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)
370312001333	261	Mooresville High School	Public	9-12	659 E Center Ave	Mooresville	28115	Iredell County	Mooresville Graded School District	No	No	No	No	(704) 658-2580	1,969	105	18.7	36.4%	1,182 (60.0%)	350 (17.8%)	263 (13.4%)	43 (2.2%)	3 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	127 (6.4%)	$8,785			$417			$8,368	55.5	54.5	261
370009602486	262	Vance Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2090 Ross Mill Road	Henderson	27537	Vance County	Vance Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 431-0440	954	65	14.7		733 (76.8%)	89 (9.3%)	50 (5.2%)	19 (2.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	62 (6.5%)								55.3	41	344	82
370001100426	263	Pine Forest High	Public	9-12	525 Andrews Road	Fayetteville	28311	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 488-2384	1,572	82	19	62.5%	359 (22.8%)	772 (49.1%)	267 (17.0%)	27 (1.7%)	8 (0.5%)	3 (0.2%)	136 (8.7%)	$8,296			$894			$7,402	54.8	57.3	245	18
370472001830	264	Athens Drive High	Public, Magnet	9-12	1420 Athens Drive	Raleigh	27606	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 233-4050	2,062	127	16.2	45.4%	848 (41.1%)	513 (24.9%)	452 (21.9%)	158 (7.7%)	4 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	87 (4.2%)	$9,473			$614			$8,859	54.7	58.4	239	25
370048000174	265	East Burke High	Public	9-12	3695 East Burke Boulevard	Connellys Springs	28612	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 397-5541	879	50	17.6	63.5%	677 (77.0%)	15 (1.7%)	72 (8.2%)	69 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	43 (4.9%)	$9,240			$806			$8,435	54.5	49.1	297	32
370003000019	266	Western Alamance High	Public	9-12	1731 N Nc 87	Elon	27244	Alamance County	Alamance-Burlington Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 538-6020	1,036	63	16.3	39.4%	632 (61.0%)	145 (14.0%)	194 (18.7%)	9 (0.9%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.4%)	50 (4.8%)	$8,437			$759			$7,678	54.3	50.6	283	17
370192002889	267	Academy at Smith	Public, Magnet	9-12	2225 South Holden Road	Greensboro	27407	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 316-5866	223	20	11	75.8%	5 (2.2%)	109 (48.9%)	78 (35.0%)	22 (9.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.0%)	$14,187			$784			$13,403	54.2	65.7	191	76
370001102663	268	Gray's Creek High	Public	9-12	5301 Celebration Drive	Hope Mills	28348	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 424-8589	1,395	74	18.8	43.5%	646 (46.3%)	355 (25.4%)	201 (14.4%)	22 (1.6%)	41 (2.9%)	4 (0.3%)	126 (9.0%)	$8,285			$866			$7,419	54.2	46	316	48
370009000028	269	Alexander Central High	Public	9-12	223 School Drive	Taylorsville	28681	Alexander County	Alexander County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 632-7063	1,312	87	15	46.9%	1,034 (78.8%)	72 (5.5%)	130 (9.9%)	9 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	66 (5.0%)	$10,255			$776			$9,479	54.2	56.9	248	21
370010302511	270	Alpha Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	8030 Raeford Road	Fayetteville	28304	Cumberland County	Alpha Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 223-7711	1,126	44	25.8	58.5%	144 (12.8%)	628 (55.8%)	210 (18.7%)	20 (1.8%)	14 (1.2%)	21 (1.9%)	89 (7.9%)								54.2	53.7	266	4

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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.