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)
060202112922	371	Sierra Academy of Expeditionary Learning	Public, Charter	9-12	505 Main St.	Nevada City	95959	Nevada County	Sierra Academy of Expeditionary Learning District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 268-2200	164	14	11.6	50.0%	110 (67.1%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (13.4%)	2 (1.2%)	4 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (13.4%)								76.8	64.3	571	200
062271009150	372	King/Drew Medical Magnet High	Public	9-12	1601 East 120th St.	Los Angeles	90059	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 566-0420	1,343	70	19.2	88.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,917							76.8	75.6	404	32
060236211632	373	Alliance Patti And Peter Neuwirth Leadership Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	4610 South Main St.	Los Angeles	90037	Los Angeles County	Alliance Patti And Peter Neuwirth Leadership Academy Distri	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 342-2874	614	28	21.5	98.7%	2 (0.3%)	9 (1.5%)	602 (98.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)								76.7	80.8	314	59
063498005923	374	Hillsdale High	Public	9-12	3115 Del Monte St.	San Mateo	94403	San Mateo County	San Mateo Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 558-2699	1,629	93	17.5	19.0%	504 (30.9%)	27 (1.7%)	591 (36.3%)	327 (20.1%)	2 (0.1%)	20 (1.2%)	154 (9.5%)	$19,101							76.7	81.7	301	73
060303010800	375	Six Rivers Charter High	Public, Charter	9-12	1720 M St.	Arcata	95521	Humboldt County	Northern Humboldt Union High	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 825-2428	109	5	21.2	35.8%	67 (61.5%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (14.7%)	2 (1.8%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (19.3%)	$11,878							76.6	81.3	303	72
060837000827	376	Pleasant Valley High	Public	9-12	1475 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 879-5100	1,840	86	21.4	46.1%	1,100 (59.8%)	48 (2.6%)	390 (21.2%)	132 (7.2%)	23 (1.3%)	4 (0.2%)	132 (7.2%)	$11,384							76.6	82.4	286	90
061970002374	377	Reedley High	Public	9-12	740 West North Ave.	Reedley	93654	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 305-7100	1,848	76	24.2	81.8%	151 (8.2%)	1 (0.1%)	1,632 (88.3%)	40 (2.2%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	21 (1.1%)	$7,348							76.5	70.1	479	102
060151213958	378	Sutter Peak Charter Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3934 Broadway Rd.	Live Oak	95953	Sutter County	Sutter Peak Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 468-4044	613	23	26.6	37.4%	369 (60.2%)	15 (2.4%)	129 (21.0%)	44 (7.2%)	9 (1.5%)	5 (0.8%)	42 (6.9%)								76.5	72.4	444	66
063525005978	379	Sanger High	Public	9-12	1045 Bethel Ave.	Sanger	93657	Fresno County	Sanger Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 524-7121	2,734	122	22.3	67.3%	310 (11.3%)	16 (0.6%)	2,147 (78.5%)	190 (6.9%)	6 (0.2%)	1 (0.0%)	64 (2.3%)	$12,275							76.3	65.6	551	172
062827004379	380	Nordhoff High	Public	9-12	1401 Maricopa Hwy.	Ojai	93023	Ventura County	Ojai Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 640-4343	666	34	19.4	38.4%	360 (54.1%)	3 (0.5%)	266 (39.9%)	10 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (3.9%)								76.3	64	580	200

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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

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.