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)
370087000333	251	Hayesville High	Public	9-12	205 Yellow Jacket Drive	Hayesville	28904	Clay County	Clay County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 389-6532	393	25	15.5	50.1%	344 (87.5%)	4 (1.0%)	35 (8.9%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.5%)	$14,651			$1,180			$13,471	56.4	64.4	197	54
370001100402	252	Cape Fear High	Public	9-12	4762 Clinton Road	Fayetteville	28312	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 483-0191	1,529	83	18.3	50.0%	762 (49.8%)	420 (27.5%)	168 (11.0%)	11 (0.7%)	34 (2.2%)	6 (0.4%)	128 (8.4%)	$8,895			$990			$7,905	56.4	53.3	269	17
370472001839	253	Needham Broughton High	Public, Magnet	9-12	723 Saint Marys St	Raleigh	27605	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 856-7810	2,128	121	17.5	30.4%	1,243 (58.4%)	440 (20.7%)	328 (15.4%)	44 (2.1%)	4 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	67 (3.1%)	$9,028			$494			$8,535	56.2	62.2	215	38
370039403360	254	Northeast Academy of Aerospace & AdvTech	Public, Charter	5-12	1413 W Ehringhaus St	Elizabeth City	27909	Pasquotank County	Northeast Academy of Aerospace & AdvTech	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 562-0653	756	39	19.2	33.1%	498 (65.9%)	151 (20.0%)	43 (5.7%)	6 (0.8%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (7.4%)								56.2	60.4	224	30
370096002902	255	Columbus Career and College Academy	Public	9-12	4564 Chadbourn Hwy	Whiteville	28472	Columbus County	Columbus County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 788-6281	249	14	18.2	98.8%	139 (55.8%)	45 (18.1%)	54 (21.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.8%)	$6,813			$326			$6,488	56.1	40.7	348	93
370045000142	256	Owen High	Public	9-12	99 Lake Eden Road	Black Mountain	28711	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 686-3852	689	46	14.9	48.0%	511 (74.2%)	30 (4.4%)	95 (13.8%)	3 (0.4%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	46 (6.7%)	$11,241			$694			$10,547	56.1	62.8	209	47
370297002324	257	Butler High School	Public	9-12	1810 Matthews-Mint Hill Rd	Matthews	28105	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-6300	1,876	99	18.9	35.1%	578 (30.8%)	548 (29.2%)	579 (30.9%)	117 (6.2%)	2 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	50 (2.7%)	$8,714			$431			$8,282	55.8	50.5	284	27
370345001421	258	Dixon High	Public	9-12	160 Dixon School Rd	Holly Ridge	28445	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 347-2958	1,149	55	20.8	33.2%	844 (73.5%)	65 (5.7%)	142 (12.4%)	12 (1.0%)	4 (0.3%)	6 (0.5%)	76 (6.6%)	$9,119			$727			$8,392	55.8	57.3	244	14
370462001797	259	Parkwood High	Public	9-12	3220 Parkwood School Rd	Monroe	28112	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-0154	1,061	64	16.6	42.4%	722 (68.0%)	122 (11.5%)	154 (14.5%)	11 (1.0%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (4.6%)	$8,904			$574			$8,330	55.8	47.5	306	47
370321001339	260	Mount Airy High	Public	9-12	1011 N South St	Mount Airy	27030	Surry County	Mount Airy City Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 789-5147	582	33	17.5	52.1%	387 (66.5%)	40 (6.9%)	117 (20.1%)	8 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (5.0%)	$10,888			$1,160			$9,729	55.5	64.9	193	67

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.