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)
063255010198	1671	Vista Independent Study / Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	2625 Barnard Rd.	San Pablo	94806	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(510) 231-1431	568	42	13.6	49.1%	72 (12.7%)	128 (22.5%)	259 (45.6%)	74 (13.0%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	30 (5.3%)	$5,465							20.3	22.3	1636	35
060218813882	1672	Paseo Grande Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5248 Rose St.	Sacramento	95838	Sacramento County	Paseo Grande Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(833) 980-1356	46			82.6%	9 (19.6%)	9 (19.6%)	20 (43.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.2%)	6 (13.0%)								20.3	12.5	1925	253
060282000205	1673	Palmdale High	Public	9-12	2137 East Avenue R	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Antelope Valley Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 273-3181	2,443	105	23.2	74.2%	83 (3.4%)	293 (12.0%)	1,999 (81.8%)	11 (0.5%)	2 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	53 (2.2%)	$9,055							20.2	17.8	1754	81
060174513167	1674	Insight School of California	Public, Virtual, Charter	9-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Insight School of California District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	306	10	31.5	72.2%	85 (27.8%)	62 (20.3%)	140 (45.8%)	9 (2.9%)	5 (1.6%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.3%)								20.2	17.8	1753	79
060237714360	1675	Marconi Learning Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2444 Marconi Ave.	Sacramento	95821	Sacramento County	Marconi Learning Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 974-7307	328	17	19.6	86.0%	25 (7.6%)	58 (17.7%)	193 (58.8%)	24 (7.3%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	21 (6.4%)								20.1	23.4	1611	64
060163913837	1676	Motivated Youth Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	500 La Terraza Blvd. #150	Escondido	92025	San Diego County	Motivated Youth Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 343-2048	194	9	20.6	73.2%	44 (22.7%)	6 (3.1%)	112 (57.7%)	7 (3.6%)	9 (4.6%)	1 (0.5%)	15 (7.7%)								20.1	29.5	1429	247
062394006039	1677	Sierra Home	Public, Alternative	K-12	5171 Silva Rd.	Mariposa	95338	Mariposa County	Mariposa County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 742-0290	69	3	21.3	66.7%	39 (56.5%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (23.2%)	1 (1.4%)	5 (7.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (8.7%)	$10,222							20.1	23.9	1593	84
060213214218	1678	Olive Grove Charter - Lompoc	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	820 North H St. Suites BCD	Lompoc	93436	Santa Barbara County	Olive Grove Charter - Lompoc District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 623-1111	112	4	25.1	75.9%	9 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	91 (81.3%)	1 (0.9%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (8.9%)								20.1	13.4	1889	211
063123004831	1679	Point Arena High	Public	9-12	270 Lake St.	Point Arena	95468	Mendocino County	Point Arena Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 882-2134	125	13	9.5	59.2%	35 (28.0%)	0 (0.0%)	74 (59.2%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (9.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.4%)	$26,969							20.1	34.4	1295	384
060178408714	1680	Desert Sands Charter	Public, Charter	8-12	44130 20th St. West	Lancaster	93534	Los Angeles County	Desert Sands Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 942-3357	742	37	20.1	84.8%	100 (13.5%)	116 (15.6%)	362 (48.8%)	2 (0.3%)	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	153 (20.6%)								20.1	21.4	1660	20

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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