Can I use Hancock County's school score to choose a house?

No. Use the Hancock County school score as a first-pass county screen, then verify the exact district, attendance boundary, transfer rules, and grade pathway for any address you are considering.

Does SchoolsByCounty confirm school attendance boundaries in Hancock County?

No. SchoolsByCounty publishes NCES and Census-backed public-school records. Attendance zones, magnet eligibility, charter lotteries, transportation, and transfer rules must be confirmed with local districts.

How should parents compare public schools in Hancock County?

Start with the 35 listed public schools and 25 district entries, then compare similar grade bands and confirm the address-level rules locally.

Hancock County Schools & Education

Name: Hancock County, Maine Education Data
Creator: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Hancock County, Maine

NCES 2022-23 public school data and FY 2022 school-finance data

School Score

64/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Midrange Signal

Graduation Rate

87.8%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

87.8%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 86.1%

Per-Pupil Spending

$10,674

National avg $13,239

State avg $9,738

School Score

64/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 57/100

State Score Position

of 16 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Hancock County

Measured School Summary

Hancock County performs at an average level with a school score of 64/100 and a solid graduation rate of 87.8%.

Funding Context

Hancock County spends $10,674 per student, which is on the lower end of adequate and may require careful resource allocation to maintain quality.

Neighbor Context

Its school score is 13% above the Maine average, and its graduation rate exceeds the state average by 1.7 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 10% higher than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Hancock County before comparing districts

County-level education data is best used as a screening layer. It summarizes the local school environment, then points you toward the district and school records that matter for local review.

Local context that changes the interpretation

35 public schools and 25 districts are represented below. Use those school and district records to confirm whether the county-level context fits the neighborhoods you are actually considering.

Overall screen

64/100

Mixed county signal. Ranks #4 of 16 Maine counties with school score data.

Completion

87.8%

1.7 pts above the state average

Funding context

$10,674

$936 above the state average

School coverage

25 districts represented in the county school list.

Start with measured county context

This county needs a closer look at district mix, school level, and local context. Compare the score, graduation rate, and spending together rather than treating any single metric as final.

Check the local school mix

Hancock County has 35 public schools across 25 districts, so school-level fit can vary inside the county.

Verify local rules

Use this page as county-level context, then confirm attendance zones, transportation, special programs, and current school boundaries with local districts.

View Public Schools Compare Counties

Parent decision brief

What Hancock County school data means before you move

County averages are useful for screening, but parents choose addresses, grade pathways, and district rules. This brief turns the public data into the checks that matter before you sign a lease or mortgage.

Mixed school landscape

Hancock County has enough school-level records to compare the local mix, but no single county metric should be treated as the answer. Use district shape, grade span, and data coverage together.

State position

of 16 Maine counties with school score data. The county score is 7 points above the state average.

Data confidence

Usable

3 of 5 county signals are present, and 97% of listed schools report enrollment. Compare schools, then verify missing fields locally.

K-12 continuity check

These are the largest visible district slices in the county data. They show whether elementary, middle, and high school records appear together or whether a family needs to investigate transition points.

Ellsworth Public Schools

Elementary and high visible

1,328 students

Elementary 1Middle 0High 1Other 1

3 listed schools in this county slice.

RSU 25

Elementary to high school visible

1,073 students

Elementary 2Middle 1High 1Other 0

4 listed schools in this county slice.

RSU 24

Elementary to high school visible

748 students

Elementary 3Middle 1High 1Other 0

5 listed schools in this county slice.

Mt Desert CSD

High school only in this slice

495 students

Elementary 0Middle 0High 1Other 0

1 listed school in this county slice.

District reality check

RSU 24 is the largest listed district slice, with 6 schools. County pages do not prove address assignment, so verify boundaries with local district tools.

What the data cannot tell you

NCES records do not confirm current attendance zones, private-school options, transfer approvals, program capacity, transportation, or whether a listed school is available to a specific address.

Questions to ask before choosing an address

Which district actually serves the addresses we are considering in Hancock County?

Do the neighborhoods we like fall inside the same district, or are we comparing different Hancock County district systems?

What changes at the elementary-to-middle and middle-to-high transitions in the district pathway we would likely use?

If we need a program not visible in the NCES flags, which district office can confirm current offerings?

Which schools are missing enrollment or ratio fields, and does the district publish a newer local profile than the NCES 2022-23 public school data and FY 2022 school-finance data?

