Best High Schools in Iowa

A teacher and two students give a thumbs-up in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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)
190858002009	331	Mid City High	Public	7-12	3801 Marquette Street	Davenport	52806	Scott County	Davenport Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 336-7600	160	18	8.8	64.4%	77 (48.1%)	37 (23.1%)	26 (16.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	19 (11.9%)	$18,737			$636			$18,102	0.5	0.2	333	2
192061002052	332	WEST Academy Alternative School	Public	10-12	1302 1st Avenue West	Newton	50208	Jasper County	Newton Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 792-0335	61	7	8.8	80.3%	50 (82.0%)	2 (3.3%)	5 (8.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (6.6%)	$15,439			$174			$15,265	0.3	4.7	323	9
191470001030	333	Elizabeth Tate Alternative High School	Public	9-12	1528 Mall Drive	Iowa City	52240	Johnson County	Iowa City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 688-1080	164	18	9.2	70.1%	49 (29.9%)	73 (44.5%)	27 (16.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (6.7%)	$18,143			$196			$17,947	0.2	0.1	334	1
191653001101	334	Individualized Learning Center	Public	9-12	940 Lincoln Street SW	Le Mars	51031	Plymouth County	Le Mars Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 546-5858	44	1	44	54.5%	26 (59.1%)	2 (4.5%)	11 (25.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.5%)	3 (6.8%)	$8,195			$88			$8,108	0.2	0.9	331	3
193048002126	335	Expo Alternative Learning Center	Public	6-12	1410 Independence Ave	Waterloo	50703	Black Hawk County	Waterloo Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(319) 433-1930	609	34	18.1	84.7%	229 (37.6%)	226 (37.1%)	61 (10.0%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (1.6%)	80 (13.1%)	$14,570			$546			$14,023	0.1	0.4	332	3
192211002315	336	Gateway High School	Public	9-12	907 Gateway Drive	Ottumwa	52501	Wapello County	Ottumwa Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(641) 684-6597	187	4	52	60.4%	76 (40.6%)	11 (5.9%)	53 (28.3%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (22.5%)	3 (1.6%)								0.1			(n/a)
190654000259	337	Metro High School	Public	9-12	1212 7th ST SE	Cedar Rapids	52401	Linn County	Cedar Rapids Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 558-3100	340	23	14.6	71.2%	139 (40.9%)	105 (30.9%)	30 (8.8%)	3 (0.9%)	1 (0.3%)	7 (2.1%)	54 (15.9%)	$17,640			$336			$17,305	0.1	0	335	2
190897002260	338	Ruby Van Meter	Public, Alternative	K-12	710 28th St	Des Moines	50312	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 242-8220	113	28	4	73.5%	56 (49.6%)	20 (17.7%)	25 (22.1%)	3 (2.7%)	1 (0.9%)	1 (0.9%)	7 (6.2%)	$63,840			$14,304			$49,537	0	0	336	2

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Iowa

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education