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)
060907011175	1521	Desert Mirage High	Public	9-12	86150 Avenue 66	Thermal	92274	Riverside County	Coachella Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 397-2255	1,974	99	19.9	97.5%	4 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1,947 (98.6%)	2 (0.1%)	13 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.4%)	$12,675							26.3	18.1	1742	221
062759009412	1522	North Monterey County Center for Independent Study	Public, Alternative	K-12	17500 Pesante Rd.	Salinas	93907	Monterey County	North Monterey County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 633-7050	131	5	25.8	77.1%	26 (19.8%)	0 (0.0%)	99 (75.6%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.3%)	$5,355							26.3	22.6	1631	109
062949004555	1523	Watsonville High	Public	9-12	250 East Beach St.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6390	2,253	97	23.3	92.7%	56 (2.5%)	3 (0.1%)	2,169 (96.3%)	17 (0.8%)	3 (0.1%)	3 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)								26.3	26.5	1522	1
060256214589	1524	Bostonia Global	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1390 Broadway	El Cajon	92021	San Diego County	Bostonia Global District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 588-3121	1,175	46	25.3	75.7%	217 (18.5%)	46 (3.9%)	824 (70.1%)	12 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	72 (6.1%)								26.3	33.5	1320	204
060133201988	1525	Highlands High	Public	9-12	6601 Guthrie Way	North Highlands	95660	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-3465	754	42	17.9	87.5%	129 (17.1%)	93 (12.3%)	391 (51.9%)	67 (8.9%)	3 (0.4%)	7 (0.9%)	59 (7.8%)								26.2	21.6	1652	127
060001909274	1526	Valley High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	8151 Village Pkwy.	Dublin	94568	Alameda County	Dublin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 829-4322	47	5	10.2	34.0%	11 (23.4%)	6 (12.8%)	17 (36.2%)	7 (14.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.1%)	5 (10.6%)	$28,473							26.1	19.8	1706	180
060282004582	1527	Lancaster High	Public	9-12	44701 32nd St. West	Lancaster	93536	Los Angeles County	Antelope Valley Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 726-7649	2,697	108	24.9	63.6%	280 (10.4%)	627 (23.2%)	1,520 (56.4%)	109 (4.0%)	8 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	151 (5.6%)	$8,800							26	25.1	1556	29
060384000347	1528	Banning High	Public	9-12	100 West Westward	Banning	92220	Riverside County	Banning Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 922-0285	1,146	59	19.2	87.3%	94 (8.2%)	70 (6.1%)	866 (75.6%)	43 (3.8%)	26 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (3.8%)	$5,706							26	23.5	1605	77
060153708313	1529	Pacific View Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3670 Ocean Ranch Blvd.	Oceanside	92056	San Diego County	Pacific View Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 757-0161	666	29	23	68.9%	100 (15.0%)	27 (4.1%)	476 (71.5%)	5 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.6%)	46 (6.9%)								26	28	1473	56
063864010642	1530	San Ysidro High	Public	9-12	5353 Airway Rd.	San Diego	92154	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 710-2300	2,017	93	21.7	71.9%	96 (4.8%)	32 (1.6%)	1,776 (88.1%)	69 (3.4%)	4 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	37 (1.8%)	$6,773							26	28	1469	61

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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