Best High Schools in California

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Find the best California 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 California 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 CAST and Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the California Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2018)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 2323)	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)
061111008819	311	Palm Desert High	Public	9-12	74-910 Aztec Rd.	Palm Desert	92260	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 862-4300	2,039	78	25.9	59.4%	727 (35.7%)	37 (1.8%)	1,019 (50.0%)	161 (7.9%)	6 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	87 (4.3%)	$8,348							81.3	76.9	384	73
062100002519	312	Calabasas High	Public	9-12	22855 West Mulholland Hwy.	Calabasas	91302	Los Angeles County	Las Virgenes Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 222-7177	1,721	63	27.1	24.5%	1,244 (72.3%)	64 (3.7%)	196 (11.4%)	83 (4.8%)	6 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	126 (7.3%)								81.2	67.4	518	206
060645000564	313	Burroughs High	Public	9-12	1920 Clark Ave.	Burbank	91506	Los Angeles County	Burbank Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 729-6900	2,358	98	23.9	26.0%	806 (34.2%)	54 (2.3%)	1,096 (46.5%)	193 (8.2%)	6 (0.3%)	1 (0.0%)	194 (8.2%)	$11,303							81.2	67.3	521	208
063442503273	314	Gabrielino High	Public	9-12	1327 South San Gabriel Blvd.	San Gabriel	91776	Los Angeles County	San Gabriel Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 573-2415	1,483	68	21.8	69.9%	34 (2.3%)	6 (0.4%)	539 (36.3%)	843 (56.8%)	2 (0.1%)	8 (0.5%)	48 (3.2%)	$6,807							81.1	91.4	153	161
063386005307	315	Mission Viejo High	Public	9-12	25025 Chrisanta Dr.	Mission Viejo	92691	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 837-7722	1,628	72	22.6	40.4%	785 (48.2%)	29 (1.8%)	546 (33.5%)	142 (8.7%)	3 (0.2%)	7 (0.4%)	113 (6.9%)	$6,741							81.1	90	177	138
063783006387	316	Saint Helena High	Public	9-12	1401 Grayson Ave.	Saint Helena	94574	Napa County	Saint Helena Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 967-2740	421	32	13.2	31.8%	177 (42.0%)	1 (0.2%)	228 (54.2%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.4%)	$19,476							81	75	412	96
060002807222	317	Chaparral High	Public	9-12	27215 Nicolas Rd.	Temecula	92591	Riverside County	Temecula Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 695-4200	3,077	119	25.8	39.6%	988 (32.1%)	139 (4.5%)	1,230 (40.0%)	404 (13.1%)	13 (0.4%)	10 (0.3%)	293 (9.5%)	$9,896							81	88	211	106
060195314248	318	Valley International Preparatory High	Public, Charter	9-12	18827 Roscoe Blvd.	Northridge	91324	Los Angeles County	Valley International Preparatory High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 306-2136	276	18	15.3	30.8%	135 (48.9%)	8 (2.9%)	94 (34.1%)	8 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (8.7%)								81	83.1	273	45
063441005587	319	Balboa High	Public	9-12	1000 Cayuga Ave.	San Francisco	94112	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 469-4090	1,251	60	20.9	61.1%	41 (3.3%)	68 (5.4%)	410 (32.8%)	630 (50.4%)	2 (0.2%)	24 (1.9%)	76 (6.1%)	$6,103							80.6	72.8	437	118
063441005581	320	Lincoln (Abraham) High	Public	9-12	2162 24th Ave.	San Francisco	94116	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 759-2700	2,037	84	24.3	49.9%	202 (9.9%)	98 (4.8%)	571 (28.0%)	981 (48.2%)	4 (0.2%)	19 (0.9%)	161 (7.9%)	$6,103							80.6	70.2	478	158

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students Pacific Islander Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Foster Care Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on CAST Science, Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics test scores released by the California Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 10, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the California Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education.
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 California Department of Education.