Merrimack County Education Attainment Charts

This section of charts contains education data for Merrimack County New Hampshire based mainly on the latest year 2022 Census data using the American Community Survey but also the survey from Common Core Data available for Public Elementary through Secondary Schools. In Figure 1, the percent of all people aged 25 years or older, who have either graduated from high school or completed the Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED) or some equivalent certification/credential. Merrimack County indicates it has a High School Grad or higher of 93% which is less than most other counties in the metropolitan area. The county with the highest percent high school graduates or better in the area is Rockingham County which depicts a high school graduates of 96% ( only slightly larger).

In Figure 2, the percentage of people aged 25 years or older who have graduated from college/university with at least a bachelor's degree is provided. Note that the bachelor's degree is also called a four-year degree because it normally takes four years of full-time study to finish the course curriculum required to obtain the degree. This chart portrays the proportion of the population in this region who are college graduates with at least a bachelor degree or higher. In many ways, this analysis alongside the prior chart are very quick measures of the level of education in any particular area. Merrimack County shows it has a Bachelors Degree or higher of 36% which is in the center range of other counties in the surrounding region. The county with the highest percent with a bachelors degree or higher in the area is Rockingham County which depicts a percent with a bachelors degree of 43% (19.5% larger).

Figure 4 shows the percentage of people 25 years of age or older who either have no schooling at all or dropped out of school before being able to complete high school. Additionally, these are people who also do not have a Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED) or some other high school level type credential/student achievement. This analysis, along with the last two charts, provides another high level review and comparative data on the Merrimack County New Hampshire educational level. Merrimack County depicts it has a School Dropout Rate of 7% which is the third most percent who dropped out of school of all other counties in the greater Merrimack County region. The county with the highest percent who dropped out of school in the area is Sullivan County which shows a percent who dropped out of school of 9% (37.0% larger).

The next chart shows a break down of people who have received a bachelor's degree or higher advanced degree generally in a campus learning environment. In particular, Figure 6, provides the proportional breakdown of all the people who have received a postsecondary education along with what the level of advanced degree that was obtained. Note that these categories do not include any type professional development type activities such as those related to maintaining professional credentials in workshop lessons. Note Professional Degree includes medical, dental, lawyers, etc. Merrimack County has the largest proportion of percent of people with a bachelors degree at 24% of the total and is ranked #1. Second, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a masters degree at 6% of the total and is ranked #1. Third, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a professional school degree at 3% of the total and is ranked #1.

A more detailed frequency distribution of educational attainment is provided in Figure 10. In particular this illustration breaks out the highest levels of university educational opportunities beyond the four year college degree. Included in the breakout are the relative proportion of masters degrees, PhD/Doctorate/Doctorial holders, and professional degrees such as medicine, dentistry, lawyers, etc. Merrimack County has the largest proportion of percent of people with a masters degree at 2.6% of the total and is ranked #1. The next exhibit (Figure 11) provides detailed cross tabulation analysis that provides education success data broken out or cross tabulated by age group. Please note that the columns add to 100% and you must use the pagination buttons at the bottom of the table to see all the rows. Figure 12 is a cross tabulation analysis that shows large educational success categories and is broken out or cross tabulated by racial group. Please note that the columns add to 100% and you must use the pagination buttons at the bottom of the table to see all the rows.The final cross tabulation analysis is provided in Figure 13 and shows education success broken out by gender. Please note that the columns add to 100% and you must use the pagination buttons at the bottom of the table to see all the rows.

Merrimack County School Enrollment Charts

The next section of chart resources look at school enrollment by a variety of educational institutions and are categorized into a number of other groupings. Figure 14 provides the overall school enrollment by broad range of school age/level groupings. Merrimack County has the percentage of percent of children in kindergarten less than most other counties in the greater region at 19.4% of the total.

Figure 15 provides a simple high level comparison of the proportion of students that are enrolled in public schools versus students enrolled in private schools in the Merrimack County New Hampshire region. Merrimack County depicts percent enrolled in public schools approximately 3.1 times bigger as the percent enrolled in private schools.

The next comparison provided in Figure 16 shows the proportion of students enrolled in private schools versus students enrolled public schools for students enrolled in Kindergarten through 8th grade (grade 8) or (K through 8). Merrimack County shows percent of children enrolled in public k-8 grades considerably bigger as the percent of children enrolled in private k-8 grades.

Figure 17 provides a comparative analysis all students enrolled in a public high school versus those students who are enrolled in private high school schools. Merrimack County shows percent enrolled in a public high school substantially bigger as the percent enrolled in a private high school.

The next chart (Figure 18) provides a similar analysis to the last chart but provides the data for public post secondary education versus private higher education colleges. Merrimack County depicts percent enrolled in a public college 16.5% larger as the percent enrolled in a private college.

Figure 19 shows another view of students enrolled in public or private schools-postsecondary schools or colleges/universities. This analysis shows the proportion for all graduate and professional schools (such as law or medical school) and whether those students are enrolled in private or public institutions. Merrimack County depicts percent enrolled in a public gradudate or professional school about 20.7% smaller as the percent enrolled in a private gradudate or professional school.

The next chart in this series of resources shown in Figure 20 looks at the total number of students enrolled in any educational institution for each place in the greater Merrimack County region. (Total enrollment in this case includes all students from preschool all the way through students enrolled in graduate school.) Merrimack County shows it has a Total Enrolled of 34,912 which is in the middle range of other counties in the local area. The county with the highest total population enrolled in school in the area is Hillsborough County which indicates a total population enrolled in school of 93,540 (approximately 2.7 times bigger). Comparing total population enrolled in school to the United States average of 81,076,829, Merrimack County is only about 0.0% the size. Also, measured against the state of New Hampshire, total population enrolled in school of 302,247, Merrimack County is approximately a tenth the size.

Merrimack County Area Schools Charts

Figure 23 lists all the schools in the area along with the school district, county location and other program information/credential such as if they are a public charter school or private charter school or magnet school. Some of the Area Schools are: Webster Elementary School, Boscawen Elementary School, Csi Charter School, Merrimack Valley High School, and Merrimack Valley Middle School. The next illustration in Figure 24 shows the total child school enrollment for all grades (through 12th grade) at the school shown using NCES data (Common Core of Data, Public Elementary-Secondary School Universe Survey.) Looking at Enrollment for Area Schools we find that Concord High School ranks the largest with a value of 1,743 enrolled students. The next largest values are for: Merrimack Valley High School (867), Merrimack Valley Middle School (618), Penacook Elementary School (398), and Beaver Meadow School (388). The difference between the highest value (Concord High School) and the next highest (Merrimack Valley High School) is that the enrolled students is about about twice as large.

Figure 25 show the ratio of the number of students to the number of teachers in the classroom. A good student to teacher ratio should be low because it indicates that there are less students for any one teacher to educate in a class and generally a better learning environment, better success and optimal teaching excellence. Teachers includes all educational staff such as special education teachers and any other educator. Note that distance learning (online learning/remote learning) is not included in these values. Looking at Student to Teacher Ratio for Area Schools we find that Hopkinton Middle School ranks the largest with a value of 7.9 student to teacher ratio. The next largest values are for: Salisbury Elementary School (10.6), Hopkinton High School (11.0), Simonds Elementary School (11.0), and Maple Street Elementary School (12.3). The difference between the lowest value (Hopkinton Middle School) and the next lowest (Salisbury Elementary School) is that the student to teacher ratio is 34.1% larger.

The next chart, Figure 26, shows the racial mix of students at each location in this district of the state of New Hampshire department of education.