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)
370414001676	221	Midway High	Public	9-12	15274 Spiveys Corner Highway	Newton Grove	28366	Sampson County	Sampson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 567-6664	757	44	17.1	99.6%	397 (52.4%)	76 (10.0%)	239 (31.6%)	2 (0.3%)	7 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	35 (4.6%)	$8,712			$908			$7,804	62	58.5	238	17
370462002799	222	Porter Ridge High School	Public	9-12	2839 Ridge Road	Indian Trail	28079	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 292-7662	1,754	86	20.4	34.1%	911 (51.9%)	246 (14.0%)	444 (25.3%)	43 (2.5%)	4 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	105 (6.0%)	$7,458			$458			$7,000	61.8	63.8	203	19
370045000133	223	Reynolds High	Public	9-12	One Rocket Drive	Asheville	28803	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 298-2500	1,133	69	16.3	42.0%	768 (67.8%)	130 (11.5%)	150 (13.2%)	12 (1.1%)	5 (0.4%)	3 (0.3%)	65 (5.7%)	$9,315			$663			$8,652	61.7	59.6	230	7
370219002108	224	Hickory Career Arts Magnet High School	Public	9-12	409 8th Avenue NE	Hickory	28601	Catawba County	Hickory City Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 328-6738	229	21	10.7	59.4%	115 (50.2%)	29 (12.7%)	57 (24.9%)	6 (2.6%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (9.2%)	$15,342			$1,043			$14,299	61.7	77.2	143	81
370441001748	225	East Surry High	Public	9-12	801 W Main Street	Pilot Mountain	27041	Surry County	Surry County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 368-2251	594	33	17.9	44.9%	502 (84.5%)	11 (1.9%)	59 (9.9%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.2%)	$9,894			$884			$9,010	61.3	55.7	255	30
370045000156	226	North Buncombe High	Public	9-12	890 Clarks Chapel Road	Weaverville	28787	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 645-4221	956	58	16.6	42.2%	744 (77.8%)	11 (1.2%)	165 (17.3%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	29 (3.0%)	$9,935			$695			$9,241	61.2	64.1	201	25
370011002541	227	Bethany Community School	Public, Charter	6-12	1288 Hudson Rd	Summerfield	27358	Guilford County	Bethany Community School	Yes	No	No	No	(336) 951-2500	649	35	18.3		487 (75.0%)	63 (9.7%)	57 (8.8%)	5 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (5.5%)								61.2	49	299	72
370043803459	228	Ascend Leadership Academy: Lee County	Public, Charter	6-12	283 Harvey Faulk Road	Sanford	27332	Lee County	Ascend Leadership Academy: Lee County	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 842-5411	547	40	13.8		307 (56.1%)	70 (12.8%)	103 (18.8%)	6 (1.1%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	57 (10.4%)								61.1	57.2	246	18
370114000475	229	North Davidson High	Public	9-12	7227 Old US Hwy 52	Lexington	27295	Davidson County	Davidson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 731-8431	905	56	16.1	37.0%	719 (79.4%)	34 (3.8%)	101 (11.2%)	20 (2.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (3.3%)	$8,214			$565			$7,650	60.8	56.3	251	22
370007002416	230	East Wake Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	821 Charter School Way	Zebulon	27597	Wake County	East Wake Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 404-0444	1,227	80	15.2		883 (72.0%)	143 (11.7%)	121 (9.9%)	10 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (5.6%)								60.7	62.1	216	14

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.