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)
370297001274	381	South Mecklenburg High School	Public, Magnet	9-12	8900 Park Rd	Charlotte	28210	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-3600	3,244	181	17.9	50.6%	923 (28.5%)	722 (22.3%)	1,438 (44.3%)	75 (2.3%)	4 (0.1%)	1 (0.0%)	81 (2.5%)	$8,057			$412			$7,646	38.3	35.2	397	16
370058000231	382	Hibriten High	Public	9-12	1350 Panther Trail SE	Lenoir	28645	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 758-7376	811	52	15.7	99.6%	529 (65.2%)	74 (9.1%)	139 (17.1%)	11 (1.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	56 (6.9%)	$10,067			$942			$9,125	38.2	39.7	356	26
370237001021	383	North Johnston High	Public	9-12	5915 US Hwy 301 N	Kenly	27542	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 284-2031	798	53	15	99.6%	377 (47.2%)	79 (9.9%)	319 (40.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (2.6%)	$10,995			$811			$10,184	38.2	45.4	320	63
370441001754	384	North Surry High	Public	9-12	2440 W Pine Street	Mount Airy	27030	Surry County	Surry County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 789-5055	823	49	16.6	62.2%	558 (67.8%)	21 (2.6%)	209 (25.4%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (3.6%)	$9,405			$905			$8,500	38.1	46.1	314	70
370378002647	385	Uwharrie Ridge Six-Twelve	Public	6-12	1463 Pleasant Union Road	Trinity	27370	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	No	(336) 241-3900	435	34	12.7	65.7%	376 (86.4%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (8.7%)	3 (0.7%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.4%)	$9,358			$780			$8,577	38.1	19.2	514	129
370345001440	386	White Oak High	Public	9-12	1001 Piney Green Rd	Jacksonville	28546	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 455-1541	1,226	64	19.2	47.4%	570 (46.5%)	257 (21.0%)	223 (18.2%)	10 (0.8%)	3 (0.2%)	8 (0.7%)	155 (12.6%)	$8,944			$872			$8,071	37.9	37.1	381	5
370126000530	387	C E Jordan High	Public	9-12	6806 Garrett Road	Durham	27707	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 560-3912	2,068	117	17.7	46.1%	610 (29.5%)	614 (29.7%)	632 (30.6%)	77 (3.7%)	2 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	131 (6.3%)	$9,868			$693			$9,175	37.9	38.2	369	18
370048000176	388	Freedom High	Public	9-12	511 Independence Boulevard	Morganton	28655	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 433-1310	1,374	75	18.4	99.8%	652 (47.5%)	94 (6.8%)	467 (34.0%)	53 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	108 (7.9%)	$8,511			$796			$7,716	37.9	44.9	324	64
370297001248	389	North Mecklenburg High School	Public, Magnet	9-12	11201 Old Statesville Rd	Huntersville	28078	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-3840	2,061	116	17.8	98.7%	128 (6.2%)	1,200 (58.2%)	590 (28.6%)	72 (3.5%)	6 (0.3%)	1 (0.0%)	64 (3.1%)	$9,173			$451			$8,723	37.8	36	389
370219000943	390	Hickory High	Public	9-12	1234 3rd Street NE	Hickory	28601	Catawba County	Hickory City Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 322-5860	1,034	58	17.9	99.5%	339 (32.8%)	203 (19.6%)	329 (31.8%)	45 (4.4%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	114 (11.0%)	$8,704			$694			$8,010	37.8	38.8	362	28

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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

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.