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)
370053003407	91	Cabarrus Early College of Technology	Public	9-12	670 Concord Parkway North	Concord	28027	Cabarrus County	Cabarrus County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 260-6750	223	8	29.1	31.4%	114 (51.1%)	30 (13.5%)	50 (22.4%)	17 (7.6%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.9%)	$8,795			$218			$8,577	88.9	93.3	43	48
370297003315	92	Char Eng Early College-UNCC	Public	9-12	9000 Robert Snyder Rd	Charlotte	28262	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-9898	300	14	21.4	24.7%	70 (23.3%)	100 (33.3%)	85 (28.3%)	32 (10.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.3%)	$9,174			$376			$8,798	88.7	89.7	72	20
370474003044	93	Warren Early College High	Public	9-12	210 Ridgeway St	Warrenton	27589	Warren County	Warren County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 257-6810	115	5	22.2	97.4%	26 (22.6%)	52 (45.2%)	19 (16.5%)	2 (1.7%)	12 (10.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.5%)	$11,925			$724			$11,201	88.7	89.8	71	22
370045002661	94	Early College	Public	9-12	340 Victoria Road	Asheville	28801	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 232-4123	274	12	23.5	58.8%	144 (52.6%)	13 (4.7%)	103 (37.6%)	3 (1.1%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.7%)	8 (2.9%)	$7,736			$216			$7,520	88.6	87.1	92	2
370333002915	95	Wilmington Early College High	Public	9-12	4500 Blue Clay Rd	Castle Hayne	28429	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 362-7789	255	12	21.1	98.8%	150 (58.8%)	48 (18.8%)	43 (16.9%)	6 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.1%)	$8,673			$273			$8,400	88.3	95.1	24	71
370462003093	96	Cuthbertson High	Public	9-12	1400 Cuthbertson Rd	Waxhaw	28173	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-0105	1,938	84	23	8.5%	1,410 (72.8%)	144 (7.4%)	184 (9.5%)	133 (6.9%)	2 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	62 (3.2%)	$7,116			$416			$6,700	88.2	90.2	67	29
370011202551	97	Union Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	675 North ML King Jr Blvd	Monroe	28110	Union County	Union Academy Charter School	Yes	No	No	No	(704) 238-8883	2,129	124	17.1		1,464 (68.8%)	217 (10.2%)	287 (13.5%)	36 (1.7%)	8 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	115 (5.4%)								88.1	79.9	129	32
370261002831	98	Lenoir County Early College High	Public	9-12	231 Hwy 58 South	Kinston	28502	Lenoir County	Lenoir County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 233-6870	213	9	25	98.6%	101 (47.4%)	43 (20.2%)	54 (25.4%)	9 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.8%)	$8,270			$445			$7,825	87.8	91.3	57	41
370438003129	99	Stokes Early College High School	Public	9-12	1165 Dodgetown Rd	Walnut Cove	27052	Stokes County	Stokes County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 593-5405	152	8	18.8	36.8%	133 (87.5%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (7.9%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.9%)	$7,304			$140			$7,164	87.7	92	50	49
370032403259	100	Triangle Math and Science Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	312 Gregson Dr.	Cary	27511	Wake County	Triangle Math and Science Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 388-0077	1,276	43	29.9		361 (28.3%)	151 (11.8%)	53 (4.2%)	567 (44.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	143 (11.2%)								87.3	88.3	86	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:

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

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.