Best High Schools in North Carolina

A teacher and two students give a thumbs-up in a classroom.

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.

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 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)
370111002724	151	First Flight High School	Public	9-12	100 Veterans Drive	Kill Devil Hills	27948	Dare County	Dare County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 449-7000	956	54	17.7	27.2%	771 (80.6%)	3 (0.3%)	115 (12.0%)	12 (1.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (5.6%)	$10,945			$573			$10,372	76	67.3	184	33
370063000253	152	East Carteret High	Public	9-12	3263 Hwy 70 E	Beaufort	28516	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 728-3514	530	38	13.7	44.9%	434 (81.9%)	39 (7.4%)	27 (5.1%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	26 (4.9%)	$11,795			$560			$11,235	75.2	73.1	159	7
370483001943	153	Watauga High	Public	9-12	300 Go Pioneers Drive	Boone	28607	Watauga County	Watauga County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 264-2407	1,272	99	12.8	32.8%	1,018 (80.0%)	19 (1.5%)	138 (10.8%)	16 (1.3%)	4 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	76 (6.0%)	$11,160			$624			$10,536	75.2	78.8	133	20
370204000910	154	Tuscola High	Public	9-12	564 Tuscola School Rd	Waynesville	28786	Haywood County	Haywood County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 456-2408	917	58	15.8	49.2%	759 (82.8%)	12 (1.3%)	104 (11.3%)	6 (0.7%)	9 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (2.9%)	$9,911			$860			$9,050	75.2	71.2	168	14
370035303291	155	Pinnacle Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2401 Joes Lake Rd	Shelby	28152	Cleveland County	Pinnacle Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 740-4040	1,132	38	29.6		837 (73.9%)	115 (10.2%)	81 (7.2%)	20 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	79 (7.0%)								75	71.8	166	11
370001102512	156	Jack Britt High	Public	9-12	7403 Rockfish Road	Fayetteville	28306	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 429-2800	1,890	101	18.7	38.1%	655 (34.7%)	556 (29.4%)	371 (19.6%)	110 (5.8%)	21 (1.1%)	4 (0.2%)	173 (9.2%)	$7,975			$881			$7,094	74.7	75.3	152	4
370032803255	157	Cornerstone Charter Academy-CFA	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	7800 Airport Center Drive	Greensboro	27409	Guilford County	Cornerstone Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(336) 482-3855	1,337	79	16.9		959 (71.7%)	143 (10.7%)	85 (6.4%)	61 (4.6%)	2 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	87 (6.5%)								74.5	70.1	179	22
370345001434	158	Swansboro High	Public	9-12	161 Queens Creek Rd	Swansboro	28584	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 326-4300	1,115	62	17.8	38.4%	783 (70.2%)	82 (7.4%)	136 (12.2%)	8 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	102 (9.1%)	$9,312			$763			$8,549	74.1	75.3	153	5
370297003416	159	Williams Secondary Montessori	Public, Magnet	7-12	2400 Carmine St	Charlotte	28206	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-0040	373	23	16.2	11.5%	235 (63.0%)	86 (23.1%)	31 (8.3%)	12 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.4%)	$13,612			$958			$12,654	74.1	81.1	122	37
370072000295	160	Chapel Hill High	Public	9-12	9217 Seawell School Rd	Chapel Hill	27516	Orange County	Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 929-2106	1,597	99	16	24.7%	851 (53.3%)	183 (11.5%)	269 (16.8%)	200 (12.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	93 (5.8%)	$11,533			$502			$11,031	74	77.4	142	18

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.