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)
063942006580	161	West High	Public	9-12	20401 Victor St.	Torrance	90503	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4299	1,840	74	24.9	23.4%	397 (21.6%)	84 (4.6%)	445 (24.2%)	710 (38.6%)	4 (0.2%)	7 (0.4%)	193 (10.5%)	$6,606							90.1	90	176	15
061336013081	162	Public Safety Academy	Public	5-12	230 Atlantic Ave.	Fairfield	94533	Solano County	Fairfield-Suisun Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 421-3933	746	29	25.6	38.9%	143 (19.2%)	60 (8.0%)	316 (42.4%)	150 (20.1%)	1 (0.1%)	12 (1.6%)	64 (8.6%)	$5,928							90.1	88.9	196	34
060962013944	163	Compton Early College High	Public	9-12	2601 North Wilmington Ave.	Compton	90222	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 604-2706	567	19	30.6	56.1%	3 (0.5%)	61 (10.8%)	498 (87.8%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)								90.1	89.3	190	27
063639014381	164	Tide Academy	Public	9-12	150 Jefferson Dr.	Menlo Park	94025	San Mateo County	Sequoia Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 369-1411	243	21	11.6	30.5%	64 (26.3%)	11 (4.5%)	137 (56.4%)	16 (6.6%)	1 (0.4%)	6 (2.5%)	8 (3.3%)								90.1	78.6	352	188
062259007304	165	Los Alamitos High	Public	9-12	3591 Cerritos Ave.	Los Alamitos	90720	Orange County	Los Alamitos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 799-4780	3,055	121	25.2	15.1%	1,288 (42.2%)	93 (3.0%)	867 (28.4%)	508 (16.6%)	4 (0.1%)	26 (0.9%)	267 (8.7%)	$5,255							89.8	90.1	174	9
062450003666	166	Milpitas High	Public	9-12	1285 Escuela Pkwy.	Milpitas	95035	Santa Clara County	Milpitas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 635-2800	3,026	133	22.8	27.9%	112 (3.7%)	55 (1.8%)	594 (19.6%)	2,056 (67.9%)	5 (0.2%)	10 (0.3%)	187 (6.2%)	$6,368							89.8	93.8	107	59
063441005617	167	Washington (George) High	Public	9-12	600 32nd Ave.	San Francisco	94121	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 750-8400	2,036	87	23.4	47.2%	231 (11.3%)	83 (4.1%)	345 (16.9%)	1,180 (58.0%)	5 (0.2%)	7 (0.3%)	184 (9.0%)	$6,103							89.8	92	139	28
063543014067	168	Mission Early College High	Public	9-12	3000 Mission College Blvd.	Santa Clara	95054	Santa Clara County	Santa Clara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 855-5532	159	7	22.9	33.3%	36 (22.6%)	20 (12.6%)	37 (23.3%)	52 (32.7%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	12 (7.5%)	$11,155							89.7	86.3	227	59
063498005924	169	Mills High	Public	9-12	400 Murchison Dr.	Millbrae	94030	San Mateo County	San Mateo Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 558-2599	1,141	53	21.3	18.8%	138 (12.1%)	7 (0.6%)	222 (19.5%)	659 (57.8%)	1 (0.1%)	13 (1.1%)	100 (8.8%)	$19,451							89.7	91.2	158	11
060474000432	170	Berkeley High	Public	9-12	1980 Allston Way	Berkeley	94704	Alameda County	Berkeley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 644-6120	3,204	179	17.8	23.0%	1,373 (42.9%)	370 (11.5%)	705 (22.0%)	261 (8.1%)	8 (0.2%)	3 (0.1%)	480 (15.0%)	$8,926							89.7	83.5	262	92

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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

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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