Best Public Schools in Cary, NC

Summary:

The city of Cary, North Carolina is home to a diverse array of 33 schools, including 18 elementary schools, 7 middle schools, 7 high schools, and 1 alternative school, all part of the Wake County Schools district. This district is ranked 60 out of 242 school districts in North Carolina and has a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Several schools in Cary stand out for their exceptional performance. Green Level High School is ranked 37th out of 641 high schools in North Carolina and has a 5-star rating, with outstanding test scores across multiple subjects. Mills Park Middle School is ranked 5th out of 773 middle schools in the state and also has a 5-star rating, with proficiency rates over 90% in Math and Reading. At the elementary level, Highcroft Elementary and Hortons Creek Elementary are both ranked in the top 25 out of 1,490 elementary schools in North Carolina and have 5-star ratings.

The data also reveals a significant gap in performance between the highest-performing and lowest-performing schools in Cary. For example, SCORE Academy, the lowest-ranked high school, has much lower test scores compared to the top-ranked high schools. Additionally, the free/reduced lunch rates seem to be inversely correlated with school performance, with the highest-performing schools generally having lower percentages of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				EOC Biology (2025)	EOC English II (2025)	EOC Math I (2025)	EOC Math III (2025)	EOG Mathematics (2025)						EOG Reading (2025)						EOG Science (2025)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOC Biology End of Course	EOC English II End of Course	EOC Math I End of Course	EOC Math III End of Course	EOG Mathematics 3rd Grade	EOG Mathematics 4th Grade	EOG Mathematics 5th Grade	EOG Mathematics 6th Grade	EOG Mathematics 7th Grade	EOG Mathematics 8th Grade	EOG Reading 3rd Grade	EOG Reading 4th Grade	EOG Reading 5th Grade	EOG Reading 6th Grade	EOG Reading 7th Grade	EOG Reading 8th Grade	EOG Science 5th Grade	EOG Science 8th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Triangle Math and Science Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	312 Gregson Dr.	Cary	27511	Wake County	Triangle Math and Science Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 388-0077	1,904	117	16.2		424 (22.3%)	176 (9.2%)	80 (4.2%)	1,089 (57.2%)	19 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	115 (6.0%)								(n/a)	89.9	93.9	82.6	96.5	91.0	94.7	95.4	94.4	91.1	92.1	72.9	92.4	94.0	88.0	88.7	93.5	95.5	94.8
Cardinal Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1020 St. Charles Place	Cary	27513	Wake County	Cardinal Charter	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 653-5000	584	13	45.1	47.4%	153 (26.2%)	198 (33.9%)	120 (20.5%)	68 (11.6%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (7.2%)	70.5	382^nd of 1490 public elementary schools	74.4%		59.1	600^th of 1505 public elementary schools	60.1%	218					71.4	66.7	67.8	66.0	75.5	58.7	44.6	70.8	67.8	63.8	67.9	78.3	63.8	76.1
Davis Drive Elementary	Public	K-5	2151 Davis Drive	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-2130	794	53	14.8	9.2%	324 (40.8%)	24 (3.0%)	54 (6.8%)	376 (47.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	14 (1.8%)	97.1	20^th of 1490 public elementary schools	98.7%		96.9	24^th of 1505 public elementary schools	98.4%	4					92.7	92.4	95.2				83.0	85.5	83.2				90.4		$9,368	$407	$8,961
Weatherstone Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1000 Olde Weatherstone Way	Cary	27513	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 380-6988	730	48	15.1	31.1%	294 (40.3%)	47 (6.4%)	184 (25.2%)	170 (23.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (4.7%)	79	263^rd of 1490 public elementary schools	82.3%		77.4	291^st of 1505 public elementary schools	80.7%	28					68.5	84.1	84.7				51.5	63.7	66.4				81.0		$8,983	$480	$8,503
