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)
370327000763	541	Rocky Mount High	Public	9-12	1400 Bethlehem Road	Rocky Mount	27803	Nash County	Nash County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 937-9050	1,072	62	17.4	75.5%	119 (11.1%)	810 (75.6%)	78 (7.3%)	16 (1.5%)	4 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (4.2%)	$9,474			$733			$8,740	16.6	11.9	560	19
370150003194	542	Walkertown High	Public	9-12	5240 Sullivantown Road	Walkertown	27051	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 703-4151	723	47	15.3	99.6%	334 (46.2%)	182 (25.2%)	162 (22.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (5.8%)	$10,875			$1,189			$9,686	16.5	30.7	429	113
370261001091	543	North Lenoir High	Public	9-12	2400 Institute Road	La Grange	28551	Lenoir County	Lenoir County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 527-9184	975	54	18	99.7%	396 (40.6%)	383 (39.3%)	155 (15.9%)	11 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (3.1%)	$9,635			$1,181			$8,454	16.4	19.7	509	34
370192000956	544	High Point Central High	Public, Magnet	9-12	801 Ferndale Boulevard	High Point	27262	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 819-2825	1,081	79	13.6	99.7%	142 (13.1%)	422 (39.0%)	353 (32.7%)	115 (10.6%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.4%)	44 (4.1%)	$10,029			$1,227			$8,802	16.4	8.3	593	49
370037703321	545	Wayne Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	600 Tommy's Road	Goldsboro	27530	Wayne County	Wayne Preparatory	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 734-8085	1,015	75	13.5		485 (47.8%)	351 (34.6%)	86 (8.5%)	7 (0.7%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.4%)	80 (7.9%)								15.9	11.9	561	16
370096000145	546	East Columbus Junior-Senior High	Public	7-12	32 Gator Lane	Lake Waccamaw	28450	Columbus County	Columbus County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 646-4094	594	38	15.5	99.5%	172 (29.0%)	182 (30.6%)	98 (16.5%)	0 (0.0%)	86 (14.5%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (9.4%)	$10,383			$1,233			$9,149	15.8	17.7	526	20
370354001456	547	Northeastern High	Public	9-12	963 Oak Stump Rd	Elizabeth City	27909	Pasquotank County	Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 335-2932	701	43	16.3	99.6%	194 (27.7%)	377 (53.8%)	81 (11.6%)	8 (1.1%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	38 (5.4%)	$11,317			$954			$10,363	15.7	25.1	476	71
370018002054	548	Anson High School	Public	9-12	96 Anson High School Road	Wadesboro	28170	Anson County	Anson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 694-9301	655	47	13.8	98.5%	201 (30.7%)	376 (57.4%)	41 (6.3%)	9 (1.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (4.1%)	$12,828			$1,641			$11,187	15.6	9.2	582	34
370043903463	549	Apprentice Academy High School	Public, Virtual, Charter	7-12	2505 Weddington Rd.	Monroe	28110	Union County	Apprentice Academy High School of NC	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	(980) 313-8610	249	19	12.9		141 (56.6%)	36 (14.5%)	51 (20.5%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (8.0%)								15.5	24	486	63
370162000663	550	Ashbrook High	Public	9-12	2222 S New Hope Road	Gastonia	28054	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 866-6600	1,303	56	23.1	71.7%	309 (23.7%)	566 (43.4%)	333 (25.6%)	22 (1.7%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	71 (5.4%)	$8,726			$738			$7,988	15.5	23	495	55

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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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.