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)
063021004713	2201	Perris Lake High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	418 West Ellis	Perris	92570	Riverside County	Perris Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 657-7357	357	11	33	81.8%	25 (7.0%)	21 (5.9%)	295 (82.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	13 (3.6%)	$21,997							7.6	8.9	2142	59
060141512820	2202	Elm High	Public	9-12	5865 South Clara Ave.	Fresno	93706	Fresno County	Washington Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 495-5690	77	2	36.1	84.4%	6 (7.8%)	3 (3.9%)	65 (84.4%)	2 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.3%)	$9,122							7.6	9.5	2088	114
062759000684	2203	Central Bay High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	17500 Pesante Rd.	Salinas	93907	Monterey County	North Monterey County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 663-2997	28	1	19.1	78.6%	4 (14.3%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (85.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$31,161							7.6	7.2	2254	51
060813000782	2204	Argus High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	2555 Lawrence St.	Ceres	95307	Stanislaus County	Ceres Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 556-1800	130	10	12.5	92.3%	11 (8.5%)	3 (2.3%)	111 (85.4%)	2 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	2 (1.5%)	$13,080							7.6	8.4	2175	29
060141406023	2205	La Cuesta Continuation High	Public	9-12	710 Santa Barbara St.	Santa Barbara	93101	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 966-0883	80	8	9.9	87.5%	6 (7.5%)	1 (1.3%)	70 (87.5%)	1 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,703							7.6	7.4	2241	36
062271002995	2206	Evergreen Continuation	Public	9-12	13101 Dronfield Ave.	Sylmar	91342	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 367-5989	63	4	15.3	93.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,774							7.6	7	2264	58
063531004767	2207	Cesar E. Chavez High	Public	9-12	2128 South Cypress	Santa Ana	92707	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 430-5700	229	20	11.3	83.4%	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	226 (98.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	$10,044							7.6	8.5	2170	37
063627006184	2208	Heartland High (Continuation)	Public	7-12	2269 Sylvia St.	Selma	93662	Fresno County	Selma Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 898-6670	62	6	11.1	79.0%	2 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (96.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$33,689							7.6	11.2	1988	220
060846010607	2209	Chino Valley Learning Academy	Public	7-12	15650 Pipeline Ave.	Chino Hills	91709	San Bernardino County	Chino Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 628-1201	17	2	9.8	52.9%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (64.7%)	5 (29.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (5.9%)	$47,581							7.6	8.7	2150	59
069102008737	2210	Valley Los Banos Community	Public	6-12	715 West H St.	Los Banos	93635	Merced County	Merced County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 827-5600	138	8	16.5	88.4%	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	135 (97.8%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,351							7.5	9.9	2071	139

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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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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