Best High Schools in North Carolina

A teacher and two students give a thumbs-up in a classroom.

Find the best North Carolina 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 North Carolina 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 EOC test scores by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 640)	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)
370031903193	61	Henderson Collegiate	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1071 Old Epsom Rd	Henderson	27536	Vance County	Henderson Collegiate	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 598-1038	1,319	90	14.6	97.6%	54 (4.1%)	808 (61.3%)	361 (27.4%)	27 (2.0%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	66 (5.0%)								91.5	91.5	56	5
370432003513	62	Stanly STEM Early College	Public	9-12	311 Park Ridge Road	Albemarle	28001	Stanly County	Stanly County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 961-4900	185	7	26.4	41.6%	93 (50.3%)	16 (8.6%)	35 (18.9%)	27 (14.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	13 (7.0%)								91.3	94.5	31	31
370333002888	63	Isaac M Bear Early College High School	Public	9-12	630 MacMillan Avenue	Wilmington	28403	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 350-1387	251	10	25.5	21.5%	152 (60.6%)	12 (4.8%)	47 (18.7%)	23 (9.2%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	15 (6.0%)	$9,555			$284			$9,271	91.3	95.1	23	40
370331003127	64	Early College EAST High	Public	9-12	104 Middle School Lane	Havelock	28532	Craven County	Craven County Board of Education	No	No	No	No	(252) 444-5194	199	9	22.9	26.1%	137 (68.8%)	17 (8.5%)	26 (13.1%)	4 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	13 (6.5%)	$7,531			$242			$7,289	91.2	91	59	5
370408002793	65	Rutherford Early College High School	Public	9-12	286 ICC Loop Road	Spindale	28160	Rutherford County	Rutherford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 288-2202	202	6	33.6	98.5%	145 (71.8%)	10 (5.0%)	23 (11.4%)	7 (3.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (7.9%)	$6,973			$327			$6,646	91.2	88.6	84	19
370006902415	66	Franklin Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1127 Chalk Rd	Wake Forest	27587	Wake County	Franklin Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(919) 570-8262	1,652	118	13.9		1,261 (76.3%)	110 (6.7%)	92 (5.6%)	89 (5.4%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	97 (5.9%)								91	85.6	103	37
370297002842	67	Central Piedmont Early College	Public	9-12	1228 Elizabeth Avenue	Charlotte	28204	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-1118	178	9	19.7	47.8%	26 (14.6%)	85 (47.8%)	53 (29.8%)	7 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.9%)	$18,854			$1,855			$16,999	90.8	8.7	585	518
370502003382	68	Wilson Academy of Applied Technology	Public	9-12	4809 Ward Blvd	Wilson	27893	Wilson County	Wilson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 265-4038	239	13	19.1	55.2%	63 (26.4%)	61 (25.5%)	95 (39.7%)	8 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.0%)	$11,011			$214			$10,797	90.7	85.9	101	33
370132002762	69	Edgecombe Early College High	Public	9-12	2009 West Wilson St	Tarboro	27886	Edgecombe County	Edgecombe County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 618-6554	184	10	18.4	98.4%	75 (40.8%)	61 (33.2%)	40 (21.7%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.8%)	$9,262			$487			$8,775	90.5	90.9	60	9
370014502926	70	Pine Lake Preparatory	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	104 Yellow Wood Circle	Mooresville	28115	Iredell County	Pine Lake Preparatory	Yes	No	No	No	(704) 237-5304	1,885	115	16.3		1,510 (80.1%)	27 (1.4%)	129 (6.8%)	117 (6.2%)	4 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	96 (5.1%)								90.5	91.5	55	15

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NC student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Gifted and Talented Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on EOC Biology, EOC English II, EOC Math I, EOC Math III test scores released by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
These rankings were last updated on September 4, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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 North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.