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)
370192000951	101	Penn-Griffin Schools	Public, Magnet	6-12	825 Washington Street	High Point	27260	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 819-2870	537	42	12.7	66.5%	122 (22.7%)	248 (46.2%)	128 (23.8%)	13 (2.4%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	23 (4.3%)	$9,805			$738			$9,067	87.2	84.8	107	6
370480003442	102	Washington Early College High	Public	9-12	115 Middle Street	Creswell	27928	Washington County	Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 793-1327	82	4	20.5	96.3%	15 (18.3%)	54 (65.9%)	10 (12.2%)	1 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.4%)	$16,567			$514			$16,053	87.2	82.4	116	14
370234003111	103	Jackson County Early College	Public	9-12	404 College Drive	Sylva	28779	Jackson County	Jackson County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 339-4499	101	4	25.2	41.6%	67 (66.3%)	1 (1.0%)	14 (13.9%)	5 (5.0%)	6 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (7.9%)	$7,254			$111			$7,144	87	90.3	64	39
370333003439	104	SEA-Technical	Public	9-12	5301 Sidbury Road	Castle Hayne	28429	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 530-6300	230	13	17.3	98.7%	132 (57.4%)	44 (19.1%)	39 (17.0%)	5 (2.2%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.9%)	$13,361			$253			$13,108	87	76.7	145	41
370504002912	105	Yadkin Early College	Public	9-12	1001 College Drive	Yadkinville	27055	Yadkin County	Yadkin County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 386-3579	208	8	27.2	39.4%	134 (64.4%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (32.7%)	4 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	$6,070			$57			$6,013	86.6	90.6	63	42
370009003396	106	Alexander Early College	Public	9-12	345 Industrial Blvd	Taylorsville	28681	Alexander County	Alexander County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 632-8221	165	7	23.5	37.0%	121 (73.3%)	2 (1.2%)	30 (18.2%)	10 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	$6,455			$116			$6,339	86.3	95.8	15	91
370472003351	107	Apex Friendship High	Public	9-12	7801 Humie Olive Rd	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-0500	2,772	132	20.9	10.1%	1,923 (69.4%)	189 (6.8%)	254 (9.2%)	294 (10.6%)	4 (0.1%)	1 (0.0%)	107 (3.9%)	$7,834			$322			$7,511	85.9	87	93	14
370053003083	108	Cox Mill High School	Public	9-12	1355 Cox Mill Rd	Concord	28027	Cabarrus County	Cabarrus County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 260-6600	1,762	81	21.8	13.8%	780 (44.3%)	395 (22.4%)	134 (7.6%)	355 (20.1%)	7 (0.4%)	4 (0.2%)	87 (4.9%)	$7,456			$383			$7,073	85.9	85.2	105	3
370472002810	109	Panther Creek High	Public	9-12	6770 McCrimmon Parkway	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 463-8656	2,435	119	20.5	15.3%	703 (28.9%)	384 (15.8%)	192 (7.9%)	1,039 (42.7%)	11 (0.5%)	3 (0.1%)	103 (4.2%)	$7,426			$339			$7,087	85.9	86.4	98	11
370297002910	110	Ardrey Kell High School	Public	9-12	10220 Ardrey Kell Road	Charlotte	28277	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-0860	3,529	166	21.2	9.9%	1,602 (45.4%)	429 (12.2%)	435 (12.3%)	960 (27.2%)	4 (0.1%)	6 (0.2%)	93 (2.6%)	$7,345			$428			$6,917	85.7	88	88	22

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

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.