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)
062937004530	31	Pacific Grove High	Public	9-12	615 Sunset Dr.	Pacific Grove	93950	Monterey County	Pacific Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 646-6590	520	35	14.9	16.3%	304 (58.5%)	9 (1.7%)	98 (18.8%)	67 (12.9%)	5 (1.0%)	3 (0.6%)	32 (6.2%)	$10,747							97.9	93.1	123	92
062961004587	32	Henry M. Gunn High	Public	9-12	780 Arastradero Rd.	Palo Alto	94306	Santa Clara County	Palo Alto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 354-8200	1,713	101	16.9	9.5%	494 (28.8%)	22 (1.3%)	210 (12.3%)	799 (46.6%)	2 (0.1%)	4 (0.2%)	180 (10.5%)	$14,036							97.9	97.8	38	6
062970010246	33	Palos Verdes Peninsula High	Public	9-12	27118 Silver Spur Rd.	Rolling Hills Estates	90274	Los Angeles County	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 377-4888	2,175	96	22.7	9.9%	708 (32.6%)	48 (2.2%)	332 (15.3%)	857 (39.4%)	4 (0.2%)	5 (0.2%)	215 (9.9%)	$6,915							97.9	98.2	27	6
060903011855	34	Clovis North High	Public	9-12	2770 East International Ave.	Fresno	93730	Fresno County	Clovis Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 327-5000	2,400	112	21.3	24.6%	979 (40.8%)	80 (3.3%)	691 (28.8%)	506 (21.1%)	7 (0.3%)	7 (0.3%)	128 (5.3%)	$5,572							97.8	98.1	30	4
063315013103	35	Riverside STEM Academy	Public	5-12	4466 Mt.Vernon Ave.	Riverside	92507	Riverside County	Riverside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 788-7308	659	25	25.9	24.3%	158 (24.0%)	23 (3.5%)	288 (43.7%)	147 (22.3%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.6%)	38 (5.8%)	$7,377							97.8	98.7	18	17
064015014497	36	Legacy Magnet Academy	Public	6-12	15500 Legacy Rd.	Tustin	92782	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 430-2088	905	30	29.9	30.1%	192 (21.2%)	12 (1.3%)	238 (26.3%)	371 (41.0%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	85 (9.4%)								97.7	96.2	68	32
063432009437	37	Mt. Everest Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	4350 Mt. Everest Blvd.	San Diego	92117	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 605-8700	205	12	17.1	22.4%	110 (53.7%)	3 (1.5%)	33 (16.1%)	30 (14.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	26 (12.7%)	$9,276							97.7	98.5	23	14
061440001654	38	American High	Public	9-12	36300 Fremont Blvd.	Fremont	94536	Alameda County	Fremont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 796-1776	2,587	100	25.7	19.6%	185 (7.2%)	46 (1.8%)	287 (11.1%)	1,943 (75.1%)	4 (0.2%)	15 (0.6%)	106 (4.1%)	$7,312							97.6	97.4	47	9
061440001671	39	Irvington High	Public	9-12	41800 Blacow Rd.	Fremont	94538	Alameda County	Fremont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 656-5711	2,161	89	24.1	19.4%	129 (6.0%)	23 (1.1%)	248 (11.5%)	1,705 (78.9%)	4 (0.2%)	3 (0.1%)	48 (2.2%)	$7,141							97.6	97.4	45	6
063432002688	40	Scripps Ranch High	Public	9-12	10410 Falcon Way	San Diego	92131	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 302-3400	1,920	73	26.3	20.8%	693 (36.1%)	38 (2.0%)	278 (14.5%)	658 (34.3%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	249 (13.0%)	$6,494							97.5	95.9	69	29

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.