Best High Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina 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 North Carolina 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 EOC test scores by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 640)	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)
370040703397	321	Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington	Public, Charter	6-12	4100 Sunglow Drive	Wilmington	28405	New Hanover County	Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 338-5258	385	34	11.3	99.2%	132 (34.3%)	129 (33.5%)	80 (20.8%)	5 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (10.1%)								46.4	28.3	446	125
370053003538	322	Cabarrus County Schools Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	4511 Weddington Road	Concord	28027	Cabarrus County	Cabarrus County Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(704) 260-5970	232	19	12.2	28.9%	111 (47.8%)	58 (25.0%)	28 (12.1%)	10 (4.3%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (10.3%)								46.1	34.7	400	78
370432001720	323	West Stanly High	Public	9-12	306 East Red Cross Road	Oakboro	28129	Stanly County	Stanly County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 961-5200	762	45	16.8	35.7%	595 (78.1%)	30 (3.9%)	103 (13.5%)	9 (1.2%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	22 (2.9%)	$8,527			$469			$8,058	46	40.5	350	27
370075000306	324	Chatham Central High	Public	9-12	14950 NC Hwy 902 W	Bear Creek	27207	Chatham County	Chatham County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 837-2251	364	28	12.8	47.8%	252 (69.2%)	28 (7.7%)	71 (19.5%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	9 (2.5%)	$12,606			$549			$12,058	45.9	44.9	325	1
370117000486	325	Davie County High	Public	9-12	180 War Eagle Drive	Mocksville	27028	Davie County	Davie County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 751-5905	1,770	103	17.1	42.3%	1,271 (71.8%)	107 (6.0%)	275 (15.5%)	14 (0.8%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	100 (5.6%)	$8,319			$670			$7,648	45.9	48.7	302	23
370001102134	326	Terry Sanford High	Public	9-12	2301 Fort Bragg Road	Fayetteville	28303	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 484-1151	1,224	62	19.7	58.7%	377 (30.8%)	542 (44.3%)	145 (11.8%)	53 (4.3%)	13 (1.1%)	6 (0.5%)	88 (7.2%)	$8,493			$714			$7,779	45.6	30.2	432	106
370027000070	327	Asheville High	Public	9-12	419 McDowell Street	Asheville	28803	Buncombe County	Asheville City Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 350-2500	1,166	83	14	33.4%	765 (65.6%)	191 (16.4%)	100 (8.6%)	14 (1.2%)	4 (0.3%)	16 (1.4%)	76 (6.5%)	$14,811			$688			$14,123	45.6	51.7	278	49
370309001320	328	North Moore High	Public	9-12	1504 North Moore Rd	Robbins	27325	Moore County	Moore County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 464-3105	593	39	15	63.2%	348 (58.7%)	27 (4.6%)	197 (33.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (3.4%)	$11,514			$738			$10,776	45.6	44.1	327	1
370033002504	329	Southside High	Public	9-12	5700 Hwy 33 East	Chocowinity	27817	Beaufort County	Beaufort County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 940-1881	422	30	14	99.3%	188 (44.5%)	146 (34.6%)	66 (15.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (4.7%)	$12,556			$899			$11,657	45.6	38.6	365	36
370472001879	330	Millbrook High	Public, Magnet	9-12	2201 Spring Forest Rd	Raleigh	27615	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 850-8787	2,421	128	18.9	35.6%	1,119 (46.2%)	628 (25.9%)	501 (20.7%)	76 (3.1%)	7 (0.3%)	4 (0.2%)	86 (3.6%)	$8,648			$382			$8,265	45.3	50.5	285	45

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NC 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 Gifted and Talented Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on EOC Biology, EOC English II, EOC Math I, EOC Math III test scores released by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
These rankings were last updated on September 4, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
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 North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.