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)
063498005921	571	Capuchino High	Public	9-12	1501 Magnolia Ave.	San Bruno	94066	San Mateo County	San Mateo Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 558-2799	1,108	58	19.1	27.0%	192 (17.3%)	7 (0.6%)	582 (52.5%)	197 (17.8%)	1 (0.1%)	43 (3.9%)	83 (7.5%)	$20,206							63.4	76.1	399	172
063963006600	572	Vanden High	Public	9-12	2951 Markeley Ln.	Fairfield	94533	Solano County	Travis Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 437-7333	1,619	70	23.1	40.8%	350 (21.6%)	259 (16.0%)	415 (25.6%)	312 (19.3%)	4 (0.2%)	13 (0.8%)	258 (15.9%)	$6,302							63.3	64	579	7
063386005303	573	Laguna Hills High	Public	9-12	25401 Paseo de Valencia	Laguna Hills	92653	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 770-5447	1,401	64	21.8	57.4%	434 (31.0%)	10 (0.7%)	731 (52.2%)	131 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	87 (6.2%)	$7,052							63.3	73.3	431	142
060196114103	574	Pacific Coast Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	13915 Danielson St. #103	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Pacific Coast Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 749-1928	5,612	161	34.8	38.9%	2,909 (51.8%)	73 (1.3%)	1,735 (30.9%)	224 (4.0%)	25 (0.4%)	14 (0.2%)	629 (11.2%)								63.3	59.5	666	92
062403003612	575	Alhambra Senior High	Public	9-12	150 E St.	Martinez	94553	Contra Costa County	Martinez Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 335-5810	1,070	49	21.8	30.0%	433 (40.5%)	24 (2.2%)	377 (35.2%)	85 (7.9%)	3 (0.3%)	7 (0.7%)	140 (13.1%)	$7,506							63.2	62.8	602	27
063025004723	576	Petaluma High	Public	9-12	201 Fair St.	Petaluma	94952	Sonoma County	Petaluma Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 778-4651	1,253	57	21.9	41.0%	755 (60.3%)	12 (1.0%)	382 (30.5%)	30 (2.4%)	7 (0.6%)	5 (0.4%)	53 (4.2%)	$7,891							63.2	78.4	359	217
061954007994	577	Liberty High	Public	9-12	925 Jewetta Ave.	Bakersfield	93312	Kern County	Kern High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 587-0925	2,355	89	26.3	45.3%	986 (41.9%)	98 (4.2%)	1,030 (43.7%)	134 (5.7%)	17 (0.7%)	4 (0.2%)	83 (3.5%)	$7,059							63	72.6	440	137
061182001310	578	Yerba Buena High	Public	9-12	1855 Lucretia Ave.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	East Side Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 347-4700	1,621	72	22.6	54.8%	24 (1.5%)	26 (1.6%)	804 (49.6%)	742 (45.8%)	2 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	21 (1.3%)	$8,653							63	57.6	698	120
063033007819	579	Millennium High Alternative	Public	9-12	760 Magnolia Ave.	Piedmont	94611	Alameda County	Piedmont City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 594-2703	59	5	12.3	18.6%	25 (42.4%)	9 (15.3%)	8 (13.6%)	6 (10.2%)	1 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (16.9%)	$18,354							62.8	57.1	707	128
063432011145	580	Kearny Digital Media & Design	Public	9-12	1954 Komet Way	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 496-8370	341	14	25.1	73.3%	41 (12.0%)	26 (7.6%)	198 (58.1%)	43 (12.6%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	30 (8.8%)	$8,590							62.6	55.6	741	161

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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