Local Wiki · State overview
Local Government in Massachusetts
How local government works in Massachusetts, the kinds of local government it has, and where to look for more. For your own county or city, browse Massachusetts’s Local Wiki pages below.
Nine of Massachusetts's 14 historical counties have had their county governments formally abolished, with functions like the registry of deeds and sheriff absorbed by the state or towns. Five counties (Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Norfolk, Plymouth) still have functioning county governments, and Nantucket operates as a combined county and town. A Massachusetts resident should generally expect to deal directly with their city or town government — and, for courts, deeds, or corrections, a state-run registry or an elected sheriff — rather than a county board, unless they live in one of the five counties that still operates.
Most states run a small elected county commission as the default unit below the state; Massachusetts abolished most of its county governments in the 1990s and 2000s and shifted their functions to the state and to cities and towns.
Local government in Massachusetts
- County governments5
The main local government across most of the state.
Browse county pages - Cities, towns & villages56
Incorporated municipalities with their own elected council or board.
Browse city & town pages - Towns295
Town governments, which cover most of the state outside its cities.
- School districts85
Independent school districts, plus 234 school systems run by a county, city, or town government. Listed on county pages where known.
- Special districts413
Single-purpose governments — fire, water, library, parks, housing, transit, and more.
Counts: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Census of Governments — Government Units listing. A consolidated city-county is counted once.
Local governments without a county page
Massachusetts school districts belong to cities, towns, and regional compacts rather than counties, and most of its counties no longer have a government (or a Local Wiki page). The districts below are grouped by the county they're in. Districts in Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Norfolk, and Plymouth counties, Nantucket, and the cities with their own Local Wiki pages are listed on those pages instead.
Berkshire County (16 school districts)
- Berkshire Hills
- Central Berkshire
- Clarksburg
- Farmington River Reg
- Florida
- Hancock
- Hoosac Valley Regional
- Lee
- Lenox
- Mount Greylock
- North Adams
- Northern Berkshire Regional Vocational Technical
- Pittsfield
- Richmond
- Savoy
- Southern Berkshire
Essex County (26 school districts)
- Amesbury
- Andover
- Boxford
- Danvers
- Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School District
- Georgetown
- Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational Technical
- Hamilton-Wenham
- Ipswich
- Lawrence
- Lynnfield
- Manchester Essex Regional
- Marblehead
- Masconomet
- Middleton
- Nahant
- Newburyport
- North Andover
- Pentucket
- Rockport
- Salem
- Saugus
- Swampscott
- Topsfield
- Triton
- Whittier Regional Vocational Technical
Franklin County (20 school districts)
- Conway
- Deerfield
- Erving
- Franklin County Regional Vocational Technical
- Frontier
- Gill-Montague
- Greater Commonwealth Virtual District
- Greenfield
- Hawlemont
- Leverett
- Mohawk Trail
- New Salem-Wendell
- Orange
- Pioneer Valley
- Ralph C Mahar
- Rowe
- Shutesbury
- Sunderland
- Warwick
- Whately
Hampden County (12 school districts)
- Agawam
- East Longmeadow
- Hampden-Wilbraham
- Longmeadow
- Ludlow
- Monson
- Palmer
- Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical
- Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District
- Springfield
- West Springfield
- Westfield
Hampshire County (18 school districts)
- Amherst
- Amherst-Pelham
- Belchertown
- Chesterfield-Goshen
- Easthampton
- Gateway
- Granby
- Hadley
- Hampshire
- Hatfield
- Northampton-Smith Vocational Agricultural
- Pelham
- South Hadley
- Southampton
- Ware
- Westhampton
- Williamsburg
- Worthington
Middlesex County (52 school districts)
- Acton-Boxborough
- Arlington
- Ashland
- Assabet Valley Regional Vocational Technical
- Ayer Shirley School District
- Bedford
- Belmont
- Billerica
- Burlington
- Cambridge
- Carlisle
- Chelmsford
- Concord
- Concord-Carlisle
- Dracut
- Everett
- Greater Lowell Regional Vocational Technical
- Groton-Dunstable
- Holliston
- Hopkinton
- Hudson
- Lexington
- Lincoln
- Lincoln-Sudbury
- Littleton
- Lowell
- Marlborough
- Maynard
- Medford
- Melrose
- Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical
- Nashoba Valley Regional Vocational Technical
- Natick
- Newton
- North Middlesex
- North Reading
- Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational Technical
- Reading
- Shawsheen Valley Regional Vocational Technical
- Somerville
- South Middlesex Regional Vocational Technical
- Stoneham
- Sudbury
- Tewksbury
- Tyngsborough
- Wakefield
- Waltham
- Watertown
- Wayland
- Weston
- Wilmington
- Winchester
Suffolk County (2 school districts)
- Chelsea
- Winthrop
Worcester County (49 school districts)
- Ashburnham-Westminster
- Athol-Royalston
- Auburn
- Berlin-Boylston
- Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical
- Blackstone-Millville
- Brimfield
- Brookfield
- Clinton
- Douglas
- Dudley-Charlton Reg
- Gardner
- Grafton
- Harvard
- Holland
- Hopedale
- Leicester
- Lunenburg
- Ma Academy for Math and Science
- Mendon-Upton
- Milford
- Millbury
- Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical
- Narragansett
- Nashoba
- North Brookfield
- Northboro-Southboro
- Northborough
- Northbridge
- Oxford
- Petersham
- Quabbin
- Quaboag Regional
- Shrewsbury
- Southborough
- Southbridge
- Southern Worcester County Regional Vocational District
- Spencer-E Brookfield
- Sturbridge
- Sutton
- Tantasqua
- Uxbridge
- Wachusett
- Wales
- Webster
- West Boylston
- Westborough
- Winchendon
- Worcester
Source: NCES Common Core of Data (via Urban Institute), 2022 directory — regular school districts only
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