Data Story

Highly decentralized district structure characterizes Hancock County schools

Education data brief for Hancock County, Maine.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorPublished Jul 7, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

Lead metric:District structure

Hancock County is characterized by a highly decentralized school system, with 25 separate districts managing just 35 public schools. This structure results in an average school size of 181 students, significantly smaller than many neighboring counties. Ellsworth Public Schools is the largest district, enrolling 1,328 students, with Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School serving 775 students. The county’s composite school score is 64.2, which is higher than the national median of 50.0 and the Maine state average of 56.6. Graduation rates are 87.8%, slightly above the national average of 87.0%. Per-pupil expenditure is $10,674, exceeding the state average of $9,738 but remaining lower than the national figure of $13,000. The school mix is almost entirely rural, with 33 of the 35 schools carrying that designation. No charter schools operate within the county. See the NCES Common Core of Data for school-level records.

Sources

NCES Common Core of Data
U.S. Census Bureau ACS

School Overview

Total Schools

in Hancock County

Reported Enrollment

6,148

34 schools reporting

School Districts

districts

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary27

Middle2

High5

Other1

25 School Districts in Hancock County

Ellsworth Public Schools

3 schools

1,328 students

RSU 25

4 schools

1,073 students

RSU 24

6 schools

822 students

Mt Desert CSD

1 school

495 students

Bar Harbor Public Schools

1 school

333 students

Deer Isle-Stonington CSD

2 schools

318 students

Blue Hill Public Schools

1 school

243 students

Hancock Public Schools

1 school

174 students

Mount Desert Public Schools

1 school

153 students

Dedham Public Schools

1 school

148 students

35 Public Schools in Hancock County

Sorted by reported enrollment. Every NCES public school remains listed here; no school-level profile pages are included in the current generated coverage for this county.

NCES 2022-23 public school data and FY 2022 school-finance data

Search schools

Level

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Showing 20 of 35 matching schools

Public schools in Hancock County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School	Record	Ellsworth Public Schools	Ellsworth, 04605Town: Distant	PK–8	Primary	775
Ellsworth High School	Record	Ellsworth Public Schools	Ellsworth, 04605Rural: Fringe	9–12	High	553
Mt Desert Island High School	Record	Mt Desert CSD	Mount Desert, 04660Rural: Distant	9–12	High	495
Bucksport High School	Record	RSU 25	Bucksport, 04416Rural: Distant	9–12	High	356
Conners-Emerson School	Record	Bar Harbor Public Schools	Bar Harbor, 04609Town: Remote	KG–8	Primary	333
Miles Lane School	Record	RSU 25	Bucksport, 04416Rural: Distant	1–4	Primary	300
Bucksport Middle School	Record	RSU 25	Bucksport, 04416Rural: Distant	5–8	Middle	282
Sumner Memorial High School	Record	RSU 24	Sullivan, 04664Rural: Distant	9–12	High	279
Blue Hill Consolidated School	Record	Blue Hill Public Schools	Blue Hill, 04614Rural: Distant	PK–8	Primary	243
Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary Sch	Record	Deer Isle-Stonington CSD	Deer Isle, 04627Rural: Remote	KG–7	Primary	203
Sumner Middle Sch	Record	RSU 24	Sullivan, 04664Rural: Distant	6–8	Middle	180
Hancock Grammar School	Record	Hancock Public Schools	Hancock, 04640Rural: Distant	KG–8	Primary	174
Mt Desert Elementary School	Record	Mount Desert Public Schools	Northeast Harbor, 04662Rural: Distant	PK–8	Primary	153
Dedham School	Record	Dedham Public Schools	Dedham, 04429Rural: Distant	PK–8	Primary	148
Mountain View Sch	Record	RSU 24	Sullivan, 04664Rural: Distant	PK–5	Primary	147
Pemetic Elementary School	Record	Southwest Harbor Public Schools	Southwest Harbor, 04679Rural: Distant	PK–8	Primary	144
Surry Elementary School	Record	Surry Public Schools	Surry, 04684Rural: Distant	PK–8	Primary	144
Trenton Elementary School	Record	Trenton Public Schools	Trenton, 04605Rural: Distant	PK–8	Primary	140
G Herbert Jewett School	Record	RSU 25	Bucksport, 04416Rural: Distant	PK–KG	Primary	135
Lamoine Consolidated School	Record	Lamoine Public Schools	Lamoine, 04605Rural: Distant	KG–8	Primary	126

Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School

Ellsworth Public Schools

Ellsworth, 04605 / Town: Distant

RecordPK–8Primary775 students

Ellsworth High School

Ellsworth Public Schools

Ellsworth, 04605 / Rural: Fringe

Record9–12High553 students

Mt Desert Island High School

Mt Desert CSD

Mount Desert, 04660 / Rural: Distant

Record9–12High495 students

Bucksport High School

RSU 25

Bucksport, 04416 / Rural: Distant

Record9–12High356 students

Conners-Emerson School

Bar Harbor Public Schools

Bar Harbor, 04609 / Town: Remote

RecordKG–8Primary333 students

Miles Lane School

RSU 25

Bucksport, 04416 / Rural: Distant

Record1–4Primary300 students

Bucksport Middle School

RSU 25

Bucksport, 04416 / Rural: Distant

Record5–8Middle282 students

Sumner Memorial High School

RSU 24

Sullivan, 04664 / Rural: Distant

Record9–12High279 students

Blue Hill Consolidated School

Blue Hill Public Schools

Blue Hill, 04614 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–8Primary243 students

Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary Sch

Deer Isle-Stonington CSD

Deer Isle, 04627 / Rural: Remote

RecordKG–7Primary203 students

Sumner Middle Sch

RSU 24

Sullivan, 04664 / Rural: Distant

Record6–8Middle180 students

Hancock Grammar School

Hancock Public Schools

Hancock, 04640 / Rural: Distant

RecordKG–8Primary174 students

Mt Desert Elementary School

Mount Desert Public Schools

Northeast Harbor, 04662 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–8Primary153 students

Dedham School

Dedham Public Schools

Dedham, 04429 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–8Primary148 students

Mountain View Sch

RSU 24

Sullivan, 04664 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–5Primary147 students

Pemetic Elementary School

Southwest Harbor Public Schools

Southwest Harbor, 04679 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–8Primary144 students

Surry Elementary School

Surry Public Schools

Surry, 04684 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–8Primary144 students

Trenton Elementary School

Trenton Public Schools

Trenton, 04605 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–8Primary140 students

G Herbert Jewett School

RSU 25

Bucksport, 04416 / Rural: Distant

RecordPK–KGPrimary135 students

Lamoine Consolidated School

Lamoine Public Schools

Lamoine, 04605 / Rural: Distant

RecordKG–8Primary126 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$10,674

State avg $9,738

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Hancock County against other counties using the same NCES-backed metrics.

Open Compare

Browse Public Schools

See school-level enrollment, grade ranges, school type, and district affiliation.

View Schools

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Maine counties have the highest graduation rates?

Knox County (91.6%), Cumberland County (90.1%), and York County (89.2%) currently lead Maine among counties with available NCES four-year adjusted cohort graduation-rate data. This answer is generated from the same dataset used in the county table and can change when federal data refreshes.

What is per-pupil spending like in Maine?

Across Maine counties with available NCES district-finance data, average per-pupil spending is $9,738. The highest current county values are Knox County ($11,353), Cumberland County ($10,990), and Sagadahoc County ($10,765). Compare counties in the table before treating the statewide average as representative of a local district.

How should I read the school score in Hancock County?

Hancock County has a school score of 64/100, which is a midrange measured signal in this county-level index. This score is calculated from available NCES graduation-rate and school-finance data, with school-level records shown separately below.

What is the graduation rate in Hancock County?

The high school graduation rate in Hancock County is 87.8%, which is above the national average of 87.5%. This figure is based on NCES district-level data for public high schools in the county.

How much does Hancock County spend per student?

Hancock County spends $10,674 per pupil annually on public education, based on NCES district finance data. Current operating spending per fall enrollment, including instruction, support services, administration, transportation, and operations. It excludes capital outlays and debt service in the SchoolsByCounty methodology.

Counties with Similar School Profile

York County

Maine

+1 pts

65/100

School score

Franklin County

Maine

-2 pts

62/100

School score

Sagadahoc County

Maine

-7 pts

57/100

School score

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Jul 7, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

Data Sources

Education data sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data and School District Finance Survey. School scores are derived composite metrics based on available NCES graduation-rate and school-finance signals.

Data is informational only. Coverage varies by county and reporting year. Not for use as the sole basis for educational decisions.

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