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Best Middle Schools in Monterey County, CA

Coming soon: We're expecting this year's test scores from the California Department of Education any day now — new rankings will be posted the moment they're released!

Coming soon: This year's test scores are expected from the California Department of Education any day now — new rankings will follow the moment they're released!

At a glance

Schools

11,279

Students

Districts

5-star schools

Top rankedPacific Grove Middle252^nd of 2,761 California middle schools

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Biggest riser

Los Arboles Middle up 321 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Carmel Middle 13.1 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

5★

4★

2★

1★

0★

2 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

See the top-ranked California schools →

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

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

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CAST Science (2025)		Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)				Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)				Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
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 (2025)	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	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Fairview Middle	Public	6-8	401 Fourth St.	Gonzales	93926	Monterey County	Gonzales Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 675-3704	426	24	17.8	83.8%	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	417 (97.9%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	21.7	2163^rd of 2761 public middle schools	21.7%		21.6	2195^th of 2783 public middle schools	21.1%	32	16.3	16.3	29.9	35.2	36.6	33.9	13.6	12.1	11.8	12.5	$9,988	$9,230	$758
Carmel Middle	Public	6-8	4380 Carmel Valley Rd.	Carmel	93922	Monterey County	Carmel Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 624-2785	468	36	13.1	17.3%	293 (62.6%)	0 (0.0%)	95 (20.3%)	20 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	58 (12.4%)	90.3	271^st of 2761 public middle schools	90.2%		91.2	250^th of 2783 public middle schools	91.0%	21	58.4	58.4	75.0	72.7	68.9	72.1	58.0	64.0	54.7	58.9	$50,747	$49,908	$839
Vista Verde Middle	Public	6-8	1199 Elm Ave.	Greenfield	93927	Monterey County	Greenfield Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 674-1420	727	34	21.2	80.5%	6 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	715 (98.3%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11.3	2572^nd of 2761 public middle schools	6.8%		17.6	2364^th of 2783 public middle schools	15.1%	208	8.3	8.3		19.6	19.2	19.4		10.4	10.6	10.5
Chalone Peaks Middle	Public	6-8	667 Meyer St.	King City	93930	Monterey County	King City Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 385-4400	854	39	21.7	91.5%	19 (2.2%)	1 (0.1%)	817 (95.7%)	15 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	20	2221^st of 2761 public middle schools	19.6%		18	2343^rd of 2783 public middle schools	15.8%	122	15.3	15.3	22.9	38.1	30.2	30.3	10.2	17.4	13.5	13.7	$17,758	$16,018	$1,740
Phoenix Academy Community Day	Public	5-8	667 Meyer Ave.	King City	93930	Monterey County	King City Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 385-4400	0				0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Seaside Middle	Public	7-8	999 Coe Ave.	Seaside	93955	Monterey County	Monterey Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 899-7080	521	27	19.5	83.5%	42 (8.1%)	26 (5.0%)	405 (77.7%)	20 (3.8%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.3%)	14 (2.7%)	27.4	1915^th of 2761 public middle schools	30.6%		24.2	2075^th of 2783 public middle schools	25.4%	160	19.5	19.5		36.6	36.1	36.4		16.6	19.2	17.9	$21,301	$19,364	$1,937
Los Arboles Middle	Public	7-8	294 Hillcrest Ave.	Marina	93933	Monterey County	Monterey Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 384-3550	408	23	17.8	75.5%	48 (11.8%)	23 (5.6%)	258 (63.2%)	60 (14.7%)	3 (0.7%)	9 (2.2%)	6 (1.5%)	32.8	1722^nd of 2761 public middle schools	37.6%		24.8	2043^rd of 2783 public middle schools	26.6%	321	24.0	24.0		34.9	38.9	37.0		24.6	20.8	22.6	$21,565	$19,476	$2,089
