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)
063660010326	271	Foothill High	Public	9-12	9733 Deschutes Rd.	Palo Cedro	96073	Shasta County	Shasta Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 547-1700	1,432	63	22.5	44.7%	1,023 (71.4%)	17 (1.2%)	206 (14.4%)	29 (2.0%)	51 (3.6%)	4 (0.3%)	98 (6.8%)	$8,665							83.5	74.4	417	146
060184411208	272	New West Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	1905 Armacost Ave.	Los Angeles	90025	Los Angeles County	New West Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 943-5444	998	52	19.2	19.8%	531 (53.2%)	43 (4.3%)	222 (22.2%)	93 (9.3%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	105 (10.5%)								83.4	85.2	232	40
060846010360	273	Chino Hills High	Public	9-12	16150 Pomona Rincon Rd.	Chino Hills	91709	San Bernardino County	Chino Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 606-7540	2,767	106	26.2	29.8%	436 (15.8%)	164 (5.9%)	1,174 (42.4%)	864 (31.2%)	4 (0.1%)	10 (0.4%)	111 (4.0%)	$9,854							83.4	78.8	345	72
063066004757	274	El Dorado High	Public	9-12	1651 North Valencia Ave.	Placentia	92870	Orange County	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 986-7580	2,009	80	25.1	35.7%	760 (37.8%)	20 (1.0%)	771 (38.4%)	365 (18.2%)	8 (0.4%)	3 (0.1%)	77 (3.8%)	$7,573							83.4	91.6	147	127
064015007201	275	Tustin Connect	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1151 San Juan St.	Tustin	92780	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(714) 430-2052	243	10	25.5	47.7%	83 (34.2%)	12 (4.9%)	92 (37.9%)	34 (14.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (8.2%)	$11,985							83.2	72.3	448	173
061482012403	276	Liberty Ranch High	Public	9-12	12945 Marengo Rd.	Galt	95632	Sacramento County	Galt Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 744-4250	943	43	21.9	44.6%	297 (31.5%)	9 (1.0%)	520 (55.1%)	42 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.4%)	70 (7.4%)								83.1	76.9	383	107
060161008520	277	Redwood Collegiate Academy	Public, Charter	7-12	1059 North State St.	Ukiah	95482	Mendocino County	Redwood Collegiate Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 467-0500	133	8	17.1	60.9%	58 (43.6%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (36.8%)	4 (3.0%)	4 (3.0%)	3 (2.3%)	15 (11.3%)								83.1	78.3	360	83
060148804593	278	Palisades Charter High	Public, Charter	9-12	15777 Bowdoin St.	Pacific Palisades	90272	Los Angeles County	Palisades Charter High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 230-6623	2,991	124	24.2	27.1%	1,522 (50.9%)	276 (9.2%)	713 (23.8%)	214 (7.2%)	5 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	250 (8.4%)								83.1	77.4	379	101
060162000014	279	Gahr (Richard) High	Public	9-12	11111 Artesia Blvd.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7730	1,590	72	22.2	63.9%	95 (6.0%)	197 (12.4%)	856 (53.8%)	379 (23.8%)	2 (0.1%)	9 (0.6%)	51 (3.2%)	$6,801							83	79.9	328	49
060750000709	280	Carlsbad High	Public	9-12	3557 Monroe St.	Carlsbad	92008	San Diego County	Carlsbad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 331-5100	2,365	104	22.7	20.4%	1,442 (61.0%)	34 (1.4%)	619 (26.2%)	72 (3.0%)	7 (0.3%)	7 (0.3%)	182 (7.7%)	$7,441							83	83.1	270	10

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.