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)
060160911846	1261	Sierra Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1931 North Fine Ave.	Fresno	93727	Fresno County	Sierra Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 490-4290	321	26	12.2	76.0%	56 (17.4%)	12 (3.7%)	231 (72.0%)	6 (1.9%)	8 (2.5%)	1 (0.3%)	7 (2.2%)								35.4	36.4	1241	20
063864006479	1262	Chula Vista Senior High	Public	9-12	820 Fourth Ave.	Chula Vista	91911	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 476-5824	2,053	105	19.4	76.7%	197 (9.6%)	27 (1.3%)	1,698 (82.7%)	70 (3.4%)	5 (0.2%)	13 (0.6%)	43 (2.1%)	$7,068							35.4	37	1224	38
060233614059	1263	Contra Costa School of Performing Arts	Public, Charter	6-12	2730 Mitchell Dr.	Walnut Creek	94598	Contra Costa County	Contra Costa School of Performing Arts District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 235-1130	341	21	16.3	37.0%	102 (29.9%)	40 (11.7%)	138 (40.5%)	12 (3.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (13.5%)								35.4	30.1	1415	152
062271012295	1264	Edward R. Roybal Learning Center	Public	9-12	1200 West Colton St.	Los Angeles	90026	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 580-6400	1,112	59	18.8	97.2%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,659							35.4	36.6	1237	27
060208111200	1265	Community Outreach Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5637 Skvarla Ave.	McClellan	95652	Sacramento County	Community Outreach Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 286-5170	1,714	74	23.2	82.5%	1,648 (96.1%)	3 (0.2%)	40 (2.3%)	15 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.4%)								35.4	34.7	1284	19
061692009852	1266	West Valley High	Public	9-12	3401 Mustang Way	Hemet	92545	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 765-1600	1,898	83	22.8	88.1%	252 (13.3%)	195 (10.3%)	1,311 (69.1%)	48 (2.5%)	4 (0.2%)	7 (0.4%)	77 (4.1%)	$8,885							35.4	32.2	1354	88
062466003308	1267	Golden Valley High	Public	9-12	2121 East Childs Ave.	Merced	95344	Merced County	Merced Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 325-1800	1,956	89	21.9	80.7%	211 (10.8%)	100 (5.1%)	1,384 (70.8%)	188 (9.6%)	14 (0.7%)	3 (0.2%)	54 (2.8%)	$8,532							35.3	32.3	1351	84
060855000852	1268	Chowchilla Union High	Public	9-12	805 Humboldt Ave.	Chowchilla	93610	Madera County	Chowchilla Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 665-1331	1,078	47	22.7	83.7%	261 (24.2%)	20 (1.9%)	741 (68.7%)	27 (2.5%)	9 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (1.8%)								35.3	44.7	998	270
062515003753	1269	Thomas Downey High	Public	9-12	1000 Coffee Rd.	Modesto	95355	Stanislaus County	Modesto City High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-1685	2,145	89	24	76.5%	419 (19.5%)	37 (1.7%)	1,447 (67.5%)	43 (2.0%)	7 (0.3%)	10 (0.5%)	182 (8.5%)								35.3	27.5	1494	225
063583006128	1270	Piner High	Public	9-12	1700 Fulton Rd.	Santa Rosa	95403	Sonoma County	Santa Rosa High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 890-3840	1,361	68	20	50.8%	167 (12.3%)	27 (2.0%)	1,007 (74.0%)	75 (5.5%)	11 (0.8%)	11 (0.8%)	56 (4.1%)	$9,889							35.3	30.6	1399	129

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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.