Adams Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	805 Cary Towne Blvd	Cary	27511	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 460-3431	655	52	12.6	61.2%	252 (38.5%)	116 (17.7%)	237 (36.2%)	21 (3.2%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.5%)	24 (3.7%)	52.7	698^th of 1490 public elementary schools	53.2%		61	565^th of 1505 public elementary schools	62.5%	133					68.1	62.1	55.7				46.9	55.3	49.5				59.4		$10,267	$952	$9,315
Briarcliff Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1220 Pond St	Cary	27511	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 460-3443	486	32	15.0	43.0%	275 (56.6%)	39 (8.0%)	117 (24.1%)	40 (8.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.1%)	55.4	645^th of 1490 public elementary schools	56.7%		68.2	440^th of 1505 public elementary schools	70.8%	205					62.5	58.2	49.4				55.6	68.4	55.3				57.6		$10,299	$630	$9,670
Cary Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	400 Kildaire Farm Road	Cary	27511	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 460-3455	477	32	14.7	42.6%	269 (56.4%)	52 (10.9%)	112 (23.5%)	19 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (5.0%)	79.9	246^th of 1490 public elementary schools	83.5%		79.2	254^th of 1505 public elementary schools	83.1%	8					71.3	71.8	68.5				66.3	66.7	71.2				79.5		$10,015	$629	$9,386
Cary High	Public	9-12	638 Walnut St	Cary	27511	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 460-3549	2,044	117	17.4	38.6%	879 (43.0%)	352 (17.2%)	597 (29.2%)	114 (5.6%)	6 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	94 (4.6%)	62.1	218^th of 641 public high schools	66.0%		50.5	296^th of 640 public high schools	53.8%	78	63.4	70.2	31.4	73.9															$8,602	$403	$8,198
Reedy Creek Middle	Public, Magnet	6-8	930 Reedy Creek Road	Cary	27513	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 460-3504	805	54	14.9	37.1%	326 (40.5%)	159 (19.8%)	166 (20.6%)	126 (15.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	27 (3.4%)	69.5	211^th of 773 public middle schools	72.7%		76.7	155^th of 793 public middle schools	80.5%	56								68.1	57.9	57.8				65.4	56.2	61.5		67.6	$9,572	$485	$9,087
Farmington Woods Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	1413 Hampton Valley Rd	Cary	27511	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 460-3469	648	47	13.8	31.0%	305 (47.1%)	63 (9.7%)	140 (21.6%)	102 (15.7%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (5.6%)	88.4	133^rd of 1490 public elementary schools	91.1%		89.2	126^th of 1505 public elementary schools	91.6%	7					82.2	72.2	78.3				67.3	78.4	75.7				81.7		$9,948	$469	$9,479
Kingswood Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	200 E. Johnson Street	Cary	27513	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(919) 460-3481	427	34	12.6	42.4%	123 (28.8%)	80 (18.7%)	116 (27.2%)	83 (19.4%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.9%)	66.7	452^nd of 1490 public elementary schools	69.7%		61.7	548^th of 1505 public elementary schools	63.6%	96					69.6	71.4	55.9				62.3	58.9	62.7				62.7		$11,660	$901	$10,759
Northwoods Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	8850 Chapel Hill Road	Cary	27513	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 460-3491	579	43	13.5	35.1%	179 (30.9%)	85 (14.7%)	117 (20.2%)	165 (28.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (5.5%)	77.3	289^th of 1490 public elementary schools	80.6%		68.1	442^nd of 1505 public elementary schools	70.6%	153					77.3	69.7	66.7				62.9	74.2	64.2				65.4		$10,215	$549	$9,666
West Cary Middle	Public	6-8	1000 Evans Road	Cary	27513	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 460-3528	824	48	17.1	30.0%	258 (31.3%)	130 (15.8%)	142 (17.2%)	265 (32.2%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	26 (3.2%)	86.4	82^nd of 773 public middle schools	89.4%		89.2	69^th of 793 public middle schools	91.3%	13								73.1	72.9	80.1				66.8	69.6	71.0		79.1	$7,509	$324	$7,185
Davis Drive Middle	Public	6-8	2101 Davis Drive	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-3033	992	57	17.4	13.3%	372 (37.5%)	44 (4.4%)	113 (11.4%)	419 (42.2%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.7%)	36 (3.6%)	97	19^th of 773 public middle schools	97.5%		96.6	21^st of 793 public middle schools	97.4%	2								91.9	93.9	88.1				84.2	85.4	83.7		88.5	$7,994	$391	$7,602
