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)
060243000134	1021	La Sierra High	Public	9-12	4145 La Sierra Ave.	Riverside	92505	Riverside County	Alvord Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 358-1725	1,461	76	19.2	86.0%	100 (6.8%)	60 (4.1%)	1,194 (81.7%)	82 (5.6%)	2 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	18 (1.2%)	$9,460							44.2	43.9	1016	5
063432011154	1022	San Diego Metro Career and Technical	Public	9-12	7250 Mesa College Dr. Rm. K-20	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 388-2299	112	10	10.6	52.7%	41 (36.6%)	4 (3.6%)	46 (41.1%)	1 (0.9%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (17.0%)	$17,159							44.2	42.4	1063	41
060263000192	1023	Western High	Public	9-12	501 South Western Ave.	Anaheim	92804	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-4040	1,667	77	21.6	88.4%	122 (7.3%)	46 (2.8%)	1,267 (76.0%)	188 (11.3%)	3 (0.2%)	7 (0.4%)	34 (2.0%)	$12,402							44.1	41	1107	84
062466013098	1024	El Capitan High	Public	9-12	100 West Farmland	Merced	95348	Merced County	Merced Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 384-5500	1,811	86	21.1	74.1%	256 (14.1%)	69 (3.8%)	1,205 (66.5%)	230 (12.7%)	4 (0.2%)	10 (0.6%)	34 (1.9%)	$8,947							44	35.6	1261	237
060204012684	1025	NOVA Academy - Coachella	Public, Charter	9-12	52-780 Frederick St.	Coachella	92236	Riverside County	NOVA Academy - Coachella District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 569-0948	230	11	20.6	88.7%	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	224 (97.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)								44	52.6	808	217
060001409072	1026	Hesperia High	Public	9-12	9898 Maple Ave.	Hesperia	92345	San Bernardino County	Hesperia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 244-9898	2,325	102	22.7	62.2%	201 (8.6%)	166 (7.1%)	1,888 (81.2%)	26 (1.1%)	4 (0.2%)	7 (0.3%)	33 (1.4%)	$7,946							43.9	36.8	1234	208
060208911707	1027	River Springs Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	27740 Jefferson Ave.	Temecula	92590	Riverside County	River Springs Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 252-8800	7,548	283	26.6	58.5%	2,585 (34.2%)	376 (5.0%)	3,854 (51.1%)	189 (2.5%)	27 (0.4%)	20 (0.3%)	497 (6.6%)								43.8	42.3	1066	39
064116006801	1028	Mt. Whitney High	Public	9-12	900 South Conyer St.	Visalia	93277	Tulare County	Visalia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 730-7602	1,629	78	20.8	67.6%	229 (14.1%)	26 (1.6%)	1,203 (73.8%)	87 (5.3%)	4 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	76 (4.7%)	$7,097							43.8	49.4	876	152
060178011827	1029	Gold Rush Home Study Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	16331 Hidden Valley Rd.	Sonora	95370	Tuolumne County	Gold Rush Home Study Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 532-9781	451	21	21.4	48.1%	338 (74.9%)	5 (1.1%)	68 (15.1%)	3 (0.7%)	6 (1.3%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (6.7%)								43.7	39.2	1167	138
060172414234	1030	AeroSTEM Academy	Public, Charter	5-12	82 Second St.	Yuba City	95991	Sutter County	AeroSTEM Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 742-2531	107	7	16.2	64.5%	47 (43.9%)	2 (1.9%)	44 (41.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (7.5%)								43.7	46.5	959	71

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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