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)
063680500401	501	Sierra High	Public	9-12	33326 Lodge Rd.	Tollhouse	93667	Fresno County	Sierra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 855-8311	399	22	18.3	32.3%	246 (61.7%)	4 (1.0%)	75 (18.8%)	4 (1.0%)	43 (10.8%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (6.3%)	$9,506							68.6	43.5	1027	526
062250002745	502	Millikan High	Public	9-12	2800 Snowden Ave.	Long Beach	90815	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 425-7441	3,311	138	23.9	27.8%	988 (29.8%)	254 (7.7%)	1,582 (47.8%)	274 (8.3%)	6 (0.2%)	23 (0.7%)	182 (5.5%)	$8,603							68.6	69.5	490	12
063513008976	503	Venture (Alternative)	Public, Alternative	K-12	10540 Albion Rd.	San Ramon	94582	Contra Costa County	San Ramon Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 479-1200	128	13	9.6	15.6%	61 (47.7%)	5 (3.9%)	16 (12.5%)	30 (23.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.6%)	14 (10.9%)	$11,686							68.6	82.2	290	213
063462005756	504	Bella Vista High	Public	9-12	8301 Madison Ave.	Fair Oaks	95628	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-5052	1,924	79	24.4	29.3%	1,186 (61.6%)	40 (2.1%)	428 (22.2%)	98 (5.1%)	6 (0.3%)	9 (0.5%)	149 (7.7%)	$6,983							68.6	80.7	316	188
061207007957	505	Union Mine High	Public	9-12	6530 Koki Ln.	El Dorado	95623	El Dorado County	El Dorado Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 621-4003	1,066	48	22.2	38.3%	719 (67.4%)	9 (0.8%)	250 (23.5%)	12 (1.1%)	17 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (5.3%)	$12,782							68.4	60.1	657	152
063462005812	506	Rio Americano High	Public	9-12	4540 American River Dr.	Sacramento	95864	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7494	1,884	76	24.6	28.0%	1,137 (60.4%)	67 (3.6%)	352 (18.7%)	182 (9.7%)	6 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	134 (7.1%)	$6,828							68.3	82	298	208
060251214416	507	Heartwood Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	170 Liberty School Rd.	Petaluma	94952	Sonoma County	Heartwood Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(415) 488-9572	528	21	24.7	33.3%	339 (64.2%)	4 (0.8%)	68 (12.9%)	17 (3.2%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	90 (17.0%)								68.3	66.4	536	29
061518012264	508	Christopher High	Public	9-12	850 Day Rd.	Gilroy	95020	Santa Clara County	Gilroy Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(669) 205-5300	1,664	76	21.8	34.9%	302 (18.1%)	32 (1.9%)	1,067 (64.1%)	144 (8.7%)	6 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	109 (6.6%)								68.2	67.2	524	16
063075004784	509	Placer High	Public	9-12	275 Orange St.	Auburn	95603	Placer County	Placer Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 885-4581	1,310	62	21.1	30.5%	782 (59.7%)	13 (1.0%)	336 (25.6%)	34 (2.6%)	11 (0.8%)	5 (0.4%)	120 (9.2%)	$12,646							68.1	77.7	371	138
061954002041	510	Centennial High	Public	9-12	8601 Hageman Rd.	Bakersfield	93312	Kern County	Kern High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 588-8601	2,175	86	25.2	34.3%	991 (45.6%)	59 (2.7%)	868 (39.9%)	151 (6.9%)	13 (0.6%)	20 (0.9%)	71 (3.3%)	$7,786							68.1	71.4	460	50

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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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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