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)
062271012926	821	Cesar E. Chavez Learning Acads-Arts/Theatre/Entertain Mag	Public	9-12	1001 Arroyo Ave.	San Fernando	91340	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 837-6428	292	23	12.7	84.6%	16 (5.5%)	9 (3.1%)	261 (89.4%)	3 (1.0%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$10,465							51.6	54.2	780	41
060240014025	822	Feather River Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4305 South Meridian Rd.	Meridian	95957	Sutter County	Feather River Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(626) 932-1802	2,562	87	29.3	38.1%	1,771 (69.1%)	49 (1.9%)	373 (14.6%)	74 (2.9%)	1 (0.0%)	13 (0.5%)	274 (10.7%)								51.6	51.8	828	6
061384001561	823	Firebaugh High	Public	9-12	1976 Morris Kyle Dr.	Firebaugh	93622	Fresno County	Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 659-1415	632	38	16.5	91.3%	13 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	616 (97.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)								51.6	48.3	907	84
061899002302	824	John Swett High	Public	9-12	1098 Pomona St.	Crockett	94525	Contra Costa County	John Swett Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 787-1088	375	21	17.6	70.7%	51 (13.6%)	50 (13.3%)	154 (41.1%)	84 (22.4%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	30 (8.0%)								51.5	49.7	871	47
060151713179	825	Compass Charter Schools of San Diego	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	850 Hampshire Rd. Ste. P	Thousand Oaks	91361	Ventura County	Compass Charter Schools of San Diego District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(855) 937-4227	790	42	19	47.2%	274 (34.7%)	25 (3.2%)	393 (49.7%)	25 (3.2%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.5%)	65 (8.2%)								51.5	49.3	880	55
060006404880	826	Porterville High	Public	9-12	465 West Olive Ave.	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Porterville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 782-7210	2,136	84	25.4	61.2%	171 (8.0%)	6 (0.3%)	1,838 (86.0%)	38 (1.8%)	59 (2.8%)	4 (0.2%)	19 (0.9%)	$6,117							51.4	54.3	775	51
063993006620	827	Tulare Western High	Public	9-12	824 West Maple Ave.	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Tulare Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 686-8751	1,886	85	22.2	80.5%	255 (13.5%)	34 (1.8%)	1,494 (79.2%)	48 (2.5%)	5 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	40 (2.1%)	$7,492							51.4	46.5	961	134
063627006188	828	Selma High	Public	9-12	3125 Wright St.	Selma	93662	Fresno County	Selma Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 898-6550	1,775	90	19.6	89.1%	69 (3.9%)	7 (0.4%)	1,619 (91.2%)	69 (3.9%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.3%)	$9,969							51.4	38.9	1174	346
062724004110	829	Costa Mesa High	Public	7-12	2650 Fairview Rd.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 424-8700	1,761	94	18.6	75.2%	293 (16.6%)	25 (1.4%)	1,223 (69.4%)	101 (5.7%)	5 (0.3%)	23 (1.3%)	89 (5.1%)								51.3	51.4	836	7
060151511386	830	High Technical High Media Arts	Public, Charter	9-12	2230 Truxtun Rd.	San Diego	92106	San Diego County	High Technical High Media Arts District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 398-8620	384	17	22.5	42.7%	85 (22.1%)	22 (5.7%)	225 (58.6%)	15 (3.9%)	2 (0.5%)	3 (0.8%)	32 (8.3%)								51.2	62.5	607	223

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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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.