Best High Schools in Iowa

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Find the best Iowa 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 Iowa 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 ISASP test scores by the Iowa Department of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 338)	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)
191851001062	311	Maquoketa Community High School	Public	9-12	600 Washington	Maquoketa	52060	Jackson County	Maquoketa Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 652-2451	498	34	14.5	47.6%	445 (89.4%)	8 (1.6%)	10 (2.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (3.4%)	17 (3.4%)	$15,941			$248			$15,693	11.3	25.3	279	32
190822000435	312	Thomas Jefferson High School	Public	9-12	2501 W Broadway	Council Bluffs	51501	Pottawattamie County	Council Bluffs Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(712) 328-6493	1,243	65	19.1	64.9%	877 (70.6%)	64 (5.1%)	238 (19.1%)	17 (1.4%)	4 (0.3%)	3 (0.2%)	40 (3.2%)	$19,012			$712			$18,300	11.3	11.3	310	2
190858000461	313	Central High School	Public	9-12	1120 Main St	Davenport	52803	Scott County	Davenport Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 723-5400	1,505	90	16.6	47.1%	766 (50.9%)	316 (21.0%)	241 (16.0%)	18 (1.2%)	3 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	157 (10.4%)	$15,092			$622			$14,470	9	12.1	306	7
190897002268	314	Virtual Campus	Public, Virtual	9-12	1800 Grand Avenue	Des Moines	50309	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	Yes	No	(515) 242-8502	668	39	17.3	79.5%	307 (46.0%)	96 (14.4%)	178 (26.6%)	28 (4.2%)	4 (0.6%)	3 (0.4%)	51 (7.6%)								8.9	5.2	322	8
190654000263	315	Thomas Jefferson High School	Public	9-12	1243 20th ST SW	Cedar Rapids	52404	Linn County	Cedar Rapids Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 558-2435	1,543	86	17.9	56.4%	813 (52.7%)	391 (25.3%)	172 (11.1%)	26 (1.7%)	2 (0.1%)	9 (0.6%)	129 (8.4%)	$15,251			$1,064			$14,187	8.8	7.8	317	2
193048001714	316	East High School	Public	9-12	214 High St	Waterloo	50703	Black Hawk County	Waterloo Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 433-2400	1,022	59	17.2	73.2%	404 (39.5%)	328 (32.1%)	169 (16.5%)	6 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	24 (2.3%)	89 (8.7%)	$15,126			$451			$14,674	7.6	7.2	318	2
191335002206	317	Iowa Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	306 S. 1st Street	Guttenberg	52052	Clayton County	Clayton Ridge Community School District	No	(n/a)	Yes	No	(563) 748-1017	862	26	33.2	48.1%	645 (74.8%)	84 (9.7%)	75 (8.7%)	9 (1.0%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.5%)	43 (5.0%)								7.3	15	299	18
190048802306	318	Choice Charter School	Public, Charter	9-12	607 Center Street	Union	50258	Hardin County	Choice Charter Schools	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(515) 850-2545	86	9	9.8	3.5%	63 (73.3%)	12 (14.0%)	7 (8.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								7.2			(n/a)
192163002292	319	Oelwein Online School	Public, Virtual, Alternative	PK, KG-12	301 6th Ave. SW	Oelwein	50662	Fayette County	Oelwein Community School District	No	(n/a)	Yes	Yes	(319) 283-3536	142	3	48.1	59.9%	110 (77.5%)	3 (2.1%)	11 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (11.3%)								6.7	13.3	304	15
190858001977	320	North High School	Public	9-12	626 W 53rd St	Davenport	52806	Scott County	Davenport Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 723-5500	1,352	77	17.4	49.7%	660 (48.8%)	325 (24.0%)	175 (12.9%)	26 (1.9%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	159 (11.8%)	$15,075			$611			$14,464	5.2	2.8	327	7

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on ISASP English Language Arts, ISASP Mathematics, ISASP Science test scores released by the Iowa Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on September 18, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Iowa 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 Iowa Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

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

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide