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)
370013202703	171	The Hawbridge School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1735 Saxapahaw Bethlehem Churc	Saxapahaw	27340	Alamance County	The Hawbridge School	Yes	No	No	No	(336) 376-1122	585	42	13.7		445 (76.1%)	21 (3.6%)	65 (11.1%)	12 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (7.2%)								71.4	70.4	175	4
370048002836	172	Jimmy C Draughn High School	Public	9-12	709 Lovelady Road NE	Valdese	28690	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 879-4200	682	36	18.7	51.2%	488 (71.6%)	20 (2.9%)	71 (10.4%)	60 (8.8%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	39 (5.7%)	$9,112			$776			$8,336	71.4	66.2	189	17
370453001783	173	Rosman High	Public	9-12	749 Pickens Hwy	Rosman	28772	Transylvania County	Transylvania County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 862-4284	264	28	9.6	58.3%	237 (89.8%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (6.4%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.7%)	$15,137			$1,599			$13,538	71.2	67	185	12
370495001981	174	North Wilkes High School	Public	9-12	2986 Traphill Rd	Hays	28635	Wilkes County	Wilkes County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 903-4040	625	39	15.8	55.8%	501 (80.2%)	13 (2.1%)	93 (14.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (2.9%)	$9,880			$1,015			$8,865	71.1	68.4	182	8
370013902921	175	Voyager Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	101 Hock Parc Drive	Durham	27704	Durham County	Voyager Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 433-3301	1,361	102	13.3	23.1%	735 (54.0%)	354 (26.0%)	133 (9.8%)	47 (3.5%)	9 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	83 (6.1%)								71	64.9	192	17
370003802343	176	Arapahoe Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	9005 NC Hwy 306 S	Arapahoe	28510	Pamlico County	Arapahoe Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 249-2599	484	40	12.2	59.1%	335 (69.2%)	38 (7.9%)	42 (8.7%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (13.2%)								70.7	50.3	288	112
370036903340	177	IC Imagine	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	110 Champion Way	Asheville	28806	Buncombe County	Invest Collegiate - Imagine	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 633-6491	1,248	95	13.1		975 (78.1%)	49 (3.9%)	129 (10.3%)	12 (1.0%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	80 (6.4%)								70.1	49.9	290	113
370231002633	178	Lake Norman High	Public	9-12	186 Doolie Road	Mooresville	28117	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 799-8555	1,986	85	23.2	15.7%	1,511 (76.1%)	100 (5.0%)	195 (9.8%)	72 (3.6%)	4 (0.2%)	3 (0.2%)	101 (5.1%)	$6,712			$326			$6,386	70.1	70.3	177	1
370210000926	179	West Henderson High	Public	9-12	3600 Haywood Road	Hendersonville	28791	Henderson County	Henderson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 891-6571	1,087	69	15.7	33.8%	828 (76.2%)	30 (2.8%)	169 (15.5%)	19 (1.7%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	37 (3.4%)	$8,614			$457			$8,157	70.1	71.1	171	8
370472002055	180	Enloe High	Public, Magnet	9-12	128 Clarendon Crescent	Raleigh	27610	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 856-7918	2,502	144	17.4	26.9%	898 (35.9%)	612 (24.5%)	340 (13.6%)	545 (21.8%)	3 (0.1%)	3 (0.1%)	101 (4.0%)	$8,913			$404			$8,510	70.1	76.8	144	36

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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

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.