the state’s own database is a different kind of argument. When you tell a school committee that your district spends less per student than the district one town over, you are not offering an opinion they can wave away. You are citing their own filing back to them. That works in a public comment period, in a school paper, in a research project, and in a conversation with the person who wants your vote.

Every figure below is collected by a government agency, published under its own name, and free to anyone who asks. You do not need permission and you do not need an account.

Pull Your Own Town’s Numbers

Each of these is a specific path to a specific number about the place you live. They take a few minutes each.

Your school district’s spending, test scores, and graduation rate: Go to DESE Statewide Reports, choose Per Pupil Expenditure under Finance, or Graduation Rates under Student Enrollment and Indicators, then find your district in the list. If your town belongs to a regional district, look under the regional name rather than your town’s.
Your town’s budget, tax rate, and average tax bill: Open the Community Snapshot from the Division of Local Services and pick your municipality from the dropdown. One page gives you the form of government, tax rates by class, the average single-family tax bill, revenue by source including state aid, spending by category, and free cash.
How your town voted: Election Statistics holds results for state and federal races broken out by city and town. Municipal results, meaning your mayor, council, and school committee, are not published by the state, so those come from your city or town clerk.
Who is registered in your town, and with which party: the Secretary of the Commonwealth publishes an enrollment breakdown listing every municipality with its Democrat, Republican, and unenrolled totals, grouped by county. The current edition is a snapshot as of February 1, 2025, so quote it with that date attached.
Who funded a candidate: search the OCPF database. Enter the candidate or committee, set the type to receipts, and every row is one contribution with the donor, their city, their employer, and the amount. In smaller towns many local candidates file with the town clerk instead, so check OCPF’s municipal map for your community first.
What your legislators filed for your town: Bills by City or Town lists the legislation filed on behalf of your municipality in the current session, which is the 194th General Court.
Your town on a map, parcel by parcel: open MassMapper, type your address, and switch on Property Tax Parcels or Land Cover and Land Use. Parcels appear once you zoom in, and clicking one opens its record.
Crashes on a road you use: MassDOT IMPACT publishes crash records by year. Open a year, view the data, and filter by city or town.
Health data for your community: the Massachusetts Health Data Tool builds a Community Report for any town you select.
Population, income, and housing: use the search box at Census QuickFacts and pick the entry that reads “your town, your county, Massachusetts.” Read the heading before you read the numbers, for a reason explained further down this page.

Massachusetts and Federal Data Resources

The portals themselves, each free and each opening in a new tab.

Some cities run open data portals of their own. Along with Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Worcester publish theirs. If your city is not on this list, ask your clerk what is available, because that question is itself a reasonable thing to ask a government.

Read It Right

Public data is trustworthy and still easy to misread. Every trap below is one we hit while checking the links on this page, which is exactly how they catch people.

Census QuickFacts skips small towns: it only covers places with at least 5,000 residents, and roughly 100 Massachusetts municipalities are smaller than that. Ask it for a town below the cutoff and it will quietly show you figures for the entire United States under that town’s address, with no warning. Always read the heading and confirm it names your town.
Massachusetts towns are county subdivisions: in Census tools, choosing the geography type “Place” can hand you a different boundary or nothing at all. Choose County Subdivision and then your town.
Regional school districts hide under their own name: if your town sends students to a regional high school, its numbers are filed under the regional district, not under your town.
A legislator’s profile page does not list their votes: it shows their biography, bills, committees, and district. To see how someone voted, start from the bill, open its history, and follow the link to the yea and nay list for that roll call.
Municipal election results are local records: the state publishes state and federal races. For a mayoral, council, or school committee result, the clerk’s office holds the certified numbers.
Check the as-of date before you quote a figure: voter enrollment, spending, and enrollment tables are all snapshots. The date is usually printed at the top, and citing it is what separates a number from a claim.

Every Link on This Page

Every portal named above, gathered in one place. All of them are free and none of them ask you to make an account.

Your schools

DESE District Profiles. Enrollment, MCAS, spending, and graduation rates by district.
DESE Statewide Reports. The tables to start from, including per-pupil spending.

Your town’s money

Community Snapshot. One page per municipality: tax rate, average bill, aid, free cash.
DLS Municipal Databank. The full set of municipal finance reports.
Department of Revenue. Tax data, property values, and revenue summaries.

Elections and money in politics

Election Statistics. State and federal results, broken out by city and town.
Voter Enrollment by Town. Party enrollment per municipality, as of February 1, 2025.
Secretary of the Commonwealth. Elections, corporate filings, and legislative records.
Search Campaign Filings. Who gave to which candidate, down to the single contribution.
OCPF Municipal Map. Whether your town’s candidates file locally or with OCPF.

Laws and lawmakers

Search Every Bill. Full text, sponsors, committee action, and roll call votes.
Bills by City or Town. Legislation filed on behalf of your own municipality.

Land, health, and safety

MassMapper. The interactive map: parcels, land use, and district boundaries.
MassGIS Data Layers. The statewide GIS catalog behind that map.
MassDOT IMPACT. Crash records by year, filterable to your city or town.
Health Data Tool. Community health reports you can build for a single town.
Department of Public Health. Health statistics and community reports.
MassDEP. Water, air, and environmental health data.

Population and jobs

Census QuickFacts Search. Use the search box. It only covers places of 5,000 and up.
QuickFacts: Massachusetts. Population, housing, and economic trends statewide.
data.census.gov. Full American Community Survey tables, including by town.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jobs and wages. Its finest geography is metro or county, not town.

Catalogs and city portals

Massachusetts Data Hub. The statewide catalog of published datasets.
Analyze Boston. Boston’s open data portal, and a model for what a city can publish.
Cambridge Open Data. The city’s own portal.
Somerville Open Data. The city’s own portal.
Worcester Open Data. The city’s own portal.

Found your town’s numbers? Take them somewhere. A public comment period is the shortest trip a statistic can make.

Speak at a Public Hearing

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