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)
063384005262	1421	Umoja International Academy	Public	7-12	5301 N St.	Sacramento	95819	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5350	536	27	19.6	65.3%	142 (26.5%)	61 (11.4%)	248 (46.3%)	29 (5.4%)	7 (1.3%)	5 (0.9%)	42 (7.8%)	$10,385							30	35.1	1277	144
060133201987	1422	Grant Union High	Public	9-12	1400 Grand Ave.	Sacramento	95838	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-3450	2,040	95	21.3	88.5%	97 (4.8%)	303 (14.9%)	1,077 (52.8%)	366 (17.9%)	10 (0.5%)	60 (2.9%)	122 (6.0%)								30	31.4	1375	47
063384005264	1423	Luther Burbank High	Public	9-12	3500 Florin Rd.	Sacramento	95823	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5110	1,603	77	20.9	78.2%	46 (2.9%)	297 (18.5%)	722 (45.0%)	424 (26.5%)	8 (0.5%)	50 (3.1%)	54 (3.4%)	$10,210							30	16.8	1782	359
061954002344	1424	Foothill High	Public	9-12	501 Park Dr.	Bakersfield	93306	Kern County	Kern High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 366-4491	2,045	86	23.7	90.2%	122 (6.0%)	54 (2.6%)	1,834 (89.7%)	15 (0.7%)	9 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	9 (0.4%)	$8,914							29.9	39	1171	253
061111008560	1425	Horizon	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	43-330 Palm Royale Dr.	La Quinta	92253	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(760) 238-9720	414	21	19.5	83.6%	59 (14.3%)	13 (3.1%)	310 (74.9%)	3 (0.7%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.5%)	$14,183							29.9	43	1044	381
060231305058	1426	Excelsior Charter	Public, Charter	7-12	18422 Bear Valley Rd. Bldg. 11	Victorville	92395	San Bernardino County	Excelsior Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 245-4262	2,180	84	25.8	63.1%	559 (25.6%)	209 (9.6%)	1,252 (57.4%)	30 (1.4%)	10 (0.5%)	2 (0.1%)	104 (4.8%)								29.8	32.6	1343	83
061650002085	1427	Hanford High	Public	9-12	120 East Grangeville Blvd.	Hanford	93230	Kings County	Hanford Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 583-5902	1,549	64	24.1	80.1%	242 (15.6%)	57 (3.7%)	1,174 (75.8%)	13 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	58 (3.7%)	$11,292							29.8	37.6	1214	213
063462005798	1428	Mesa Verde High	Public	9-12	7501 Carriage Dr.	Citrus Heights	95621	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-5288	888	43	20.8	57.4%	385 (43.4%)	43 (4.8%)	349 (39.3%)	37 (4.2%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.6%)	59 (6.6%)	$9,295							29.8	36.3	1244	184
062271014631	1429	Virtual Academy of International Studies/Humanities	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	8501 Arleta Ave.	Sun Valley	91352	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(747) 316-2533	1,076	52	20.8	72.1%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								29.8	23.2	1617	188
060203714304	1430	Invictus Academy of Richmond	Public, Charter	7-12	7150 Portola Dr.	El Cerrito	94530	Contra Costa County	Invictus Academy of Richmond District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 994-0888	330	18	18.1	70.9%	20 (6.1%)	50 (15.2%)	221 (67.0%)	17 (5.2%)	3 (0.9%)	3 (0.9%)	15 (4.5%)								29.8	50.5	855	575

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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