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)
060168113829	1561	SIATech Academy South	Public, Virtual, Charter	10-12	255 S. Mednik Ave.	Los Angeles	90022	Los Angeles County	SIATech Academy South District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(760) 945-1227	198	9	22	84.8%	4 (2.0%)	19 (9.6%)	167 (84.3%)	2 (1.0%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	4 (2.0%)								24.6	27.4	1495	66
064258007900	1562	Laytonville High	Public	9-12	250 Branscomb Rd.	Laytonville	95454	Mendocino County	Laytonville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 984-6108	99	9	10.5	66.7%	53 (53.5%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (17.2%)	2 (2.0%)	8 (8.1%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (19.2%)	$9,450							24.6	39.8	1142	420
060195614359	1563	Southern California Flex Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	8560 Aliento Rd.	Lucerne Valley	92356	San Bernardino County	Southern California Flex Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(800) 868-6192	544	32	16.9	66.5%	111 (20.4%)	87 (16.0%)	294 (54.0%)	16 (2.9%)	1 (0.2%)	6 (1.1%)	27 (5.0%)								24.5			(n/a)
069102010960	1564	Merced Scholars Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1850 Wardrobe Ave. Bldg. H	Merced	95341	Merced County	Merced County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 381-5165	297	18	16.4	88.6%	34 (11.4%)	7 (2.4%)	236 (79.5%)	12 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.7%)	$9,544							24.5	24	1591	27
063398012977	1565	El Puente	Public	7-12	20 Sherwood Pl.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7700	349	19	18	94.6%	15 (4.3%)	1 (0.3%)	326 (93.4%)	3 (0.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	$19,257							24.5	21.8	1647	82
060166712634	1566	Aspire Pacific Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	2565 58th St.	Huntington Park	90255	Los Angeles County	Aspire Pacific Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 589-2800	560	18	31.8	95.2%	3 (0.5%)	2 (0.4%)	506 (90.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (8.6%)								24.5	26.8	1510	56
062271003106	1567	Thomas Jefferson Senior High	Public	9-12	1319 East 41st St.	Los Angeles	90011	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 521-1200	615	34	18.1	98.9%	10 (1.6%)	42 (6.8%)	554 (90.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.3%)	$16,278							24.5	18.8	1730	163
069103610668	1568	Santa Cruz County Community	Public	7-12	400 Encinal St.	Santa Cruz	95060	Santa Cruz County	Santa Cruz County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 466-5728	733	32	23	50.9%	300 (40.9%)	10 (1.4%)	376 (51.3%)	13 (1.8%)	9 (1.2%)	3 (0.4%)	16 (2.2%)	$17,330							24.4	26.9	1509	59
064074007861	1569	Jesse M. Bethel High	Public	9-12	1800 Ascot Pkwy.	Vallejo	94591	Solano County	Vallejo City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 556-5700	1,441	67	21.5	78.9%	82 (5.7%)	340 (23.6%)	621 (43.1%)	300 (20.8%)	4 (0.3%)	25 (1.7%)	68 (4.7%)								24.4	28	1468	101
069105212994	1570	Urban Corps of San Diego County Charter	Public, Charter	9-12	3127 Jefferson St.	San Diego	92110	San Diego County	Mono County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 235-6884	210	12	16.9	60.5%	26 (12.4%)	12 (5.7%)	157 (74.8%)	10 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.9%)	$12,833							24.4	12.2	1940	370

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.