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)
062631003930	51	Mountain View High	Public	9-12	3535 Truman Ave.	Mountain View	94040	Santa Clara County	Mountain View-Los Altos Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 940-4602	2,220	116	19	12.7%	805 (36.3%)	31 (1.4%)	509 (22.9%)	613 (27.6%)	1 (0.0%)	10 (0.5%)	234 (10.5%)								96.7	97.4	44	7
063498005920	52	Burlingame High	Public	9-12	1 Mangini Way	Burlingame	94010	San Mateo County	San Mateo Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 558-2899	1,519	72	21	12.6%	647 (42.6%)	6 (0.4%)	335 (22.1%)	363 (23.9%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.4%)	162 (10.7%)	$18,610							96.7	96.9	54	2
063750006338	53	South Pasadena Senior High	Public	9-12	1401 Fremont Ave.	South Pasadena	91030	Los Angeles County	South Pasadena Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 441-5820	1,477	61	24.3	15.6%	375 (25.4%)	22 (1.5%)	371 (25.1%)	474 (32.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	228 (15.4%)	$10,830							96.7	96.9	55	2
062037002454	54	Laguna Beach High	Public	9-12	625 Park Ave.	Laguna Beach	92651	Orange County	Laguna Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 497-7750	930	51	18	20.1%	656 (70.5%)	9 (1.0%)	125 (13.4%)	65 (7.0%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	72 (7.7%)	$19,910							96.6	92.7	128	74
061182010665	55	Evergreen Valley High	Public	9-12	3300 Quimby Rd.	San Jose	95148	Santa Clara County	East Side Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 347-7000	2,767	114	24.2	12.6%	104 (3.8%)	16 (0.6%)	393 (14.2%)	2,170 (78.4%)	1 (0.0%)	4 (0.1%)	79 (2.9%)	$7,317							96.6	97.6	42	13
062927013876	56	Rancho Campana High	Public	9-12	4235 Mar Vista Dr.	Camarillo	93010	Ventura County	Oxnard Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 385-2500	840	33	25.5	29.6%	294 (35.0%)	11 (1.3%)	335 (39.9%)	107 (12.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	93 (11.1%)	$8,807							96.4	93.7	110	54
061443001697	57	Homestead High	Public	9-12	21370 Homestead Rd.	Cupertino	95014	Santa Clara County	Fremont Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 522-2500	2,311	96	24	12.1%	539 (23.3%)	22 (1.0%)	480 (20.8%)	989 (42.8%)	12 (0.5%)	2 (0.1%)	262 (11.3%)								96.4	95.7	74	17
063531007197	58	Middle College High	Public	9-12	1530 West 17th St.	Santa Ana	92706	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 953-3900	381	18	21.7	72.4%	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	353 (92.7%)	22 (5.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$8,434							96.4	95.3	81	23
063441005643	59	Lowell High	Public	9-12	1101 Eucalyptus Dr.	San Francisco	94132	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 759-2730	2,632	111	23.7	37.2%	442 (16.8%)	72 (2.7%)	467 (17.7%)	1,380 (52.4%)	6 (0.2%)	11 (0.4%)	254 (9.7%)	$6,103							96.3	99.2	12	47
064015010994	60	Arnold O. Beckman High	Public	9-12	3588 Bryan Ave.	Irvine	92602	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 734-2900	2,798	105	26.5	23.6%	607 (21.7%)	81 (2.9%)	675 (24.1%)	1,253 (44.8%)	4 (0.1%)	9 (0.3%)	159 (5.7%)	$10,175							96.3	92.9	124	64

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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.