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)
370390001564	531	Roanoke Rapids High School	Public	9-12	800 Hamilton Street	Roanoke Rapids	27870	Halifax County	Roanoke Rapids City Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 519-7200	783	47	16.8	99.6%	461 (58.9%)	213 (27.2%)	62 (7.9%)	9 (1.1%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (4.5%)	$9,511			$641			$8,870	17.8	18.1	522	9
370162000691	532	Hunter Huss High	Public	9-12	1518 Edgefield Avenue	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 866-6610	1,120	46	24	79.7%	244 (21.8%)	461 (41.2%)	351 (31.3%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	56 (5.0%)	$9,702			$791			$8,910	17.8	19.6	510	22
370216002208	533	Hertford County High	Public	9-12	1500 W First St	Ahoskie	27910	Hertford County	Hertford County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 332-4096	573	34	17.1	99.5%	40 (7.0%)	500 (87.3%)	24 (4.2%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)	$12,418			$1,659			$10,759	17.7	10.1	579	46
370357001466	534	Pender High	Public	9-12	5380 NC Hwy 53 W	Burgaw	28425	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 259-0162	677	35	19.5	70.6%	310 (45.8%)	190 (28.1%)	141 (20.8%)	4 (0.6%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (4.3%)	$10,022			$530			$9,492	17.5	18.1	523	11
370033001926	535	Washington High	Public	9-12	400 Slatestone Road	Washington	27889	Beaufort County	Beaufort County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 946-0858	839	52	16.1	99.4%	310 (36.9%)	318 (37.9%)	160 (19.1%)	7 (0.8%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	41 (4.9%)	$10,213			$765			$9,447	17.5	15.9	537	2
370231003206	536	Career Academy and Technical School	Public	6-12	350 Old Murdock Rd	Troutman	28166	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 978-2791	118	17	6.8	9.3%	98 (83.1%)	7 (5.9%)	6 (5.1%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	5 (4.2%)	$13,148			$1,046			$12,102	17.3	33.3	410	126
370096000373	537	West Columbus High	Public	9-12	7294 Andrew Jackson Hwy	Cerro Gordo	28430	Columbus County	Columbus County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 654-6111	400	26	15.4	98.3%	194 (48.5%)	162 (40.5%)	20 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.0%)	1 (0.3%)	15 (3.8%)	$11,672			$1,304			$10,369	17.1	17.4	528	9
370192000768	538	James B Dudley High	Public, Magnet	9-12	1200 Lincoln Street	Greensboro	27401	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 370-8130	1,491	85	17.6	99.6%	29 (1.9%)	1,148 (77.0%)	234 (15.7%)	23 (1.5%)	5 (0.3%)	3 (0.2%)	49 (3.3%)	$10,680			$1,276			$9,405	17.1	11.9	559	21
370192000830	539	Lucy Ragsdale High	Public	9-12	1000 Lucy Ragsdale Drive	Jamestown	27282	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 454-7400	1,346	81	16.5	61.1%	356 (26.4%)	532 (39.5%)	238 (17.7%)	146 (10.8%)	4 (0.3%)	3 (0.2%)	67 (5.0%)	$9,118			$1,022			$8,096	16.9	24.3	481	58
370192000798	540	Ben L. Smith High School	Public	9-12	2407 South Holden Road	Greensboro	27407	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 294-7300	1,371	87	15.7	99.8%	44 (3.2%)	653 (47.6%)	532 (38.8%)	82 (6.0%)	8 (0.6%)	7 (0.5%)	45 (3.3%)	$10,645			$1,589			$9,057	16.7	19.1	515	25

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.