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)
370237003116	11	Johnston County Early College Academy	Public	9-12	245 College Rd	Smithfield	27577	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 464-2314	281	10	28.1	28.5%	155 (55.2%)	25 (8.9%)	85 (30.2%)	7 (2.5%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.1%)	$6,903			$137			$6,766	95.9	95.5	18	7
370001203476	12	Innovation Early College High	Public	9-12	East Carolina University	Greenville	27858	Pitt County	Pitt County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 737-3860	211	12	18.1	47.4%	68 (32.2%)	63 (29.9%)	52 (24.6%)	14 (6.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (6.6%)	$11,291			$335			$10,955	95.9	95.9	13	1
370237003408	13	Johnston County Schools Career Technical	Public	9-12	245 College Road	Smithfield	27577	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 464-2303	206	9	22.8	41.3%	100 (48.5%)	21 (10.2%)	84 (40.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	$7,440			$137			$7,303	95.8	95	25	12
370231002776	14	Collaborative College for Technology	Public	9-12	500 West Broad Street	Statesville	28677	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 978-5450	231	9	24.4	30.7%	139 (60.2%)	15 (6.5%)	51 (22.1%)	12 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	13 (5.6%)	$7,803			$118			$7,685	95.7	94.9	27	13
370180003142	15	Granville Early College High	Public	9-12	1552 South Campus Dr	Creedmoor	27522	Granville County	Granville County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 528-5583	224	8	28.6	38.4%	106 (47.3%)	53 (23.7%)	52 (23.2%)	4 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.0%)	$7,932			$277			$7,655	95.7	95.9	12	3
370045003320	16	Nesbitt Discovery Academy	Public	9-12	175 Bingham Rd Ste 10	Asheville	28806	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 271-4521	374	19	19.8	20.3%	306 (81.8%)	8 (2.1%)	32 (8.6%)	20 (5.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.6%)	$7,222			$451			$6,771	95.7	96	9	7
370228000979	17	Ocracoke School	Public, Alternative	PK, KG-12	120 Schoolhouse Rd	Ocracoke	27960	Hyde County	Hyde County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 928-3251	158	21	7.4	44.9%	73 (46.2%)	1 (0.6%)	83 (52.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	$20,156			$1,316			$18,841	95.6	86.5	97	80
370472003239	18	Wake Young Men's Leadership Academy	Public	6-12	567 East Hargett St	Raleigh	27601	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 664-5644	269	20	13.4	30.1%	73 (27.1%)	127 (47.2%)	37 (13.8%)	17 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.6%)	$12,691			$443			$12,248	95.6	90.7	61	43
370306003438	19	Montgomery County Early College	Public	9-12	1011 Page St	Troy	27371	Montgomery County	Montgomery County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 898-9690	272	10	27.2	56.6%	116 (42.6%)	35 (12.9%)	99 (36.4%)	11 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.0%)	$8,152			$202			$7,950	95.6	96	11	8
370462002893	20	Union County Early College	Public	9-12	4209A Old Charlotte Hwy	Monroe	28110	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 290-1565	303	14	21.2	37.3%	146 (48.2%)	25 (8.3%)	106 (35.0%)	15 (5.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.3%)	$7,707			$125			$7,583	95.6	96.1	8	12

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.