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)
370405003035	121	Rowan County Early College	Public	9-12	1333 Jake Alexander Blvd S	Salisbury	28146	Rowan County	Rowan-Salisbury Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 216-3873	236	9	26	47.9%	98 (41.5%)	37 (15.7%)	80 (33.9%)	11 (4.7%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.8%)	$7,268			$298			$6,970	82.8	83.5	111	10
370001100420	122	Massey Hill Classical High	Public	9-12	1062 Southern Avenue	Fayetteville	28306	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 485-8761	264	22	12	42.0%	123 (46.6%)	51 (19.3%)	50 (18.9%)	9 (3.4%)	5 (1.9%)	2 (0.8%)	24 (9.1%)	$11,273			$981			$10,292	82.8	80.7	124	2
370150003038	123	Early College of Forsyth County	Public	9-12	2100 Silas Creek Prky	Winston Salem	27103	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 757-3290	285	11	27	35.4%	91 (31.9%)	52 (18.2%)	93 (32.6%)	28 (9.8%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (7.0%)	$6,298			$197			$6,101	82.4	89	81	42
370192002772	124	Middle College at GTCC-High Point	Public	9-12	901 South Main Street	High Point	27260	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 819-4111	190	13	14.7	67.9%	26 (13.7%)	96 (50.5%)	45 (23.7%)	15 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.2%)	$11,118			$733			$10,385	82.1	81.6	119	5
370003502340	125	Eno River Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1212 NC Highway 57 North	Hillsborough	27278	Orange County	Eno River Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(919) 644-6272	782	60	13		620 (79.3%)	35 (4.5%)	64 (8.2%)	10 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	50 (6.4%)								82	86	99	26
370058002880	126	Caldwell Early College	Public	9-12	2859 Hickory Blvd SW	Hudson	28638	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 759-4636	396	17	22.8	39.4%	305 (77.0%)	8 (2.0%)	65 (16.4%)	5 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.3%)	$7,027			$517			$6,510	81.7	83.6	110	16
370276002901	127	Macon Early College High School	Public	9-12	77 Siler Farm Road	Franklin	28734	Macon County	Macon County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 524-2002	115	4	28.7	48.7%	76 (66.1%)	1 (0.9%)	32 (27.8%)	4 (3.5%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	$5,764			$103			$5,661	81.7	84.2	109	18
370276001139	128	Highlands School	Public, Alternative	K-12	545 Pierson Dr	Highlands	28741	Macon County	Macon County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 526-2147	332	35	9.5	37.3%	232 (69.9%)	0 (0.0%)	95 (28.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	$12,967			$1,206			$11,761	81.7	69.7	181	53
370006202393	129	Lincoln Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	7834 Galway Lane	Denver	28037	Lincoln County	Lincoln Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 483-6611	2,263	129	17.4		1,733 (76.6%)	102 (4.5%)	271 (12.0%)	33 (1.5%)	10 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	112 (4.9%)								80.9	78.5	137	8
370058002435	130	Caldwell Applied Sciences Academy	Public	9-12	2857 Hickory Boulevard	Hudson	28638	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 759-4640	214	13	16.2	37.9%	176 (82.2%)	2 (0.9%)	25 (11.7%)	6 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.3%)	$8,388			$210			$8,178	80.9	78.3	138	8

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:

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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.