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)
060780000742	231	Castro Valley High	Public	9-12	19400 Santa Maria Ave.	Castro Valley	94546	Alameda County	Castro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 537-5910	2,799	120	23.3	34.8%	668 (23.9%)	139 (5.0%)	673 (24.0%)	995 (35.5%)	4 (0.1%)	10 (0.4%)	299 (10.7%)	$5,457							86.3	90.1	175	56
060002909685	232	Murrieta Valley High	Public	9-12	42200 Nighthawk Way	Murrieta	92562	Riverside County	Murrieta Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 696-1408	2,230	96	23.3	41.5%	971 (43.5%)	74 (3.3%)	865 (38.8%)	114 (5.1%)	6 (0.3%)	13 (0.6%)	181 (8.1%)								86.1	78.2	361	129
060987001071	233	Coronado High	Public	9-12	650 D Ave.	Coronado	92118	San Diego County	Coronado Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 522-8907	1,045	58	18	15.3%	574 (54.9%)	6 (0.6%)	282 (27.0%)	40 (3.8%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.6%)	134 (12.8%)	$8,838							86.1	93.3	121	112
060211012640	234	School for Entrepreneurship and Technology	Public, Charter	9-12	3540 Aero Ct.	San Diego	92123	San Diego County	School for Entrepreneurship and Technology District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 874-4338	228	12	19.1	24.6%	120 (52.6%)	26 (11.4%)	50 (21.9%)	14 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (7.9%)								86.1	80	326	92
060003611735	235	Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep	Public, Charter	9-12	3700 Del Paso Rd.	Sacramento	95834	Sacramento County	Natomas Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 567-5740	621	34	18.2	35.9%	86 (13.8%)	22 (3.5%)	164 (26.4%)	288 (46.4%)	3 (0.5%)	14 (2.3%)	44 (7.1%)	$8,266							86	88.7	201	34
068450009467	236	Alternative Education-San Joaquin High	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	3387 Barranca Pkwy.	Irvine	92606	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 936-7440	182	15	11.8	28.6%	56 (30.8%)	6 (3.3%)	23 (12.6%)	80 (44.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (8.8%)	$48,295							85.9	91.9	143	93
063543007868	237	Santa Clara High	Public	9-12	3000 Benton St.	Santa Clara	95051	Santa Clara County	Santa Clara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 423-2600	1,849	93	19.9	42.4%	402 (21.7%)	60 (3.2%)	701 (37.9%)	566 (30.6%)	4 (0.2%)	10 (0.5%)	100 (5.4%)	$10,163							85.8	84.5	245	8
060183808594	238	Steele Canyon High	Public, Charter	9-12	12440 Campo Rd.	Spring Valley	91978	San Diego County	Steele Canyon High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 660-3550	2,168	85	25.4	46.5%	711 (32.8%)	103 (4.8%)	1,110 (51.2%)	51 (2.4%)	5 (0.2%)	4 (0.2%)	175 (8.1%)								85.8	84.9	239	1
060263000177	239	John F. Kennedy High	Public	9-12	8281 Walker St.	La Palma	90623	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-4101	2,080	94	22	59.4%	300 (14.4%)	76 (3.7%)	938 (45.1%)	661 (31.8%)	4 (0.2%)	10 (0.5%)	91 (4.4%)	$11,180							85.8	83.3	266	27
063441005612	240	Galileo High	Public	9-12	1150 Francisco St.	San Francisco	94109	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 749-3430	1,826	84	21.6	57.3%	190 (10.4%)	89 (4.9%)	483 (26.5%)	941 (51.5%)	4 (0.2%)	8 (0.4%)	109 (6.0%)	$6,103							85.8	84.6	243	3

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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:

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

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.