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)
370378001534	401	Trinity High School	Public	9-12	5746 Trinity High School Rd	Trinity	27370	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	No	(336) 861-6870	657	36	18	52.7%	444 (67.6%)	30 (4.6%)	117 (17.8%)	44 (6.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	20 (3.0%)	$9,523			$662			$8,861	36	32.4	412	11
370268001114	402	Lincolnton High	Public	9-12	803 N Aspen St	Lincolnton	28092	Lincoln County	Lincoln County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 735-3089	813	48	16.8	64.9%	380 (46.7%)	136 (16.7%)	241 (29.6%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (6.3%)	$9,236			$894			$8,342	35.4	27.9	452	50
370001103539	403	Cumberland Academy 6-12 Virtual School	Public, Virtual	6-12	800 North Street	Fayetteville	28301	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(910) 500-7985	590	41	14.4	65.3%	122 (20.7%)	301 (51.0%)	99 (16.8%)	6 (1.0%)	4 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	56 (9.5%)								35.2	38.4	367	36
370192000793	404	Page High	Public, Magnet	9-12	201 Alma Pinnix Drive	Greensboro	27405	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(336) 370-8200	1,744	96	18.1	55.8%	543 (31.1%)	761 (43.6%)	251 (14.4%)	100 (5.7%)	5 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	82 (4.7%)	$8,019			$722			$7,296	35.1	37.7	373	31
370126000531	405	The School for Creative Studies	Public, Magnet	6-12	5001 Red Mill Rd	Durham	27704	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 560-3535	540	42	12.9	54.8%	78 (14.4%)	258 (47.8%)	181 (33.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	17 (3.1%)	$12,022			$1,332			$10,689	35	31	428	23
370327002643	406	Nash Central High	Public	9-12	4279 Nash Central High Road	Rocky Mount	27804	Nash County	Nash County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 451-2860	921	52	17.5	63.6%	288 (31.3%)	512 (55.6%)	71 (7.7%)	6 (0.7%)	6 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	37 (4.0%)	$9,453			$925			$8,529	34.8	23	496	90
370039803362	407	NC Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4220 NC Highway 55	Durham	27713	Durham County	NC Virtual Academy	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	(919) 346-0121	3,047	141	21.5		1,297 (42.6%)	912 (29.9%)	394 (12.9%)	45 (1.5%)	49 (1.6%)	12 (0.4%)	338 (11.1%)								34.6	40	354	53
370331000388	408	New Bern High	Public	9-12	4200 Academic Drive	New Bern	28562	Craven County	Craven County Board of Education	No	No	No	No	(252) 514-6400	1,631	91	17.9	53.3%	740 (45.4%)	523 (32.1%)	174 (10.7%)	112 (6.9%)	2 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	78 (4.8%)	$8,493			$924			$7,569	34.5	34	407	1
370297001229	409	Independence High School	Public	9-12	1967 Patriot Dr	Charlotte	28227	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-6900	2,022	115	17.5	42.3%	387 (19.1%)	581 (28.7%)	872 (43.1%)	120 (5.9%)	2 (0.1%)	4 (0.2%)	56 (2.8%)	$9,395			$592			$8,803	34.4	30.7	430	21
370360001475	410	Perquimans County High	Public	9-12	305 Edenton Road St	Hertford	27944	Perquimans County	Perquimans County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 426-5778	518	31	16.6	58.7%	337 (65.1%)	141 (27.2%)	16 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (4.6%)	$13,229			$968			$12,260	34.1	42.1	335	75

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.