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)
061291013061	381	Del Lago Academy - Campus of Applied Science	Public	9-12	1740 Scenic Trail Way	Escondido	92029	San Diego County	Escondido Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 291-2500	777	31	24.7	70.3%	153 (19.7%)	15 (1.9%)	534 (68.7%)	64 (8.2%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.9%)	$7,900							76.3	78.1	362	19
060234114220	382	High Technical High Mesa	Public, Charter	9-12	5331 Mt. Alifan	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	High Technical High Mesa District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 795-1810	434	20	21.7	32.9%	175 (40.3%)	17 (3.9%)	148 (34.1%)	43 (9.9%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.5%)	43 (9.9%)								76	69.5	489	107
063682007257	383	Silver Valley High	Public	9-12	35484 Daggett/Yermo Rd.	Yermo	92398	San Bernardino County	Silver Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 254-2963	369	23	16.2	58.8%	126 (34.1%)	38 (10.3%)	151 (40.9%)	11 (3.0%)	3 (0.8%)	9 (2.4%)	31 (8.4%)	$5,796							75.9	60.9	639	256
060209810374	384	Literacy First Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	799 East Washington Ave.	El Cajon	92020	San Diego County	Literacy First Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 579-7232	1,972	93	21.2	52.0%	631 (32.0%)	36 (1.8%)	407 (20.6%)	808 (41.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	88 (4.5%)								75.9	79	339	45
064248006950	385	California High	Public	9-12	9800 South Mills Ave.	Whittier	90604	Los Angeles County	Whittier Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 698-8121	2,504	109	22.9	80.8%	108 (4.3%)	18 (0.7%)	2,297 (91.7%)	49 (2.0%)	10 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	10 (0.4%)	$6,806							75.9	68.8	501	116
060225814145	386	Coastal Academy Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4096 Calle Platino	Oceanside	92056	San Diego County	Coastal Academy Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 631-4020	1,789	76	23.5	28.2%	1,009 (56.4%)	29 (1.6%)	432 (24.1%)	48 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.1%)	266 (14.9%)								75.9	80	323	63
062271003139	387	Abraham Lincoln Senior High	Public	9-12	3501 North Broadway	Los Angeles	90031	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 441-4600	1,028	69	14.8	95.3%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,969							75.8	61.9	619	232
060248714407	388	Excel Academy Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1 Technology Dr.	Irvine	92618	Orange County	Excel Academy Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 387-7822	545	53	10.3	49.7%	124 (22.8%)	15 (2.8%)	258 (47.3%)	68 (12.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	76 (13.9%)								75.8	78.5	355	33
060213111337	389	Central City Value	Public, Charter	9-12	221 North Westmoreland Ave.	Los Angeles	90004	Los Angeles County	Central City Value District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 471-4686	481	22	21.4	84.8%	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	461 (95.8%)	16 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)								75.6	65.7	545	156
060178512816	390	PUC Lakeview Charter High	Public, Charter	9-12	13361 Glenoaks Blvd.	Sylmar	91342	Los Angeles County	PUC Lakeview Charter High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 356-2591	432	23	18.7	92.1%	3 (0.7%)	4 (0.9%)	417 (96.5%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.2%)								75.5	64.9	560	170

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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