Best High Schools in California

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Find the best California high schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish California test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the CAST and Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the California Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2018)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 2323)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
062361004002	551	Sierra High	Public	9-12	1700 Thomas St.	Manteca	95336	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7410	1,693	72	23.4	39.0%	363 (21.4%)	64 (3.8%)	782 (46.2%)	387 (22.9%)	4 (0.2%)	19 (1.1%)	73 (4.3%)	$7,009							64.7	70.3	476	75
062361012065	552	Lathrop High	Public	9-12	647 West Lathrop Rd.	Lathrop	95330	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 938-6350	1,535	72	21.2	44.6%	149 (9.7%)	101 (6.6%)	858 (55.9%)	343 (22.3%)	9 (0.6%)	17 (1.1%)	57 (3.7%)	$6,225							64.7	59.1	673	121
064116010703	553	El Diamante High	Public	9-12	5100 West Whitendale Ave.	Visalia	93277	Tulare County	Visalia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 735-3500	1,987	89	22.2	55.0%	406 (20.4%)	33 (1.7%)	1,353 (68.1%)	95 (4.8%)	7 (0.4%)	5 (0.3%)	88 (4.4%)	$6,256							64.6	65.8	544	9
060790008805	554	Center High	Public	9-12	3111 Center Ct. Ln.	Antelope	95843	Sacramento County	Center Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 338-6420	1,312	66	19.7	47.9%	444 (33.8%)	145 (11.1%)	422 (32.2%)	156 (11.9%)	10 (0.8%)	16 (1.2%)	113 (8.6%)	$6,787							64.6	54.5	770	216
060250514436	555	Sage Oak Charter School - South	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1473 Ford St.	Redlands	92373	San Bernardino County	Sage Oak Charter School - South District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(888) 435-4445	371	69	5.3	31.8%	177 (47.7%)	12 (3.2%)	138 (37.2%)	14 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	27 (7.3%)								64.5	66.5	533	22
060150513832	556	Da Vinci Communications	Public, Charter	9-12	201 N. Douglas	El Segundo	90245	Los Angeles County	Da Vinci Communications District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 725-5800	538	29	18.4	50.4%	53 (9.9%)	130 (24.2%)	292 (54.3%)	17 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	43 (8.0%)								64.4	64.7	563	7
060146112419	557	Magnolia Science Academy Santa Ana	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2840 West 1st St.	Santa Ana	92703	Orange County	Magnolia Science Academy Santa Ana District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 479-0115	502	32	15.8	81.7%	46 (9.2%)	12 (2.4%)	427 (85.1%)	13 (2.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)								64.4	54.6	769	212
061623002022	558	Grossmont High	Public	9-12	1100 Murray Dr.	La Mesa	91944	San Diego County	Grossmont Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 668-6000	2,175	89	24.3	59.5%	764 (35.1%)	167 (7.7%)	924 (42.5%)	109 (5.0%)	4 (0.2%)	13 (0.6%)	191 (8.8%)	$10,796							64.3	62	616	58
062949004535	559	Aptos High	Public	9-12	100 Mariner Way	Aptos	95003	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-7832	1,360	65	20.8	49.3%	622 (45.7%)	11 (0.8%)	633 (46.5%)	40 (2.9%)	5 (0.4%)	4 (0.3%)	43 (3.2%)								64.2	67.7	513	46
063753006352	560	South San Francisco High	Public	9-12	400 B St.	South San Francisco	94080	San Mateo County	South San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 877-8754	1,280	67	19.2	40.8%	69 (5.4%)	12 (0.9%)	782 (61.1%)	339 (26.5%)	5 (0.4%)	18 (1.4%)	55 (4.3%)	$6,010							64.1	60.7	644	84

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students Pacific Islander Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Foster Care Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on CAST Science, Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics test scores released by the California Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 10, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the California Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.