Massachusetts county websites: security rankings

Security scores, grades, and the most common failures for 8 Massachusetts county government websites, from ScanGov homepage scans.

  • Sites: 8
  • Last scan: 9/20/2026

B 86

Average security score of 7 fully scanned Massachusetts county sites

11th

of 48 states, ranked by average security score

7 of 8

Sites fully scanned. We couldn't fully scan 1, so they're listed without grades

B 88

U.S. county average security score, 2435 fully scanned sites

Massachusetts's state site, mass.gov, ranks 4th of 51 state sites with an A. State rankings.

How Massachusetts county security scores are distributed

Smoothed distribution of the 7 fully scanned Massachusetts county sites, score 0 to 100. Height shows how many sites score near each value.

Distribution of 7 scores. The data table lists counts by score range.

  • Massachusetts average
  • U.S. county average
View the data table
How Massachusetts county security scores are distributed
Score rangeSites
0 to 90
10 to 190
20 to 290
30 to 390
40 to 490
50 to 590
60 to 690
70 to 792
80 to 893
90 to 1002

Massachusetts counties by security grade

Each county with a site on our list is colored by that site's grade. Select a county to open its report. The table lists every site.

Barnstable County, MA: grade A, security score 100 Bristol County, MA: grade C, security score 71 Dukes County, MA: grade B, security score 85 Essex County, MA: grade B, security score 87 Franklin County, MA: not fully scanned, so not graded (status 996) Nantucket, MA: grade B, security score 87 Norfolk County, MA: grade C, security score 71 Plymouth County, MA: grade A, security score 100
  • A (90 to 100)
  • B to C (70 to 89)
  • D to F (below 70)
  • Not fully scanned
  • No site on our list

Massachusetts counties by security grade, compared with all U.S. counties

Share of fully scanned sites in each grade band. Massachusetts: 7 sites. U.S.: 2435 sites.

  1. MassachusettsA (90 to 100): 29% (2 sites)B to C (70 to 89): 71% (5 sites)
  2. All U.S. countiesA (90 to 100): 34% (823 sites)B to C (70 to 89): 65% (1,574 sites)D to F (below 70): 2% (38 sites)
  • A (90 to 100)
  • B to C (70 to 89)
  • D to F (below 70)
View the data table
Massachusetts counties by security grade, compared with all U.S. counties
GroupA (90 to 100)B to C (70 to 89)D to F (below 70)
Massachusetts29% (2)71% (5)0% (0)
All U.S. counties34% (823)65% (1,574)2% (38)

Top 3 Massachusetts county sites by security score

#1 in Massachusetts · U.S. rank 1

Barnstable County, MA

A 100 security

  • Accessibility A
  • Botability B
  • Security A
  • Usability C

#1 in Massachusetts · U.S. rank 1

Plymouth County, MA

A 100 security

  • Accessibility B
  • Botability D
  • Security A
  • Usability F

#2 in Massachusetts · U.S. rank 3

Essex County, MA

B 87 security

  • Accessibility B
  • Botability D
  • Security B
  • Usability F

Most common security failures among Massachusetts county sites

Share of the 7 fully scanned Massachusetts county sites failing each check. A site can fail more than one check. Each check links to its standard and how to fix it.

  1. Errors in the console57% (4 of 7 sites)
  2. Sponsored top-level domain (sTLD)43% (3 of 7 sites)
View the data table
Most common security failures among Massachusetts county sites
CheckShare failingSites failing
Errors in the console57%4
Sponsored top-level domain (sTLD)43%3

What each check means

  • Errors in the console. The page loads without JavaScript or network errors. Site may have hidden bugs that break features.
  • Sponsored top-level domain (sTLD). The site uses a government-issued domain (.gov, .edu, or .mil). People cannot tell if your site is real government.

All Massachusetts county sites by security score

Massachusetts county sites ranked by security score
Rank Site Checks passed Grade
1 capecod.gov
Barnstable County, MA U.S. rank 1
7 of 7 checks pass A
1 plymouthcountyma.gov
Plymouth County, MA U.S. rank 1
8 of 8 checks pass A
2 essexma.org
Essex County, MA U.S. rank 3
7 of 8 checks pass B
2 nantucket-ma.gov
Nantucket, MA U.S. rank 3
7 of 8 checks pass B
3 dukescounty.gov
Dukes County, MA U.S. rank 4
6 of 7 checks pass B
4 countyofbristol.net
Bristol County, MA U.S. rank 8
5 of 7 checks pass C
4 norfolkcounty.org
Norfolk County, MA U.S. rank 8
5 of 7 checks pass C
frcog.org
Franklin County, MA
Not fully scanned, so not graded. We couldn't scan your site because it showed our bot a captcha or browser check instead of the page. Status 996 -

About this data

ScanGov scans the homepage of each county government site on our county list in Massachusetts. Scores come from the checks listed on standards.scangov.org. Sites were scanned between 9/8/2026 and 9/17/2026; each site's report shows its own scan date. A site counts as fully scanned when its homepage returned successfully and sent the scanner its page content. Averages, grade shares, failure rates, and ranks use fully scanned sites only. We weren't able to fully scan 1 sites because they did not respond, blocked the scanner, or returned no page content. They appear in the table without grades, each with its scan status, and are left out of every figure. Grades follow the ScanGov grade scale, and rank follows the ScanGov ranking method. The full dataset, including every county's raw results, is published in the ScanGov data repository.