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)
062515003737	2071	Robert Elliott Alternative Education Center	Public	9-12	1440 Sunrise Ave.	Modesto	95350	Stanislaus County	Modesto City High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-1701	451	34	13.3	81.2%	76 (16.9%)	12 (2.7%)	331 (73.4%)	9 (2.0%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (4.2%)								9.2	8.6	2163	92
061218001383	2072	Ruben Salazar Continuation	Public	9-12	9115 Balfour St.	Pico Rivera	90660	Los Angeles County	El Rancho Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 801-7680	178	10	17.3	73.6%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	177 (99.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$7,066							9.2	9	2134	62
061233007701	2073	Calvine High	Public	9-12	8333 Vintage Park Dr.	Sacramento	95828	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 689-7502	152	11	13.3	63.2%	19 (12.5%)	26 (17.1%)	66 (43.4%)	23 (15.1%)	2 (1.3%)	2 (1.3%)	14 (9.2%)	$13,799							9.2	14.3	1865	208
060005102015	2074	Esperanza High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	581 B Jackson St.	Gridley	95948	Butte County	Gridley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 846-6721	30	2	15.1	66.7%	8 (26.7%)	2 (6.7%)	19 (63.3%)	1 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,993							9.2	17.1	1775	299
069104107228	2075	Stanislaus County Special Education	Public, Alternative	K-12	1336 Stonum Rd.	Modesto	95351	Stanislaus County	Stanislaus County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 541-2217	408	42	9.6	58.8%	130 (31.9%)	17 (4.2%)	213 (52.2%)	20 (4.9%)	3 (0.7%)	3 (0.7%)	22 (5.4%)	$104,014							9.2	7.2	2259	184
062610006496	2076	Hillside Junior/Senior High	Public	7-12	7454 Pine Blvd.	Pine Valley	91962	San Diego County	Mountain Empire Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 473-8693	29	2	19.2	72.4%	7 (24.1%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (65.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (10.3%)	$10,815							9.2	10.6	2020	56
060000710348	2077	California School for the Deaf-Riverside	Public, Alternative	K-12	3044 Horace St.	Riverside	92506	Riverside County	Null	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 248-7700	293	62	4.7	38.2%	71 (24.2%)	9 (3.1%)	197 (67.2%)	7 (2.4%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.4%)								9.2	7.3	2252	175
069107812710	2078	Afflerbaugh-Paige Camp	Public	7-12	6621 North Stephens Ranch Rd.	La Verne	91750	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 593-4926	30	5	5.7	90.0%	0 (0.0%)	11 (36.7%)	18 (60.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (3.3%)								9.2	7.5	2236	158
060162000028	2079	Tracy (Wilbur) High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	12222 Cuesta Dr.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7760	212	14	14.7	75.0%	17 (8.0%)	16 (7.5%)	157 (74.1%)	18 (8.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	3 (1.4%)	$11,593							9.2	15.2	1826	253
060006808144	2080	Independence Continuation High	Public	9-12	12150 Road 36	Madera	93636	Madera County	Golden Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 645-3580	43	3	15.2	81.4%	8 (18.6%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (67.4%)	4 (9.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.3%)	1 (2.3%)	$12,451							9.2	17.7	1756	324

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.