Best Middle Schools in Minnesota

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

Find the best Minnesota middle 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 Minnesota 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 MCA-III test scores by the Minnesota Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, August 29, 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 545)	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)
270819003180	31	Pioneer Ridge Middle School	Public	6-8	1085 Pioneer Trail East	Chaska	55318	Carver County	Eastern Carver County Public School	No	No	No	No	(952) 556-7800	496	35	14.1	22.0%	384 (77.4%)	20 (4.0%)	39 (7.9%)	27 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.2%)	$12,977							89.5	74.5	101	70
272388001182	32	Northfield Middle	Public	6-8	2200 Division St S	Northfield	55057	Rice County	Northfield Public School District	No	No	No	No	(507) 663-0650	846	23	37	26.5%	677 (80.0%)	10 (1.2%)	104 (12.3%)	14 (1.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (4.7%)	$12,766							89.2	88.7	33	1
273180001005	33	Lincoln K-8 District-Wide School	Public	K-8	1122 8th Ave SE	Rochester	55904	Olmsted County	Rochester Public School District	No	No	No	No	(507) 328-3550	469	24	19.8	14.5%	331 (70.6%)	37 (7.9%)	22 (4.7%)	38 (8.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (8.7%)	$11,594							89			(n/a)
271356000699	34	Hawley Secondary	Public	7-12	714 Joseph St	Hawley	56549	Clay County	Hawley Public School District	No	No	No	No	(218) 483-3555	414	26	15.8	19.8%	386 (93.2%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.9%)	2 (0.5%)	4 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.9%)	$10,598							89	87.1	39	5
271778002984	35	Century Middle School	Public	6-8	18610 Ipava Ave	Lakeville	55044	Dakota County	Lakeville Area Schools	No	No	No	No	(952) 232-2301	931	56	16.6	13.7%	684 (73.5%)	57 (6.1%)	44 (4.7%)	89 (9.6%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (5.9%)	$10,910							88.9	85.2	45	10
270819002798	36	Chaska Middle School West	Public	6-8	140 Engler Blvd.	Chaska	55318	Carver County	Eastern Carver County Public School	No	No	No	No	(952) 556-7400	599	41	14.5	20.4%	433 (72.3%)	24 (4.0%)	75 (12.5%)	35 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	31 (5.2%)	$14,775							88.3	89.8	31	5
270026203578	37	Twin Cities German Immersion Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1031 Como Avenue	Saint Paul	55103	Ramsey County	Twin Cities German Immersion Charter	Yes	No	No	Yes	(651) 492-7106	615	49	12.4	10.1%	519 (84.4%)	20 (3.3%)	27 (4.4%)	11 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (6.2%)	$11,805							88.2	94.3	17	20
273888001681	38	Lincoln Secondary	Public	7-12	2 E Highway 61	Esko	55733	Carlton County	Esko Public School District	No	No	No	No	(218) 879-4673	608	32	19.1	15.3%	563 (92.6%)	3 (0.5%)	13 (2.1%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (3.9%)	$11,097							88.1	93.3	20	18
270318002501	39	Oak View Middle	Public	6-8	15400 Hanson Blvd	Andover	55304	Anoka County	Anoka-Hennepin School District	No	No	No	No	(763) 506-5600	1,268	65	19.5	22.3%	1,008 (79.5%)	76 (6.0%)	56 (4.4%)	56 (4.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	71 (5.6%)	$12,007							87.7	90.6	28	11
273239001381	40	Rosemount Middle	Public	6-8	3135 143rd St W	Rosemount	55068	Dakota County	Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan	No	No	No	No	(651) 423-7570	1,205	62	19.5	20.3%	837 (69.5%)	102 (8.5%)	93 (7.7%)	74 (6.1%)	3 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	95 (7.9%)	$10,459							87.7	87.8	35	5

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Minnesota

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for MN student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on MCA-III Math, MCA-III Reading, MCA-III Science test scores released by the Minnesota Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 29, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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

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

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