Penny Road Elementary	Public	K-5	10900 Penny Rd	Cary	27518	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-2136	509	38	13.4	36.9%	286 (56.2%)	73 (14.3%)	107 (21.0%)	21 (4.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.1%)	66.5	461^st of 1490 public elementary schools	69.1%		62	542^nd of 1505 public elementary schools	64.0%	81					72.7	67.0	62.2				61.4	63.5	50.0				63.5		$9,556	$424	$9,132
Green Hope High	Public	9-12	2500 Carpenter Upchurch Road	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 380-3700	2,304	112	20.5	12.5%	1,036 (45.0%)	149 (6.5%)	179 (7.8%)	852 (37.0%)	6 (0.3%)	5 (0.2%)	77 (3.3%)	87.6	93^rd of 641 public high schools	85.5%		89.1	88^th of 640 public high schools	86.3%	5	81.3	86.9	58.7	91.5															$7,421	$399	$7,021
Reedy Creek Elementary	Public	K-5	940 Reedy Creek Road	Cary	27513	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 380-3660	605	44	13.6	67.4%	159 (26.3%)	218 (36.0%)	186 (30.7%)	23 (3.8%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (2.6%)	48	779^th of 1490 public elementary schools	47.7%		40.3	928^th of 1505 public elementary schools	38.3%	149					66.7	51.5	55.7				44.8	59.4	53.8				50.9		$10,097	$906	$9,191
Green Hope Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2700 Louis Stephens Drive	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 388-5270	548	36	15.2	14.4%	171 (31.2%)	40 (7.3%)	51 (9.3%)	270 (49.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.7%)	94.5	55^th of 1490 public elementary schools	96.3%		96.7	27^th of 1505 public elementary schools	98.2%	28					79.0	91.8	89.6				76.5	81.6	84.4				89.6		$8,968	$486	$8,482
Highcroft Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	5415 Highcroft Drive	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 460-3527	698	45	15.6	9.2%	210 (30.1%)	41 (5.9%)	42 (6.0%)	355 (50.9%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (6.9%)	96.8	24^th of 1490 public elementary schools	98.4%		97.7	10^th of 1505 public elementary schools	99.3%	14					93.0	91.9	92.9				80.7	87.0	83.2				88.4		$8,277	$370	$7,907
Turner Creek Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	6801 Turner Creek Road	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 363-1391	638	51	12.6	22.6%	280 (43.9%)	66 (10.3%)	100 (15.7%)	155 (24.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	34 (5.3%)	79.8	247^th of 1490 public elementary schools	83.4%		74	342^nd of 1505 public elementary schools	77.3%	95					64.4	72.6	73.8				59.8	78.8	72.8				78.6		$9,601	$458	$9,143
Panther Creek High	Public	9-12	6770 McCrimmon Parkway	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 463-8656	2,609	128	20.3	14.8%	624 (23.9%)	396 (15.2%)	204 (7.8%)	1,251 (47.9%)	13 (0.5%)	2 (0.1%)	119 (4.6%)	85.1	110^th of 641 public high schools	82.8%		85.9	109^th of 640 public high schools	83.0%	1	78.9	86.1	51.0	89.7															$7,426	$339	$7,087
East Cary Middle	Public	6-8	1111 SE Maynard Road	Cary	27511	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 466-4377	597	45	13.2	36.2%	318 (53.3%)	76 (12.7%)	144 (24.1%)	32 (5.4%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (4.0%)	82.2	115^th of 773 public middle schools	85.1%		80.9	123^rd of 793 public middle schools	84.5%	8								69.4	67.8	61.5				68.8	69.3	70.2		80.5	$10,391	$516	$9,875
Carpenter Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2100 Morrisville Parkway	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 462-6780	604	44	13.7	28.8%	144 (23.8%)	42 (7.0%)	138 (22.8%)	262 (43.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (2.8%)	82.4	208^th of 1490 public elementary schools	86.0%		83.2	203^rd of 1505 public elementary schools	86.5%	5					84.0	74.8	70.2				64.0	77.7	66.9				70.2		$9,401	$613	$8,788
