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)
062415003642	751	Maxwell Senior High	Public	9-12	515 Oak St.	Maxwell	95955	Colusa County	Maxwell Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 438-2291	116	9	12.7	68.1%	42 (36.2%)	0 (0.0%)	73 (62.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$7,557							55	26.7	1513	762
060006404879	752	Monache High	Public	9-12	960 North Newcomb St.	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Porterville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 782-7150	1,934	90	21.4	51.7%	258 (13.3%)	3 (0.2%)	1,525 (78.9%)	93 (4.8%)	15 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (2.1%)	$5,799							55	49.7	870	118
060816010606	753	Colony High	Public	9-12	3850 East Riverside Dr.	Ontario	91761	San Bernardino County	Chaffey Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 930-2929	2,085	87	23.8	72.2%	150 (7.2%)	238 (11.4%)	1,424 (68.3%)	178 (8.5%)	7 (0.3%)	20 (1.0%)	64 (3.1%)	$9,989							54.9	57.5	699	54
061353005258	754	Oasis High (Alternative)	Public	9-12	2208 South Stage Coach Ln.	Fallbrook	92028	San Diego County	Fallbrook Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 723-6395	71	3	22	57.7%	24 (33.8%)	1 (1.4%)	42 (59.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.6%)	$7,717							54.9	60.5	649	105
060006002212	755	Hughson High	Public	9-12	7419 East Whitmore Ave.	Hughson	95326	Stanislaus County	Hughson Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 883-0469	835	34	24.4	51.9%	431 (51.6%)	4 (0.5%)	375 (44.9%)	10 (1.2%)	5 (0.6%)	6 (0.7%)	4 (0.5%)	$8,036							54.9	49.2	883	128
063432005526	756	Morse High	Public	9-12	6905 Skyline Dr.	San Diego	92114	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 262-0763	1,614	76	21.2	75.5%	36 (2.2%)	195 (12.1%)	780 (48.3%)	465 (28.8%)	2 (0.1%)	16 (1.0%)	119 (7.4%)	$8,156							54.8	58.2	688	68
062955010279	757	Cathedral City High	Public	9-12	69250 Dinah Shore Dr.	Cathedral City	92234	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 770-0100	1,370	70	19.6	96.0%	65 (4.7%)	15 (1.1%)	1,236 (90.2%)	35 (2.6%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	11 (0.8%)	$14,188							54.8	53.1	799	42
062140002561	758	Lemoore High	Public	9-12	101 East Bush St.	Lemoore	93245	Kings County	Lemoore Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 924-6600	1,825	85	21.4	57.7%	398 (21.8%)	79 (4.3%)	1,118 (61.3%)	76 (4.2%)	35 (1.9%)	9 (0.5%)	99 (5.4%)	$8,006							54.8	47.3	926	168
060801000771	759	Central Union High	Public	9-12	1001 Brighton Ave.	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	Central Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 336-4300	1,955	93	21.1	73.4%	39 (2.0%)	19 (1.0%)	1,876 (96.0%)	12 (0.6%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.3%)	$14,526							54.7	50.5	856	97
062706004085	760	Newark Memorial High	Public	9-12	39375 Cedar Blvd.	Newark	94560	Alameda County	Newark Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 818-4300	1,407	51	27.7	44.5%	136 (9.7%)	51 (3.6%)	744 (52.9%)	359 (25.5%)	2 (0.1%)	24 (1.7%)	83 (5.9%)	$9,979							54.7	51.6	832	72

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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

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

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