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)
069100213783	1781	Butte County Community	Public, Alternative	K-12	500 Orient St. Ste. 105	Chico	95928	Butte County	Butte County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 895-9741	39	3	11.2	92.3%	12 (30.8%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (35.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (5.1%)	1 (2.6%)	9 (23.1%)	$16,752							16.2	16.3	1796	15
061893001427	1782	Thornton High	Public	9-12	115 First Ave.	Daly City	94014	San Mateo County	Jefferson Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 550-7840	77	7	11.4	40.3%	11 (14.3%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (46.8%)	17 (22.1%)	3 (3.9%)	1 (1.3%)	9 (11.7%)	$7,655							16.2	13.6	1886	104
060155212331	1783	Aspire Golden State College Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	1009 66th Ave.	Oakland	94610	Alameda County	Aspire Golden State College Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 567-9631	432	21	20.8	80.8%	2 (0.5%)	65 (15.0%)	351 (81.3%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (2.3%)								16.2	19.2	1718	65
060797009345	1784	Central Unified Alternative/Opportunity	Public, Alternative	K-12	2698 North Brawley	Fresno	93722	Fresno County	Central Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 276-5230	214	9	23.6	83.2%	29 (13.6%)	16 (7.5%)	154 (72.0%)	8 (3.7%)	3 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	$7,899							16	13.4	1887	103
063432011939	1785	Lincoln High	Public	9-12	4777 Imperial Ave.	San Diego	92113	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 266-6500	1,407	58	24.1	76.0%	28 (2.0%)	272 (19.3%)	976 (69.4%)	53 (3.8%)	1 (0.1%)	14 (1.0%)	61 (4.3%)	$9,563							16	15.1	1832	47
061806002235	1786	Valley Vista High	Public	9-12	9600 Dolphin St.	Fountain Valley	92708	Orange County	Huntington Beach Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 964-7766	321	14	22.9	75.4%	78 (24.3%)	3 (0.9%)	176 (54.8%)	44 (13.7%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.9%)	12 (3.7%)	$15,509							15.9	17.9	1752	34
063384005221	1787	American Legion High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	3801 Broadway	Sacramento	95817	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5000	176	16	10.9	88.6%	6 (3.4%)	37 (21.0%)	110 (62.5%)	7 (4.0%)	1 (0.6%)	7 (4.0%)	8 (4.5%)	$12,078							15.9	11.2	1983	196
062580013683	1788	Moreno Valley Online Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	24521 Cactus Ave.	Moreno Valley	92553	Riverside County	Moreno Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 571-4970	754	39	19.4	71.6%	49 (6.5%)	112 (14.9%)	534 (70.8%)	15 (2.0%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.5%)	38 (5.0%)	$8,922							15.8	14.8	1844	56
061839002260	1789	Morningside High	Public	9-12	10500 South Yukon Ave.	Inglewood	90303	Los Angeles County	Inglewood Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 680-5230	535	30	18	69.7%	0 (0.0%)	147 (27.5%)	374 (69.9%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.1%)	4 (0.7%)								15.8	17.4	1767	22
062772004190	1790	Marin Oaks High	Public	9-12	720 Diablo Ave.	Novato	94947	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-7653	85	7	11.4	60.0%	13 (15.3%)	5 (5.9%)	61 (71.8%)	1 (1.2%)	1 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.5%)	$14,137							15.8	16.6	1786	4

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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