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)
063639006199	361	Woodside High	Public	9-12	199 Churchill Ave.	Woodside	94062	San Mateo County	Sequoia Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 367-9750	1,646	98	16.7	28.1%	652 (39.6%)	17 (1.0%)	819 (49.8%)	88 (5.3%)	7 (0.4%)	8 (0.5%)	54 (3.3%)	$11,106							77.8	82.2	292	69
062160010755	362	Heritage High	Public	9-12	101 American Ave.	Brentwood	94513	Contra Costa County	Liberty Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 634-0037	2,641	115	23	17.5%	827 (31.3%)	272 (10.3%)	727 (27.5%)	550 (20.8%)	11 (0.4%)	15 (0.6%)	230 (8.7%)	$10,183							77.7	81.3	302	60
063877006514	363	North Tahoe High	Public	9-12	2945 Polaris Rd.	Tahoe City	96145	Placer County	Tahoe-Truckee Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 581-7000	491	27	18.5	34.8%	269 (54.8%)	1 (0.2%)	207 (42.2%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.2%)	$15,352							77.6	71.8	454	91
061476001814	364	Sonora High	Public	9-12	401 South Palm St.	La Habra	90631	Orange County	Fullerton Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 266-2003	1,707	74	23	56.6%	191 (11.2%)	17 (1.0%)	1,245 (72.9%)	155 (9.1%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	94 (5.5%)	$7,979							77.6	86.5	220	144
060168814254	365	JCS - Cedar Cove	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1221 Encinitas Blvd.	Encinitas	92024	San Diego County	JCS - Cedar Cove District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 230-2870	117	8	15.3	37.6%	58 (49.6%)	5 (4.3%)	33 (28.2%)	2 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	18 (15.4%)								77.6	78.7	350	15
064251014393	366	Castaic High	Public	9-12	31575 Valley Creek Rd.	Castaic	91384	Los Angeles County	William S. Hart Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 888-6288	1,193	58	20.5	22.1%	449 (37.6%)	56 (4.7%)	530 (44.4%)	94 (7.9%)	3 (0.3%)	4 (0.3%)	56 (4.7%)								77.3	79.7	332	34
061893002294	367	Oceana High	Public	9-12	401 Paloma Ave.	Pacifica	94044	San Mateo County	Jefferson Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 550-7300	491	30	16.5	18.5%	123 (25.1%)	4 (0.8%)	123 (25.1%)	175 (35.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	59 (12.0%)	$7,184							77.2	71.7	455	88
062637003941	368	College Park High	Public	9-12	201 Viking Dr.	Pleasant Hill	94523	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 682-7670	1,997	82	24.3	20.2%	794 (39.8%)	39 (2.0%)	628 (31.4%)	285 (14.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (0.4%)	230 (11.5%)	$11,376							77.2	86.4	223	145
061527001953	369	Glendora High	Public	9-12	1600 East Foothill Blvd.	Glendora	91741	Los Angeles County	Glendora Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 963-5731	2,151	87	24.6	29.0%	658 (30.6%)	39 (1.8%)	1,035 (48.1%)	274 (12.7%)	3 (0.1%)	1 (0.0%)	140 (6.5%)	$6,708							77	80.8	315	54
060192214287	370	Redwood Coast Montessori	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1611 Peninsula Dr.	Arcata	95521	Humboldt County	Redwood Coast Montessori District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 832-4194	185	17	10.9	41.6%	124 (67.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (10.3%)	2 (1.1%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (19.5%)								76.9	76.6	387	17

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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

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.