Best High Schools in California

A teacher and two students give a thumbs-up in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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)
062211002630	451	Livermore High	Public	9-12	600 Maple St.	Livermore	94550	Alameda County	Livermore Valley Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 606-4812	1,803	82	21.9	26.3%	756 (41.9%)	35 (1.9%)	596 (33.1%)	252 (14.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.3%)	156 (8.7%)	$7,404							71.8	72.5	441	10
063660010676	452	Shasta Collegiate Academy	Public	9-12	2200 Eureka Way	Redding	96001	Shasta County	Shasta Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 245-2760	119	9	13.8	39.5%	80 (67.2%)	2 (1.7%)	20 (16.8%)	2 (1.7%)	7 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (5.9%)	$6,862							71.7	54.8	765	313
063255008691	453	Hercules High	Public	9-12	1900 Refugio Valley Rd.	Hercules	94547	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1429	740	32	22.7	43.5%	38 (5.1%)	110 (14.9%)	195 (26.4%)	332 (44.9%)	2 (0.3%)	8 (1.1%)	53 (7.2%)	$6,772							71.5	72.4	442	11
062688008918	454	Bear River High	Public	9-12	11130 Magnolia Rd.	Grass Valley	95949	Nevada County	Nevada Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 268-3700	634	31	20.3	27.0%	463 (73.0%)	3 (0.5%)	112 (17.7%)	12 (1.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	37 (5.8%)	$11,881							71.3	64.2	575	121
060190202977	455	El Camino Real Charter High	Public, Charter	9-12	5440 Valley Cir. Blvd.	Woodland Hills	91367	Los Angeles County	El Camino Real Charter High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 595-7500	3,261	126	25.7	31.3%	1,132 (34.7%)	147 (4.5%)	1,084 (33.2%)	464 (14.2%)	1 (0.0%)	9 (0.3%)	398 (12.2%)								71.2	77.9	366	89
061665005478	456	Hart-Ransom Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3920 Shoemake Ave.	Modesto	95358	Stanislaus County	Hart-Ransom Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(209) 523-0401	462	17	26.8	45.2%	196 (42.4%)	8 (1.7%)	152 (32.9%)	36 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	70 (15.2%)	$8,057							71.1	69.1	497	41
060210413059	457	Escalon Charter Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1520 Yosemite Ave.	Escalon	95320	San Joaquin County	Escalon Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 838-3591	338	16	21.5	26.0%	212 (62.7%)	3 (0.9%)	105 (31.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	16 (4.7%)								70.9	65.9	542	85
060177000045	458	Encinal Junior/Senior High	Public	6-12	210 Central Ave.	Alameda	94501	Alameda County	Alameda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 748-4023	1,218	52	23.3	48.4%	311 (25.5%)	132 (10.8%)	243 (20.0%)	336 (27.6%)	3 (0.2%)	16 (1.3%)	159 (13.1%)	$16,031							70.9	78.8	346	112
060229211351	459	Oakland Unity High	Public, Charter	9-12	6038 Brann St.	Oakland	94605	Alameda County	Oakland Unity High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 635-7170	304	17	17.9	97.7%	2 (0.7%)	12 (3.9%)	203 (66.8%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	85 (28.0%)								70.8	44.9	990	531
061983002383	460	Kingsburg High	Public	9-12	1900 18th Ave.	Kingsburg	93631	Fresno County	Kingsburg Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 897-5156	1,101	54	20.2	64.6%	327 (29.7%)	7 (0.6%)	702 (63.8%)	27 (2.5%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (3.2%)								70.6	70.1	481	21

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.