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)
370393002232	601	Fairmont High	Public	9-12	5419 Old Stage Road	Fairmont	28340	Robeson County	Public Schools of Robeson County	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 628-6727	801	53	14.9	99.4%	127 (15.9%)	349 (43.6%)	65 (8.1%)	0 (0.0%)	197 (24.6%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (7.9%)	$12,871			$1,995			$10,877	8.7	8.7	587	14
370472002188	602	Phillips High	Public	9-12	1923 Milburnie Rd	Raleigh	27610	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 856-7710	125	29	4.2	73.6%	29 (23.2%)	50 (40.0%)	36 (28.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (8.0%)	$35,266			$881			$34,385	8.7	14.2	544	58
370488000502	603	Goldsboro High	Public	9-12	901 E Beech Street	Goldsboro	27530	Wayne County	Wayne County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 731-5930	442	25	17.8	99.3%	10 (2.3%)	388 (87.8%)	30 (6.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.9%)	$11,741			$1,335			$10,407	8.6	5.8	602	1
370126000550	604	Southern School of Energy and Sustainabi	Public, Magnet	9-12	800 Clayton Road	Durham	27703	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 560-3968	1,352	75	18	99.8%	34 (2.5%)	587 (43.4%)	674 (49.9%)	8 (0.6%)	3 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	45 (3.3%)	$11,432			$509			$10,923	8.5	12.5	555	49
370150002729	605	Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy	Public, Magnet	6-12	1215 North Cameron Avenue	Winston Salem	27101	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 703-6732	358	31	11.4	99.2%	8 (2.2%)	191 (53.4%)	149 (41.6%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.4%)	$14,063			$2,100			$11,962	8.4	7.3	597	8
370297001286	606	West Mecklenburg High School	Public	9-12	7400 Tuckaseegee Rd	Charlotte	28214	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-6080	1,287	80	16	99.8%	42 (3.3%)	654 (50.8%)	490 (38.1%)	61 (4.7%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	36 (2.8%)	$11,533			$1,263			$10,270	8.3	13.1	550	56
370297003245	607	Garinger High School	Public	9-12	1100 Eastway Dr	Charlotte	28205	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-6450	1,803	108	16.7	99.8%	57 (3.2%)	597 (33.1%)	1,054 (58.5%)	57 (3.2%)	5 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	32 (1.8%)	$10,714			$1,102			$9,612	8.3	11.1	567	40
370058001010	608	Gateway School	Public	6-12	1889 Dudley Shoals Road	Granite Falls	28630	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 396-8373	62	12	5.1	95.2%	41 (66.1%)	3 (4.8%)	9 (14.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (14.5%)	$28,313			$1,830			$26,484	8.2	10.5	577	31
370342001412	609	Northampton County High School	Public	9-12	152 Hurricane Drive	Gaston	27832	Northampton County	Northampton County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 537-1910	257	19	13.5	98.8%	15 (5.8%)	223 (86.8%)	14 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)	$17,040			$1,791			$15,249	7.9	6.2	601	8
370195000866	610	Northwest Halifax Collegiate and Technic	Public	9-12	8492 Hwy 48	Littleton	27850	Halifax County	Halifax County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 586-4125	335	20	16.7	99.1%	18 (5.4%)	253 (75.5%)	8 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (10.4%)	1 (0.3%)	20 (6.0%)	$15,602			$2,497			$13,105	7.4	10.8	573	37

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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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

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.