Best High Schools in California

A teacher and two students give a thumbs-up in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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)
061965002360	891	King City High	Public	9-12	720 Broadway St.	King City	93930	Monterey County	South Monterey County Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 385-5461	1,200	54	22.3	80.9%	82 (6.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1,095 (91.3%)	12 (1.0%)	4 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.5%)	$9,543							49.1	43.6	1024	133
060939012987	892	Grand Terrace High School at the Ray Abril Junior Edal Complex	Public	9-12	21810 Main St.	Grand Terrace	92313	San Bernardino County	Colton Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 580-5006	1,747	80	21.8	74.1%	161 (9.2%)	151 (8.6%)	1,346 (77.0%)	48 (2.7%)	7 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	27 (1.5%)	$6,599							49	41.6	1083	191
060813011489	893	Central Valley High	Public	9-12	4033 Central Ave.	Ceres	95307	Stanislaus County	Ceres Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 556-1900	2,336	103	22.7	83.0%	168 (7.2%)	13 (0.6%)	1,989 (85.1%)	134 (5.7%)	5 (0.2%)	10 (0.4%)	16 (0.7%)	$9,176							49	41.9	1077	184
060253914488	894	OCASA College Prep	Public, Charter	6-12	31522 El Camino Real	San Juan Capistrano	92675	Orange County	OCASA College Prep District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 269-3290	105	9	11.6	38.1%	51 (48.6%)	1 (1.0%)	33 (31.4%)	3 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (16.2%)								48.9	54	787	107
062664006081	895	New Technology High	Public	9-12	920 Yount St.	Napa	94559	Napa County	Napa Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 259-8557	364	17	21.3	67.6%	112 (30.8%)	1 (0.3%)	219 (60.2%)	9 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.2%)	$7,120							48.8	47	939	44
060524000495	896	Golden Sierra Junior Senior High	Public	7-12	5101 Garden Valley Rd.	Garden Valley	95633	El Dorado County	Black Oak Mine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 333-8330	475	27	17.6	40.8%	366 (77.1%)	1 (0.2%)	65 (13.7%)	8 (1.7%)	13 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (4.6%)	$11,238							48.8	39.8	1139	243
062271012439	897	Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts	Public	9-12	450 North Grand Ave.	Los Angeles	90012	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 217-8600	1,139	66	17.1	64.1%	178 (15.6%)	75 (6.6%)	785 (68.9%)	58 (5.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	41 (3.6%)	$12,739							48.7	37.6	1215	318
063462008192	898	El Sereno Alternative Education	Public	9-12	10700 Fair Oaks Blvd.	Fair Oaks	95628	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-5060	145	13	11	44.1%	82 (56.6%)	7 (4.8%)	34 (23.4%)	8 (5.5%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.8%)	$8,115							48.7	45.9	977	79
060170113671	899	Empire Springs Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	27740 Jefferson Ave.	Temecula	92590	Riverside County	Empire Springs Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 252-8800	1,582	54	29.1	55.8%	447 (28.3%)	111 (7.0%)	879 (55.6%)	53 (3.4%)	6 (0.4%)	4 (0.3%)	82 (5.2%)								48.7	47.6	921	22
060220714250	900	Elite Academic Academy - Lucerne	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	43414 Business Park Dr.	Temecula	92590	Riverside County	Elite Academic Academy - Lucerne District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(866) 354-8302	960	64	15	55.0%	200 (20.8%)	106 (11.0%)	515 (53.6%)	36 (3.8%)	5 (0.5%)	4 (0.4%)	91 (9.5%)								48.6	43	1045	145

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.