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)
192238001339	91	Paton-Churdan Junior-Senior High School	Public	6-12	606 Adrian St	Churdan	50050	Greene County	Paton-Churdan Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 389-3111	99	3	33	35.4%	90 (90.9%)	1 (1.0%)	5 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.0%)	$11,337			$119			$11,218	70.6	34.3	252	161
191488001050	92	IKM-Manning High School	Public	9-12	209 10th St	Manning	51455	Carroll County	IKM-Manning Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 655-3781	196	20	9.7	39.3%	184 (93.9%)	1 (0.5%)	8 (4.1%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	$16,896			$150			$16,746	70.5	68.4	95	3
190744000355	93	Clarksville High School	Public	7-12	318 N. Mather St.	Clarksville	50619	Butler County	Clarksville Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 278-4273	141	10	13.7	36.2%	133 (94.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.5%)	1 (0.7%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,842			$205			$15,638	69.7	79.1	38	55
191986001167	94	Mount Ayr High School	Public	7-12	1001 E Columbus St	Mount Ayr	50854	Ringgold County	Mount Ayr Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 464-0510	294	21	14.1	46.3%	282 (95.9%)	3 (1.0%)	7 (2.4%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$18,104			$424			$17,680	69.7	68.5	94
192637001496	95	Sioux Center High School	Public	9-12	1031 13th Ave NE	Sioux Center	51250	Sioux County	Sioux Center Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 722-2981	495	30	16.4	43.4%	263 (53.1%)	8 (1.6%)	213 (43.0%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.6%)	$14,733			$198			$14,535	69.6	70.7	80	15
190002601341	96	South O'Brien Secondary School	Public	7-12	307 W Groesbeck	Paullina	51046	O'Brien County	South O'Brien Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 949-3454	252	20	12.4	30.2%	227 (90.1%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (6.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.0%)	$15,447			$108			$15,339	69.4	75.7	52	44
191470002241	97	Liberty High School	Public	9-12	1400 S. Dubuque Street	North Liberty	52317	Johnson County	Iowa City Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 688-1210	1,167	78	15	24.7%	807 (69.2%)	143 (12.3%)	103 (8.8%)	35 (3.0%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	66 (5.7%)	$16,180			$374			$15,807	69.1	69.6	89	8
191350000821	98	Harlan High School	Public	9-12	2102 Durant	Harlan	51537	Shelby County	Harlan Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 755-3101	477	36	13.1	31.0%	429 (89.9%)	1 (0.2%)	37 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.7%)	$15,572			$187			$15,385	68.8	73.8	63	35
192598001474	99	Sheldon High School	Public	9-12	1700 East Fourth Street	Sheldon	51201	O'Brien County	Sheldon Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 324-2501	342	25	13.5	39.2%	251 (73.4%)	4 (1.2%)	80 (23.4%)	5 (1.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$16,589			$199			$16,390	68.5	62.6	122	23
192679001565	100	South Winneshiek High School	Public	9-12	203 W South St	Calmar	52132	Winneshiek County	South Winneshiek Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(563) 562-3226	211	16	13.5	28.0%	194 (91.9%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	3 (1.4%)	$17,120			$247			$16,874	67.9	63.2	118	18

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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