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)
370225000968	421	Hoke County High	Public	9-12	505 S Bethel Road	Raeford	28376	Hoke County	Hoke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 875-2156	2,115	112	18.8	98.9%	358 (16.9%)	853 (40.3%)	533 (25.2%)	10 (0.5%)	160 (7.6%)	11 (0.5%)	190 (9.0%)	$10,531			$821			$9,710	33	47.9	304	117
370078000318	422	Andrews High	Public	9-12	50 High School Drive	Andrews	28901	Cherokee County	Cherokee County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 321-5415	222	16	14.1	98.6%	184 (82.9%)	1 (0.5%)	20 (9.0%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (6.8%)	$14,037			$1,030			$13,007	32.7	49	298	124
370033403303	423	Uwharrie Charter Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	207 Eagle Ln.	Asheboro	27205	Randolph County	Uwharrie Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(336) 610-0818	2,152	128	16.8		1,759 (81.7%)	77 (3.6%)	163 (7.6%)	19 (0.9%)	3 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	131 (6.1%)								32.6	40.9	345	78
370162000702	424	North Gaston High	Public	9-12	1133 Ratchford Road	Dallas	28034	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 922-5285	1,083	62	17.5	99.3%	504 (46.5%)	266 (24.6%)	236 (21.8%)	10 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	63 (5.8%)	$8,686			$748			$7,938	32.5	34.4	401	23
370192000855	425	Western Guilford High	Public, Magnet	9-12	409 Friendway Road	Greensboro	27410	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(336) 316-5800	1,354	77	17.4	99.8%	263 (19.4%)	664 (49.0%)	287 (21.2%)	53 (3.9%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	84 (6.2%)	$8,638			$478			$8,159	32.3	27.6	456	31
370256002781	426	Southern Lee High School	Public	9-12	2301 Tramway Road	Sanford	27332	Lee County	Lee County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 718-2400	1,185	77	15.4	63.4%	378 (31.9%)	225 (19.0%)	529 (44.6%)	7 (0.6%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	40 (3.4%)	$9,595			$738			$8,857	32.3	26.1	465	39
370045003578	427	Buncombe County Schools Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	21 Trinity Chapel Rd	Asheville	28805	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(828) 255-5102	280	14	19.3	51.1%	217 (77.5%)	17 (6.1%)	34 (12.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.3%)								32.2	38.5	366	61
370472001863	428	Garner High	Public, Magnet	9-12	2101 Spring Drive	Garner	27529	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 662-2379	1,670	109	15.3	54.0%	489 (29.3%)	549 (32.9%)	553 (33.1%)	21 (1.3%)	3 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	54 (3.2%)	$8,960			$511			$8,449	32.2	35.4	396	32
370294001179	429	McDowell High School	Public	9-12	600 McDowell High School Dr	Marion	28752	McDowell County	McDowell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 652-7920	1,384	91	15.2	99.5%	1,021 (73.8%)	50 (3.6%)	218 (15.8%)	12 (0.9%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	80 (5.8%)	$9,698			$1,036			$8,662	32.1	31.5	423	6
370013302706	430	Carolina International School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	9545 Poplar Tent Road	Concord	28027	Cabarrus County	Carolina International School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 455-3847	769	54	14.2		189 (24.6%)	308 (40.1%)	174 (22.6%)	31 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	65 (8.5%)								32.1	41.6	339	91

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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.