Best High Schools in North Carolina

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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.

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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)
370192002585	161	GTCC Middle College High	Public	9-12	200 Rochelle Drive	Jamestown	27282	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 819-2957	263	16	16.1	51.3%	61 (23.2%)	109 (41.4%)	67 (25.5%)	12 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (5.3%)	$9,013			$587			$8,425	73.5	66.5	187	26
370327003475	162	CITI High School	Public	9-12	846 Hammond St	Rocky Mount	27804	Nash County	Nash County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 462-2842	96	6	15.4	96.9%	18 (18.8%)	44 (45.8%)	31 (32.3%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.1%)	$14,539			$900			$13,639	73.2	49.8	291	129
370162000711	163	South Point High	Public	9-12	906 South Point Road	Belmont	28012	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 836-9612	983	52	19	33.0%	686 (69.8%)	112 (11.4%)	112 (11.4%)	32 (3.3%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	37 (3.8%)	$8,784			$685			$8,099	73.2	70.7	174	11
370297001250	164	Northwest School of the Arts	Public, Magnet	6-12	1415 Beatties Ford Rd	Charlotte	28216	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-5500	1,008	61	16.6	40.9%	313 (31.1%)	464 (46.0%)	152 (15.1%)	16 (1.6%)	4 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (5.9%)	$9,618			$478			$9,141	73.1	80.4	125	39
370111000457	165	Manteo High School	Public	9-12	829 Wingina Avenue	Manteo	27954	Dare County	Dare County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 473-5841	530	38	13.8	39.4%	342 (64.5%)	17 (3.2%)	142 (26.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (5.1%)	$12,230			$507			$11,723	72.8	64.3	198	33
370031803187	166	Lake Lure Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1058 Island Creek Rd.	Lake Lure	28746	Rutherford County	Lake Lure Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 625-9292	449	28	16.2		361 (80.4%)	10 (2.2%)	26 (5.8%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	47 (10.5%)								72.7	63.4	207	41
370138000562	167	Elkin High	Public	9-12	334 Elk Spur St	Elkin	28621	Surry County	Elkin City Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 835-3858	384	30	12.8	44.0%	262 (68.2%)	13 (3.4%)	93 (24.2%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.6%)	$12,105			$1,046			$11,058	72.7	66.7	186	19
370276001142	168	Nantahala School	Public, Alternative	K-12	213 Windingstairs Rd	Topton	28781	Cherokee County	Macon County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 321-4388	87	13	6.8	96.6%	74 (85.1%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.6%)	$21,882			$1,206			$20,675	72.6			(n/a)
370472001829	169	Apex High	Public	9-12	1501 Laura Duncan Road	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-2208	2,434	127	19.2	22.0%	1,418 (58.3%)	231 (9.5%)	386 (15.9%)	289 (11.9%)	4 (0.2%)	8 (0.3%)	98 (4.0%)	$8,281			$390			$7,891	72.5	71.1	170	1
370009302480	170	Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2527 US 221A Hwy	Mooresboro	28114	Cleveland County	Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 657-9998	1,428	70	20.4		984 (68.9%)	117 (8.2%)	150 (10.5%)	40 (2.8%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	134 (9.4%)								72.5	78.2	139	31

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.