Mills Park Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	509 Mills Park Dr	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 466-1466	594	42	14.2	17.7%	194 (32.7%)	28 (4.7%)	84 (14.1%)	278 (46.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.7%)	96.8	23^rd of 1490 public elementary schools	98.5%		95.8	41^st of 1505 public elementary schools	97.3%	18					93.8	85.3	93.8				81.3	82.6	91.2				92.9		$8,738	$372	$8,366
Wake STEM Early College High School	Public	9-12	2205 Walnut Street	Cary	27518	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-8130	294	15	20.2	35.7%	98 (33.3%)	40 (13.6%)	84 (28.6%)	60 (20.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.1%)	96.4	6^th of 641 public high schools	99.1%		93.9	43^rd of 640 public high schools	93.3%	37	93.4	98.6	90.9																$10,774	$232	$10,542
Mills Park Middle	Public	6-8	441 Mills Park Drive	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 466-1500	1,632	87	18.7	7.6%	479 (29.4%)	87 (5.3%)	112 (6.9%)	892 (54.7%)	3 (0.2%)	3 (0.2%)	56 (3.4%)	98.7	5^th of 773 public middle schools	99.4%		99	2^nd of 793 public middle schools	99.7%	3								96.2		95.3				91.8	91.4	92.0		95.6	$7,648	$376	$7,272
Alston Ridge Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	11555 Green Level Church Rd.	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 544-2474	917	66	13.9	17.8%	171 (18.6%)	120 (13.1%)	81 (8.8%)	501 (54.6%)	4 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	39 (4.3%)	84	190^th of 1490 public elementary schools	87.2%		91.8	88^th of 1505 public elementary schools	94.2%	102					82.7	75.3	72.7				60.3	75.9	73.2				72.7		$8,773	$530	$8,243
Crossroads FLEX	Public, Virtual	9-12	5651 Dillard Dr	Cary	27518	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(919) 694-8515	139	6	23.4	5.8%	95 (68.3%)	9 (6.5%)	13 (9.4%)	13 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (6.5%)	92.5	56^th of 641 public high schools	91.3%		89.2	87^th of 640 public high schools	86.4%	31	73.3	100.0		99.9															$9,819	$232	$9,587
Hortons Creek Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	7615 O'Kelly Chapel Rd	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-8660	739	47	15.6	11.5%	210 (28.4%)	78 (10.6%)	54 (7.3%)	372 (50.3%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (2.7%)	96.7	25^th of 1490 public elementary schools	98.3%		97.3	14^th of 1505 public elementary schools	99.1%	11					84.8	89.5	92.3				78.1	91.0	94.6				93.0		$7,977	$280	$7,697
SCORE Academy	Public	9-12	5651 Dillard Dr	Cary	27518	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-8560	584	32	18.3	99.5%	164 (28.1%)	210 (36.0%)	174 (29.8%)	12 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	23 (3.9%)	2.7	633^rd of 641 public high schools	1.2%		3.9	624^th of 640 public high schools	2.5%	9	5.3	17.1		18.8															$16,937	$337	$16,599
Connections Academy	Public	6-8	1280 Buck Jones Rd	Cary	27606	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 694-8910	8	12	.6		3 (37.5%)	2 (25.0%)	3 (37.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2.6	759^th of 773 public middle schools	1.8%		2.4	780^th of 793 public middle schools	1.6%	21									5.3	11.1					5.3	15.8		30.0	$38,998	$1,698	$37,300
Alston Ridge Middle	Public	6-8	7833 Fussell Avenue	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-8044	1,494	79	19.0	21.3%	334 (22.4%)	171 (11.4%)	175 (11.7%)	736 (49.3%)	4 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	73 (4.9%)	92.6	44^th of 773 public middle schools	94.3%		94.2	36^th of 793 public middle schools	95.5%	8								85.3	81.4	78.1				73.7	78.7	77.7		82.0
Green Level High	Public	9-12	7600 Roberts Rd	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-8222	2,283	112	20.4	6.4%	820 (35.9%)	102 (4.5%)	135 (5.9%)	1,133 (49.6%)	8 (0.4%)	3 (0.1%)	82 (3.6%)	93.9	37^th of 641 public high schools	94.2%		92.7	52^nd of 640 public high schools	91.9%	15	89.6	93.2	72.5

Cities Near Cary

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Apex	2.58 mi	23	26^th
Raleigh	2.81 mi	107	176^th
Morrisville	5.18 mi	6	31^st
Holly Springs	6.39 mi	12	46^th
Garner	8.83 mi	14	254^th

See the top NC North Carolina cities

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.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.