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)
062271012525	531	Daniel Pearl Journalism & Communications Magnet	Public	9-12	6649 Balboa Blvd.	Lake Balboa	91406	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 654-3775	224	13	17.1	71.0%	59 (26.3%)	11 (4.9%)	129 (57.6%)	15 (6.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.5%)	$13,827							66.3	39	1170	639
063488005893	532	San Marcos High	Public	9-12	1615 San Marcos Blvd.	San Marcos	92078	San Diego County	San Marcos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 290-2200	3,201	119	26.9	32.6%	1,384 (43.2%)	33 (1.0%)	1,316 (41.1%)	241 (7.5%)	5 (0.2%)	9 (0.3%)	213 (6.7%)	$6,970							66.2	71.6	458	74
060303007261	533	Pacific Coast High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	1720 M St.	Arcata	95521	Humboldt County	Northern Humboldt Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 822-2443	40	2	18.1	70.0%	25 (62.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (17.5%)	1 (2.5%)	2 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (10.0%)	$13,174							66.2	35.7	1257	724
060206112083	534	High Technical High Chula Vista	Public, Charter	9-12	1945 Discovery Falls Dr.	Chula Vista	91915	San Diego County	High Technical High Chula Vista District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 591-2500	642	31	20.8	39.6%	54 (8.4%)	13 (2.0%)	471 (73.4%)	64 (10.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	36 (5.6%)								66.2	57.1	710	176
061212001364	535	El Monte High	Public	9-12	3048 North Tyler Ave.	El Monte	91731	Los Angeles County	El Monte Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 444-7701	1,421	66	21.4	96.6%	6 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	1,226 (86.3%)	178 (12.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	$12,110							66.1	55.8	737	202
061086012157	536	Robert F. Kennedy High	Public	9-12	1401 Hiett Ave.	Delano	93215	Kern County	Delano Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 720-5117	1,365	61	22.4	91.4%	15 (1.1%)	8 (0.6%)	1,252 (91.7%)	87 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.2%)	$12,488							66	55	761	225
060001809107	537	Hayfork High	Public	9-12	231 Oak St.	Hayfork	96041	Trinity County	Mountain Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 628-5261	95	6	15.7	86.3%	52 (54.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (10.5%)	25 (26.3%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (7.4%)	$21,311							66	65.1	557	20
060165010751	538	Acalanes Center for Independent Study	Public	9-12	1963 Tice Valley Blvd.	Walnut Creek	94595	Contra Costa County	Acalanes Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 280-3945	51	7	7.2	23.5%	34 (66.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (13.7%)	4 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (11.8%)	$11,829							65.9	71.1	463	75
063726006306	539	Sonora High	Public	9-12	430 North Washington St.	Sonora	95370	Tuolumne County	Sonora Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 532-5511	960	38	25.4	38.8%	613 (63.9%)	8 (0.8%)	215 (22.4%)	22 (2.3%)	15 (1.6%)	2 (0.2%)	81 (8.4%)	$6,832							65.9	59.8	661	122
063459005746	540	Willow Glen High	Public	9-12	2001 Cottle Ave.	San Jose	95125	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6330	1,580	75	21.1	39.4%	484 (30.6%)	35 (2.2%)	836 (52.9%)	105 (6.6%)	3 (0.2%)	8 (0.5%)	109 (6.9%)	$11,468							65.6	64.3	572	32

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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

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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