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)
063864006486	941	Mar Vista Senior High	Public	9-12	505 Elm Ave.	Imperial Beach	91932	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 628-5700	1,266	57	22.2	78.4%	236 (18.6%)	31 (2.4%)	875 (69.1%)	70 (5.5%)	5 (0.4%)	6 (0.5%)	43 (3.4%)	$8,609							47	41	1106	165
060194513029	942	Palmdale Aerospace Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3300 East Palmdale Blvd.	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Aerospace Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 273-3680	2,213	89	24.8	75.6%	104 (4.7%)	122 (5.5%)	1,864 (84.2%)	71 (3.2%)	9 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	39 (1.8%)								47	45.9	978	36
060177913821	943	Vista Oaks Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	315 South Lower Sacramento Ste	Lodi	95242	San Joaquin County	Vista Oaks Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 365-4060	948	40	23.6	36.0%	376 (39.7%)	23 (2.4%)	334 (35.2%)	75 (7.9%)	6 (0.6%)	5 (0.5%)	121 (12.8%)								46.9	47.4	924	19
061650012317	944	Sierra Pacific High	Public	9-12	1259 North 13th Ave.	Hanford	93230	Kings County	Hanford Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 583-5912	1,102	44	25.2	61.1%	254 (23.0%)	33 (3.0%)	700 (63.5%)	43 (3.9%)	5 (0.5%)	3 (0.3%)	61 (5.5%)	$11,870							46.9	45.7	980	36
064059009648	945	Will C. Wood High	Public	9-12	998 Marshall Rd.	Vacaville	95687	Solano County	Vacaville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 453-6900	1,681	80	20.9	35.0%	404 (24.0%)	131 (7.8%)	763 (45.4%)	161 (9.6%)	5 (0.3%)	20 (1.2%)	188 (11.2%)	$6,314							46.9	45.7	981	36
061005014519	946	Covina-Valley Learning Options Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	758 W. Grondahl St.	Covina	91722	Los Angeles County	Covina-Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(626) 974-4822	61	3	21.9	83.6%	8 (13.1%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (86.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								46.9	30.1	1414	468
060702000647	947	Calistoga Junior/Senior High	Public	7-12	1608 Lake St.	Calistoga	94515	Napa County	Calistoga Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 942-6278	378	23	16.3	84.9%	35 (9.3%)	2 (0.5%)	334 (88.4%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.3%)	$19,477							46.9	35.4	1270	323
062271013040	948	Academies of Education and Empowerment at Carson High	Public	9-12	22328 South Main St.	Carson	90745	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 847-1455	493	25	19.5	75.9%	17 (3.4%)	61 (12.4%)	287 (58.2%)	80 (16.2%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (6.1%)	17 (3.4%)	$9,185							46.8	36.9	1228	280
060251014414	949	California Pacific Charter - Sonoma	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	14630 Armstrong Woods Rd.	Guerneville	95466	Mendocino County	California Pacific Charter - Sonoma District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(855) 225-7227	152	40	3.7	61.2%	61 (40.1%)	13 (8.6%)	54 (35.5%)	5 (3.3%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (11.8%)								46.7	48.9	893	56
062271002844	950	Bell Senior High	Public	9-12	4328 Bell Ave.	Bell	90201	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 832-4700	2,259	107	21.2	89.1%	108 (4.8%)	3 (0.1%)	2,131 (94.3%)	5 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	3 (0.1%)	7 (0.3%)	$10,055							46.7	54.3	773	177

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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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