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)
062271010862	911	Northridge Academy High	Public	9-12	9601 Zelzah Ave.	Northridge	91325	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 700-2222	900	46	19.6	76.1%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,732							48.1	60.4	653	258
060196813898	912	Ednovate - East College Prep	Public, Charter	9-12	3825 North Mission Rd.	Los Angeles	90031	Los Angeles County	Ednovate - East College Prep District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 285-1441	350	16	21.6	78.9%	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.9%)	341 (97.4%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)								48	47.8	916	4
063567011438	913	Pioneer Valley High	Public	9-12	675 Panther Dr.	Santa Maria	93454	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 922-1305	3,220	132	24.3	74.4%	72 (2.2%)	16 (0.5%)	3,015 (93.6%)	89 (2.8%)	6 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	18 (0.6%)	$9,105							48	39.6	1153	240
060816000791	914	Chaffey High	Public	9-12	1245 North Euclid Ave.	Ontario	91762	San Bernardino County	Chaffey Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 988-5560	3,346	138	24.2	84.4%	116 (3.5%)	93 (2.8%)	2,990 (89.4%)	66 (2.0%)	13 (0.4%)	10 (0.3%)	54 (1.6%)	$10,267							47.9	44	1013	99
062250008720	915	Renaissance High School for the Arts	Public	9-12	235 East 8th St.	Long Beach	90813	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 901-0168	435	23	18.6	53.8%	57 (13.1%)	91 (20.9%)	247 (56.8%)	14 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	23 (5.3%)	$11,829							47.9	41.4	1093	178
063861006473	916	Sutter High	Public	9-12	2665 Acacia St.	Sutter	95982	Sutter County	Sutter Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 822-5161	782	33	23.9	24.2%	485 (62.0%)	3 (0.4%)	218 (27.9%)	23 (2.9%)	6 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	46 (5.9%)								47.8	45.6	982	66
060004707371	917	Merrill F. West High	Public	9-12	1775 West Lowell Ave.	Tracy	95376	San Joaquin County	Tracy Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 830-3370	2,108	94	22.5	53.5%	281 (13.3%)	114 (5.4%)	1,173 (55.6%)	422 (20.0%)	9 (0.4%)	31 (1.5%)	73 (3.5%)	$7,199							47.8	59.1	672	245
062271012370	918	School for the Visual Arts and Humanities	Public	9-12	701 South Catalina St.	Los Angeles	90005	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 480-4700	489	29	17.1	97.1%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,940							47.7	44.6	1001	83
060004807404	919	Paso Robles High	Public	9-12	801 Niblick Rd.	Paso Robles	93446	San Luis Obispo County	Paso Robles Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 769-1500	2,093	97	21.5	61.3%	789 (37.7%)	24 (1.1%)	1,187 (56.7%)	25 (1.2%)	2 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	63 (3.0%)								47.7	61.1	631	288
060369000324	920	Baldwin Park High	Public	9-12	3900 North Puente Ave.	Baldwin Park	91706	Los Angeles County	Baldwin Park Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 960-5431	1,414	70	20.2	84.7%	8 (0.6%)	6 (0.4%)	1,304 (92.2%)	81 (5.7%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	8 (0.6%)	$7,157							47.7	57.6	697	223

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.