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)
370345001429	301	Richlands High	Public	9-12	8100 Richlands Hwy	Richlands	28574	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 324-4191	960	55	17.3	40.1%	629 (65.5%)	103 (10.7%)	139 (14.5%)	5 (0.5%)	3 (0.3%)	5 (0.5%)	76 (7.9%)	$9,531			$648			$8,883	49.6	43.7	329	28
370459001788	302	Columbia High	Public	9-12	902 Main St	Columbia	27925	Tyrrell County	Tyrrell County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 796-8161	199	17	11.9	98.5%	64 (32.2%)	65 (32.7%)	52 (26.1%)	3 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	14 (7.0%)	$17,784			$1,533			$16,251	49.5	26	467	165
370408001640	303	East Rutherford High School	Public	9-12	331 East High Rd	Bostic	28018	Rutherford County	Rutherford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 245-6424	659	50	13.1	99.5%	454 (68.9%)	89 (13.5%)	67 (10.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	46 (7.0%)	$10,163			$1,106			$9,057	49.2	52.7	274	29
370408001636	304	Chase High School	Public	9-12	1603 Chase High Rd	Forest City	28043	Rutherford County	Rutherford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 245-5883	660	50	13.1	99.2%	478 (72.4%)	46 (7.0%)	79 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (8.3%)	$10,771			$989			$9,782	49.1	52.6	277	27
370472003472	305	South Garner High	Public	9-12	8228 Hebron Church Rd	Garner	27529	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 694-7711	1,824	104	17.5	65.9%	253 (13.9%)	870 (47.7%)	597 (32.7%)	39 (2.1%)	6 (0.3%)	7 (0.4%)	52 (2.9%)	$10,505			$368			$10,137	49	41.9	336	31
370268001124	306	West Lincoln High	Public	9-12	172 Shoal Rd	Lincolnton	28092	Lincoln County	Lincoln County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 736-9453	756	44	17.3	51.5%	656 (86.8%)	4 (0.5%)	67 (8.9%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (3.3%)	$8,213			$515			$7,699	48.8	52.6	276	30
370237001023	307	Princeton High	Public	6-12	101 Dr Donnie H Jones Jr Blvd	Princeton	27569	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 936-5011	1,024	68	15.1	49.2%	691 (67.5%)	90 (8.8%)	186 (18.2%)	5 (0.5%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (4.9%)	$9,669			$525			$9,144	48.5	52.9	272	35
370090000336	308	Burns High	Public	9-12	307 E Stagecoach Trail	Lawndale	28090	Cleveland County	Cleveland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 476-8335	934	61	15.2	59.7%	668 (71.5%)	141 (15.1%)	70 (7.5%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (5.2%)	$9,886			$976			$8,911	48.3	37.5	375	67
370438001741	309	South Stokes High School	Public	9-12	1100 S Stokes High Drive	Walnut Cove	27052	Stokes County	Stokes County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 994-2995	547	37	14.6	50.6%	465 (85.0%)	27 (4.9%)	22 (4.0%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (5.5%)	$11,490			$951			$10,538	48.2	49.4	292	17
370038403355	310	Excelsior Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4100 N Roxboro Street	Durham	27704	Durham County	Excelsior Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(919) 213-8585	987	41	24.2		468 (47.4%)	197 (20.0%)	217 (22.0%)	16 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	88 (8.9%)								47.8			(n/a)

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.