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)
062466008741	1301	Buhach Colony High	Public	9-12	1800 Buhach Rd.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Merced Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 325-1400	1,658	84	19.8	73.8%	266 (16.0%)	41 (2.5%)	1,136 (68.5%)	161 (9.7%)	14 (0.8%)	6 (0.4%)	33 (2.0%)	$9,222							34.2	33	1331	30
062649003995	1302	Desert Junior-Senior High	Public	7-12	1575 Payne Ave.	Edwards	93523	Kern County	Muroc Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 306-4964	458	30	15.3	12.4%	170 (37.1%)	34 (7.4%)	147 (32.1%)	20 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	83 (18.1%)								34.2	39.8	1146	156
060645013886	1303	Burbank Unified Independent Learning Academy (BUILA)	Public, Virtual	6-12	3715 Allan Ave.	Burbank	91505	Los Angeles County	Burbank Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(818) 558-5353	168	13	13.3	27.4%	115 (68.5%)	3 (1.8%)	39 (23.2%)	4 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	5 (3.0%)	$10,910							34.2	57.6	695	608
060501000482	1304	Big Valley Junior Senior High	Public	7-12	400 Bridge St.	Bieber	96009	Lassen County	Big Valley Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 294-5231	49	7	7.4	53.1%	33 (67.3%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (22.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (8.2%)	1 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,697							34.2	14.3	1857	553
060792012265	1305	Centinela Valley Independent Study	Public, Virtual	9-12	4951 Marine Ave.	Lawndale	90260	Los Angeles County	Centinela Valley Union High	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(310) 263-3264	46	2	20.7	80.4%	3 (6.5%)	2 (4.3%)	38 (82.6%)	2 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.2%)								34.1	9.5	2090	785
060252914478	1306	We the People High	Public, Charter	9-12	1635 Long Beach Blvd.	Long Beach	90813	Los Angeles County	We the People High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 533-4862	46	6	7.6	80.4%	0 (0.0%)	16 (34.8%)	23 (50.0%)	2 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (8.7%)								34.1			(n/a)
063900007776	1307	Templeton Independent Study High	Public	9-12	964 Old County Rd.	Templeton	93465	San Luis Obispo County	Templeton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 434-5833	89	4	22.2	34.8%	51 (57.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (33.7%)	1 (1.1%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (6.7%)	$7,432							34.1	33.2	1329	22
060161614251	1308	California Virtual Academy at Fresno	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	California Virtual Academy at Fresno District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	1,432	49	29.5	77.8%	274 (19.1%)	101 (7.1%)	892 (62.3%)	78 (5.4%)	12 (0.8%)	3 (0.2%)	72 (5.0%)								34.1	36.2	1247	61
060210311408	1309	City Arts & Leadership Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	350 Seneca Ave.	San Francisco	94112	San Francisco County	City Arts & Leadership Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 841-2200	407	16	25.4	70.3%	11 (2.7%)	32 (7.9%)	322 (79.1%)	13 (3.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (5.4%)								34.1	50.2	859	450
060212713769	1310	California Connections Academy North Bay	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	20932 Big Canyon Rd.	Middletown	95461	Lake County	California Connections Academy North Bay District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(707) 200-7645	168	3	52.3	58.9%	81 (48.2%)	6 (3.6%)	52 (31.0%)	4 (2.4%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (12.5%)								34	57.9	691	619

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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:

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.