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)
370035103285	431	Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	1360 Martin L King Jr Dr	Elizabethtown	28337	Bladen County	Paul R Brown Leadership Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 862-2965	213	16	12.9	93.9%	33 (15.5%)	81 (38.0%)	27 (12.7%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (6.6%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (27.2%)								32.1	3.2	614	183
370333001384	432	New Hanover High	Public	9-12	1307 Market St	Wilmington	28401	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 251-6100	1,515	97	15.5	99.8%	599 (39.5%)	458 (30.2%)	375 (24.8%)	13 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	68 (4.5%)	$10,692			$741			$9,950	32	27.5	459	27
370114000484	433	West Davidson High	Public	9-12	200 Dragon Drive	Lexington	27295	Davidson County	Davidson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 853-8082	743	43	17.3	54.5%	586 (78.9%)	33 (4.4%)	95 (12.8%)	5 (0.7%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (2.6%)	$8,366			$319			$8,047	32	45.2	323	110
370150000634	434	R J Reynolds High	Public, Magnet	9-12	301 N Hawthorne Road	Winston Salem	27104	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 703-4145	1,747	98	17.8	99.8%	578 (33.1%)	599 (34.3%)	422 (24.2%)	53 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	94 (5.4%)	$8,101			$446			$7,655	31.7	27.6	455	21
370393002237	435	Lumberton Senior High	Public	9-12	3901 Fayetteville Rd	Lumberton	28358	Robeson County	Public Schools of Robeson County	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 671-6050	1,950	110	17.6	98.8%	338 (17.3%)	586 (30.1%)	423 (21.7%)	26 (1.3%)	437 (22.4%)	1 (0.1%)	139 (7.1%)	$10,521			$1,493			$9,028	31.4	28.9	439	4
370405001616	436	East Rowan High	Public	9-12	175 St Luke's Church Rd	Salisbury	28146	Rowan County	Rowan-Salisbury Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 279-5232	1,072	58	18.3	96.4%	783 (73.0%)	126 (11.8%)	101 (9.4%)	5 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	56 (5.2%)	$9,575			$985			$8,590	31.3	29.7	434	2
370111000454	437	Cape Hatteras Secondary School	Public	6-12	48576 Highway 12	Buxton	27920	Dare County	Dare County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 995-5730	363	37	9.7	50.4%	272 (74.9%)	1 (0.3%)	74 (20.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (4.4%)	$16,457			$937			$15,520	31.3	36.5	385	52
370150000623	438	Mount Tabor High School	Public	9-12	342 Petree Road	Winston Salem	27106	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 703-6700	1,393	79	17.6	99.8%	405 (29.1%)	574 (41.2%)	319 (22.9%)	25 (1.8%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	67 (4.8%)	$8,336			$579			$7,757	31.3	24.2	482	44
370096000237	439	South Columbus High	Public	9-12	40 Stallion Drive	Tabor City	28463	Columbus County	Columbus County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 653-4073	689	42	16.5	99.4%	437 (63.4%)	154 (22.4%)	76 (11.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (2.5%)	$9,661			$1,025			$8,636	31.3	37.4	377	62
370240003496	440	Jones Senior High School	Public	6-12	1378 Hwy 58 South	Trenton	28585	Jones County	Jones County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 448-2451	526	35	15	99.4%	236 (44.9%)	166 (31.6%)	81 (15.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (8.2%)								31.1	61.2	218	222

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.