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)
060150212043	811	Making Waves Academy	Public, Charter	5-12	4123 Lakeside Dr.	Richmond	94806	Contra Costa County	Making Waves Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 262-1511	1,124	69	16.3	83.5%	15 (1.3%)	86 (7.7%)	966 (85.9%)	35 (3.1%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (1.7%)								52.4	41.4	1095	284
064200006886	812	West Covina High	Public	9-12	1609 East Cameron Ave.	West Covina	91791	Los Angeles County	West Covina Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 859-2900	1,887	89	21.2	71.2%	56 (3.0%)	36 (1.9%)	1,436 (76.1%)	321 (17.0%)	3 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	31 (1.6%)	$7,727							52.3	50.3	857	45
062547012972	813	Applied Technology Center	Public	9-12	1200 West Mines Ave.	Montebello	90640	Los Angeles County	Montebello Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 248-2500	423	32	13.2	74.7%	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	405 (95.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.1%)	$8,116							52.2	49.4	875	62
060206214020	814	Blue Ridge Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	955 Stanislaus St.	Maricopa	93252	Kern County	Blue Ridge Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(661) 412-9363	6,751	233	28.9	42.4%	2,626 (38.9%)	386 (5.7%)	2,436 (36.1%)	434 (6.4%)	12 (0.2%)	20 (0.3%)	828 (12.3%)								52.1	56.3	729	85
063459005696	815	Abraham Lincoln High	Public	9-12	555 Dana Ave.	San Jose	95126	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6300	1,693	75	22.5	53.6%	191 (11.3%)	52 (3.1%)	1,290 (76.2%)	91 (5.4%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.3%)	63 (3.7%)	$11,486							52	50.1	866	51
063432005487	816	John Muir Language Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	4431 Mt. Herbert Ave.	San Diego	92117	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 268-1954	213	12	17.7	58.2%	43 (20.2%)	25 (11.7%)	122 (57.3%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (10.3%)	$11,800							52	41.9	1078	262
060217610851	817	Alliance Gertz-Ressler Richard Merkin 6-12 Complex	Public, Charter	6-12	2023 South Union Ave.	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	Alliance Gertz-Ressler Richard Merkin 6-12 Complex District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 745-8141	998	44	22.6	94.0%	1 (0.1%)	8 (0.8%)	985 (98.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)								51.8	47.5	922	105
060133201991	818	Rio Linda High	Public	9-12	6309 Dry Creek Rd.	Rio Linda	95673	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-2725	1,596	83	19.2	81.6%	326 (20.4%)	111 (7.0%)	803 (50.3%)	240 (15.0%)	14 (0.9%)	18 (1.1%)	78 (4.9%)								51.8	51.9	825	7
061623002024	819	Monte Vista High	Public	9-12	3230 Sweetwater Springs Blvd.	Spring Valley	91977	San Diego County	Grossmont Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 660-3000	1,569	79	19.9	76.3%	176 (11.2%)	155 (9.9%)	1,060 (67.6%)	75 (4.8%)	5 (0.3%)	12 (0.8%)	85 (5.4%)	$14,196							51.8	44	1014	195
060231512450	820	Wonderful College Prep Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2070 Veneto St.	Delano	93215	Kern County	Wonderful College Prep Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 721-2887	1,900	87	21.8	78.5%	28 (1.5%)	6 (0.3%)	1,802 (94.8%)	59 (3.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.2%)								51.7	52.3	816	4

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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