Best High Schools in Missouri

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Find the best Missouri 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 Missouri 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 MAP test scores by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, January 10, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2022)							Ranking (2023 vs 2022)
ID	Rank (of 352)	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 (2023)	Average Standard Score (2022)	Rank (2022)	Rank Change from 2022	SchoolDigger Rating (2023)
291824000966	161	West County High	Public	9-12	768 Hwy M	Park Hills	63601	St. Francois County	West St. Francois County R-IV	No	No	No	No	(573) 562-7535	299	21	14	54.5%	295 (98.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	$11,857			$1,633			$10,225	46.5	55.1	114	47
290712000186	162	Central High	Public	9-12	1000 S Silver Springs Rd	Cape Girardeau	63703	Cape Girardeau County	Cape Girardeau 63	No	No	No	No	(573) 335-8228	1,341	89	15	0.2%	707 (52.7%)	391 (29.2%)	88 (6.6%)	26 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	128 (9.5%)	$11,571			$3,016			$8,555	46.1	45.2	171	9
293027002069	163	Thayer Senior High	Public	7-12	401 E Walnut St	Thayer	65791	Oregon County	Thayer R-II	No	No	No	No	(417) 264-4600	343	27	12.5	49.9%	320 (93.3%)	1 (0.3%)	11 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.0%)	$10,512			$334			$10,178	45.9	52.3	140	23
291165000420	164	Excelsior Springs High	Public	9-12	612 Tiger Dr	Excelsior Springs	64024	Clay County	Excelsior Springs 40	No	No	No	No	(816) 630-9210	787	49	16	36.6%	668 (84.9%)	12 (1.5%)	57 (7.2%)	6 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (5.5%)	$12,895			$327			$12,568	45.7	53.1	129	35
290876000264	165	Chillicothe High	Public	9-12	2801 Hornet Rd	Chillicothe	64601	Livingston County	Chillicothe R-II	No	No	No	No	(660) 646-0700	609	33	18.4	37.3%	535 (87.8%)	12 (2.0%)	31 (5.1%)	3 (0.5%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (4.1%)	$11,527			$4,559			$6,968	45.1	58.4	101	64
291638000797	166	Clark County High	Public	9-12	680 E Main	Kahoka	63445	Clark County	Clark County R-I	No	No	No	No	(660) 727-2205	308	24	12.7	46.4%	297 (96.4%)	3 (1.0%)	2 (0.6%)	4 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	$11,393			$3,995			$7,398	45			(n/a)
291548000724	167	William Chrisman High	Public	9-12	1223 N Noland Rd	Independence	64050	Jackson County	Independence 30	No	No	No	Yes	(816) 521-5355	1,406	84	16.7	65.7%	787 (56.0%)	162 (11.5%)	254 (18.1%)	12 (0.9%)	13 (0.9%)	19 (1.4%)	159 (11.3%)	$11,722			$2,305			$9,417	44.9	41.5	190	23
292925001872	168	St. James High	Public	9-12	101 E Scioto	Saint James	65559	Phelps County	St. James R-I	No	No	No	No	(573) 265-2300	553	41	13.4	50.8%	503 (91.0%)	18 (3.3%)	14 (2.5%)	2 (0.4%)	5 (0.9%)	2 (0.4%)	9 (1.6%)	$12,320			$3,922			$8,397	44.7	54	121	47
290000401488	169	Central High School	Public	9-12	310 Us Hwy 61	New Madrid	63869	New Madrid County	New Madrid County R-I	No	No	No	Yes	(573) 688-2165	400	32	12.6	100.0%	257 (64.3%)	105 (26.3%)	14 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (6.0%)	$17,175			$1,865			$15,310	43.8	22.1	285	116
291635000787	170	Joplin High	Public	9-12	2104 Indiana Ave	Joplin	64802	Jasper County	Joplin Schools	No	No	No	No	(417) 625-5230	2,233	120	18.5	50.1%	1,580 (70.8%)	115 (5.2%)	233 (10.4%)	41 (1.8%)	48 (2.1%)	33 (1.5%)	183 (8.2%)	$9,120			$2,051			$7,069	43.8	46.2	168	2

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Missouri

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for MO student subgroups:

Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Gifted and Talented Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on MAP Mathematics, MAP Science, MAP English Language Arts, MAP Algebra I, MAP Biology I, MAP English II, MAP Algebra II, MAP English I, MAP Geometry, MAP Government, MAP American History, MAP Physics test scores released by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
These rankings were last updated on January 10, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary 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

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 Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.