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)
061419010801	71	Academy of the Redwoods	Public	9-12	7351 Tompkins Hill Rd.	Eureka	95501	Humboldt County	Fortuna Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 476-4203	165	8	21.8	41.2%	108 (65.5%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (18.2%)	7 (4.2%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (10.3%)	$5,639							95.5	97.8	36	35
062631003929	72	Los Altos High	Public	9-12	201 Almond Ave.	Los Altos	94022	Santa Clara County	Mountain View-Los Altos Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 940-8812	2,114	114	18.6	15.4%	657 (31.1%)	18 (0.9%)	577 (27.3%)	651 (30.8%)	4 (0.2%)	5 (0.2%)	180 (8.5%)								95.4	97.5	43	29
062569010455	73	The High School at Moorpark College	Public	9-12	7075 Campus Rd.	Moorpark	93021	Ventura County	Moorpark Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 378-1444	101	3	30.4	13.9%	51 (50.5%)	1 (1.0%)	22 (21.8%)	14 (13.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	12 (11.9%)	$10,199							95.3	99.4	8	65
060750013058	74	Sage Creek High	Public	9-12	3900 Bobcat Blvd.	Carlsbad	92010	San Diego County	Carlsbad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 331-6600	1,358	57	23.9	18.1%	654 (48.2%)	24 (1.8%)	352 (25.9%)	180 (13.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	140 (10.3%)	$6,866							95.3	96.3	66	8
060985011712	75	John F. Kennedy High	Public	9-12	1951 Third St.	Norco	92860	Riverside County	Corona-Norco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 738-2200	689	23	29.5	61.0%	168 (24.4%)	40 (5.8%)	294 (42.7%)	156 (22.6%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	23 (3.3%)	$13,179							95.3	96.8	58	17
060002009279	76	Foothill High	Public	9-12	4375 Foothill Rd.	Pleasanton	94588	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 461-6600	2,208	98	22.5	8.7%	651 (29.5%)	37 (1.7%)	249 (11.3%)	1,121 (50.8%)	5 (0.2%)	3 (0.1%)	142 (6.4%)	$6,260							95.2	97.1	51	25
061692012464	77	Western Center Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	2345 Searl Pkwy.	Hemet	92543	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 766-9030	741	30	24.4	61.7%	260 (35.1%)	38 (5.1%)	334 (45.1%)	61 (8.2%)	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (5.5%)	$9,989							95.2	95.6	78	1
068450013995	78	Portola High	Public	9-12	1001 Cadence	Irvine	92618	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-8200	2,503	95	26.2	18.1%	465 (18.6%)	39 (1.6%)	230 (9.2%)	1,560 (62.3%)	1 (0.0%)	8 (0.3%)	192 (7.7%)	$8,044							95.2	95.7	76	2
060221102023	79	Helix High	Public, Charter	9-12	7323 University Ave.	La Mesa	91941	San Diego County	Helix High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 644-1940	2,544	106	24	66.8%	624 (24.5%)	283 (11.1%)	1,176 (46.2%)	161 (6.3%)	3 (0.1%)	19 (0.7%)	269 (10.6%)								95.1	88.3	206	127
061806002228	80	Fountain Valley High	Public	9-12	17816 Bushard	Fountain Valley	92708	Orange County	Huntington Beach Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 962-3301	3,130	120	26.1	51.0%	640 (20.4%)	18 (0.6%)	521 (16.6%)	1,769 (56.5%)	6 (0.2%)	17 (0.5%)	156 (5.0%)	$9,260							95.1	94.5	98	18

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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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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