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)
060162000029	1	Whitney (Gretchen) High	Public	7-12	16800 Shoemaker Ave.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7745	1,010	39	25.8	29.8%	39 (3.9%)	19 (1.9%)	111 (11.0%)	799 (79.1%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	37 (3.7%)	$6,926							99.8	99.7	1
060627014309	2	Buckeye Union Mandarin Immersion Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	7701 Silva Valley Pkwy.	El Dorado Hills	95762	El Dorado County	Buckeye Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 933-9746	124	9	14.5	13.7%	27 (21.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (5.6%)	62 (50.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (22.6%)								99.7	99.5	7	5
062271013971	3	Science Academy STEM Magnet	Public	6-12	5525 Vineland Ave.	North Hollywood	91601	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 753-4470	467	20	23.6	35.1%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,885							99.7	99.7	3
060263007580	4	Oxford Academy	Public	7-12	5172 Orange Ave.	Cypress	90630	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-3055	1,289	52	24.9	38.7%	83 (6.4%)	12 (0.9%)	234 (18.2%)	921 (71.5%)	8 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	30 (2.3%)	$10,961							99.6	99.7	2	2
062250009901	5	California Academy of Mathematics and Science	Public	9-12	1000 East Victoria St. Bldg. S	Carson	90747	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 243-2025	672	25	27	29.6%	34 (5.1%)	30 (4.5%)	273 (40.6%)	304 (45.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	28 (4.2%)	$9,174							99.6	99.6	5
062688011700	6	William & Marian Ghidotti High	Public	9-12	250 Sierra College Dr.	Grass Valley	95945	Nevada County	Nevada Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 274-5270	167	6	28.1	22.8%	128 (76.6%)	2 (1.2%)	17 (10.2%)	6 (3.6%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (6.6%)	$5,586							99.5	96.7	62	56
062271010844	7	Dr. Richard A. Vladovic Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy	Public	9-12	1111 Figueroa Pl.	Wilmington	90744	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 834-3932	449	19	23.9	62.8%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,923							99.5	99.4	11	4
061518012174	8	Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy	Public	9-12	5055 Santa Teresa Blvd. PB17	Gilroy	95020	Santa Clara County	Gilroy Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 846-4909	279	11	24.8	38.4%	37 (13.3%)	3 (1.1%)	144 (51.6%)	67 (24.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (10.0%)								99.4	99.6	4	4
060183411911	9	University High	Public, Charter	9-12	2611 East Matoian M/S UH134	Fresno	93740	Fresno County	University High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 278-8263	491	20	24.4	20.6%	135 (27.5%)	12 (2.4%)	143 (29.1%)	151 (30.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	48 (9.8%)								99.4	99.5	6	3
061443001698	10	Lynbrook High	Public	9-12	1280 Johnson Ave.	San Jose	95129	Santa Clara County	Fremont Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 366-7700	1,741	75	23.1	4.4%	120 (6.9%)	5 (0.3%)	64 (3.7%)	1,390 (79.8%)	2 (0.1%)	6 (0.3%)	154 (8.8%)								99.4	99.4	10

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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