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)
370150000631	581	Parkland High	Public, Magnet	9-12	1600 Brewer Road	Winston Salem	27127	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 771-4700	1,519	90	16.9	99.4%	114 (7.5%)	581 (38.2%)	761 (50.1%)	8 (0.5%)	5 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	49 (3.2%)	$9,527			$1,008			$8,519	11.4	10.9	571	10
370474002189	582	Warren County High	Public	9-12	149 Campus Drive	Warrenton	27589	Warren County	Warren County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 257-4413	384	22	17.2	99.2%	40 (10.4%)	272 (70.8%)	27 (7.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (8.1%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.6%)	$15,069			$1,628			$13,442	11.2	8.4	591	9
370243001039	583	A L Brown High	Public	9-12	415 Martin Luther King Jr Ave	Kannapolis	28083	Cabarrus County	Kannapolis City Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 932-6125	1,741	95	18.2	99.8%	466 (26.8%)	464 (26.7%)	663 (38.1%)	21 (1.2%)	4 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	122 (7.0%)	$9,314			$705			$8,609	11.2	14.4	543	40
370210001568	584	Henderson County Career Academy	Public	6-12	300 East Campus Drive	Flat Rock	28731	Henderson County	Henderson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 697-4629	151	18	8.6	66.9%	84 (55.6%)	7 (4.6%)	47 (31.1%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (7.3%)	$18,459			$955			$17,504	11.1	11.9	558	26
370297003042	585	Military and Global Leadership	Public, Magnet	9-12	1411 Hawthorne Lane Ste A	Charlotte	28205	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(980) 343-6011	162	11	14.4	46.3%	10 (6.2%)	48 (29.6%)	101 (62.3%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	$12,227			$794			$11,434	11	20	507	78
370126000545	586	Northern High	Public	9-12	4622 N Roxboro Street	Durham	27704	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 560-3956	1,308	86	15.1	64.1%	241 (18.4%)	529 (40.4%)	462 (35.3%)	20 (1.5%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (4.1%)	$10,719			$535			$10,184	10.9	10.7	575	11
370405002253	587	Salisbury High	Public	9-12	500 Lincolnton Rd	Salisbury	28144	Rowan County	Rowan-Salisbury Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 636-1221	959	54	17.8	65.5%	138 (14.4%)	423 (44.1%)	325 (33.9%)	14 (1.5%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (5.8%)	$11,029			$745			$10,284	10.8	10.5	576	11
370261000585	588	Kinston High	Public	9-12	2601 N Queen St	Kinston	28501	Lenoir County	Lenoir County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 527-8067	713	41	17.3	99.6%	17 (2.4%)	634 (88.9%)	29 (4.1%)	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	26 (3.6%)	$10,743			$1,412			$9,331	10.7	7	598	10
370297001221	589	Harding University High School	Public, Magnet	9-12	2001 Alleghany St	Charlotte	28208	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(980) 343-6007	1,305	88	14.8	98.0%	24 (1.8%)	787 (60.3%)	421 (32.3%)	51 (3.9%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	19 (1.5%)	$10,138			$983			$9,155	10.4	11.8	562	27
370378001519	590	Eastern Randolph High School	Public	9-12	390 Eastern Randolph Rd	Ramseur	27316	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	No	(336) 824-2351	626	39	16.2	66.0%	316 (50.5%)	66 (10.5%)	200 (31.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (6.9%)	$10,181			$839			$9,342	10.2	11.7	564	26

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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.