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)
370153000651	451	Bunn High	Public	9-12	29 Bunn Elem School Road	Bunn	27508	Franklin County	Franklin County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 496-3975	838	50	16.6	59.2%	377 (45.0%)	171 (20.4%)	243 (29.0%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (5.0%)	$9,236			$603			$8,633	30	37.1	379	72
370084000330	452	John A Holmes High	Public	9-12	800 North Oakum Street	Edenton	27932	Chowan County	Edenton-Chowan Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 482-8426	592	38	15.5	57.4%	263 (44.4%)	249 (42.1%)	51 (8.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (4.6%)	$11,558			$663			$10,894	29.7	34.1	405	47
370472003276	453	Rolesville High	Public	9-12	1099 East Young St	Rolesville	27571	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 554-6303	2,373	128	18.4	46.9%	663 (27.9%)	860 (36.2%)	661 (27.9%)	110 (4.6%)	6 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	71 (3.0%)	$8,260			$382			$7,877	29.5	27	461	8
370168000720	454	Gates County Senior High	Public	9-12	088 Hwy 158 West	Gatesville	27938	Gates County	Gates County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 357-0720	479	33	14.5	49.7%	280 (58.5%)	152 (31.7%)	16 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (6.1%)	$13,228			$500			$12,728	29.5	37	382	72
370300001297	455	Mitchell High	Public	9-12	416 Ledger School Rd	Bakersville	28705	Mitchell County	Mitchell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 766-3400	497	37	13.4	50.1%	413 (83.1%)	2 (0.4%)	71 (14.3%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.6%)	$11,982			$572			$11,410	29.5	36.5	384	71
370114002216	456	South Davidson Middle and High	Public	6-12	14956 South NC Hwy 109	Denton	27239	Davidson County	Davidson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 242-5700	670	47	14.3	59.7%	623 (93.0%)	2 (0.3%)	25 (3.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (2.8%)	$10,381			$1,112			$9,269	29.4	26	468	12
370012702612	457	Queen's Grant Community School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	6400 Matthews Mint Hill Road	Mint Hill	28227	Mecklenburg County	Queen's Grant Community School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 573-6611	1,331	48	27.6	38.2%	631 (47.4%)	330 (24.8%)	204 (15.3%)	29 (2.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	136 (10.2%)								29.4	36.5	386	71
370237001028	458	Smithfield-Selma High	Public	9-12	700 M. Durwood Stephenson Park	Smithfield	27577	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 934-5191	1,503	93	16.1	68.9%	303 (20.2%)	392 (26.1%)	739 (49.2%)	11 (0.7%)	5 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (3.5%)	$10,069			$868			$9,200	29.3	24.1	485	27
370297002228	459	Hawthorne Academy of Health Sciences	Public, Magnet	9-12	1411 Hawthorne Ln	Charlotte	28205	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-6011	294	20	14.9	48.3%	13 (4.4%)	129 (43.9%)	121 (41.2%)	24 (8.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.4%)	$15,697			$1,485			$14,213	29.1	40	352	107
370180003483	460	Granville Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	200 Taylor St	Oxford	27565	Granville County	Granville County Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(919) 693-3914	231	15	15.1	44.2%	131 (56.7%)	56 (24.2%)	21 (9.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (9.1%)	$7,924			$156			$7,768	29.1	19.6	511	51

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.