Monterey Peninsula UNF School District COM Day MID	Public	6-8	200 Coe Ave.	Seaside	93955	Monterey County	Monterey Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 392-3822	3	0	12.0		1 (33.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (66.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)
North Monterey County Middle	Public	7-8	10301 Seymour St.	Castroville	95012	Monterey County	North Monterey County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 633-3391	624	30	20.8	87.8%	30 (4.8%)	2 (0.3%)	586 (93.9%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13.1	2513^th of 2761 public middle schools	9.0%		18.5	2317^th of 2783 public middle schools	16.7%	196	12.1	12.1		21.3	26.5	23.9		8.7	7.1	7.9	$19,268	$17,662	$1,606
Pacific Grove Middle	Public	6-8	835 Forest Ave.	Pacific Grove	93950	Monterey County	Pacific Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 646-6568	439	25	17.2	15.9%	240 (54.7%)	9 (2.1%)	86 (19.6%)	58 (13.2%)	6 (1.4%)	5 (1.1%)	35 (8.0%)	91	252^nd of 2761 public middle schools	90.9%		87.2	340^th of 2783 public middle schools	87.8%	88	64.0	64.0	69.1	78.3	73.9	73.9	54.4	58.5	62.4	58.5	$35,220	$33,958	$1,262
Harden Middle	Public	7-8	1561 McKinnon St.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7300	1,101	52	21.1	82.2%	29 (2.6%)	10 (0.9%)	1,016 (92.3%)	34 (3.1%)	6 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.5%)	22.1	2150^th of 2761 public middle schools	22.1%		24.1	2078^th of 2783 public middle schools	25.3%	72	19.2	19.2		31.9	29.1	30.5		16.3	14.8	15.6	$29,522	$27,946	$1,576
El Sausal Middle	Public	7-8	1155 East Alisal St.	Salinas	93905	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7200	1,067	48	22.1	91.7%	10 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1,052 (98.6%)	4 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	32.8	1723^rd of 2761 public middle schools	37.6%		34.1	1661^st of 2783 public middle schools	40.3%	62	24.5	24.5		36.4	36.9	36.7		23.4	22.3	22.9	$31,165	$29,292	$1,873
Washington Middle	Public	7-8	560 Iverson St.	Salinas	93901	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7100	1,082	51	21.2	81.7%	62 (5.7%)	9 (0.8%)	977 (90.3%)	19 (1.8%)	9 (0.8%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	38.6	1531^st of 2761 public middle schools	44.5%		42.4	1386^th of 2783 public middle schools	50.2%	145	25.2	25.2		46.0	37.7	41.7		27.9	22.7	25.2	$30,230	$28,470	$1,760
La Paz Middle	Public	7-8	1300 North Sanborn Rd.	Salinas	93905	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7900	1,099	55	20.0	93.4%	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	1,092 (99.4%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	22.8	2119^th of 2761 public middle schools	23.3%		23.7	2102^nd of 2783 public middle schools	24.5%	17	16.0	16.0		34.9	28.7	31.9		18.8	15.7	17.3	$28,891	$27,100	$1,791
Gavilan View Middle	Public	6-8	18250 Van Buren Ave.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Santa Rita Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 443-7212	556	30	18.5	87.6%	19 (3.4%)	2 (0.4%)	508 (91.4%)	16 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	9 (1.6%)	24.6	2028^th of 2761 public middle schools	26.5%		18.1	2337^th of 2783 public middle schools	16.0%	309	21.1	21.1	34.5	30.2	36.4	33.6	16.5	15.1	16.8	16.1	$11,092	$9,808	$1,284
John Gutierrez Middle	Public	6-8	1031 Rogge Rd.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Santa Rita Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 443-3300	568	29	19.4	80.5%	32 (5.6%)	5 (0.9%)	513 (90.3%)	9 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	7 (1.2%)	24.8	2012^th of 2761 public middle schools	27.1%		22.7	2137^th of 2783 public middle schools	23.2%	125	18.3	18.3	31.9	30.5	37.8	33.5	15.9	20.4	16.2	17.7	$12,197	$10,908	$1,289
Main Street Middle	Public	7-8	441 Main St.	Soledad	93960	Monterey County	Soledad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 678-6460	754	36	21.1	89.8%	8 (1.1%)	3 (0.4%)	726 (96.3%)	13 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	20.4	2207^th of 2761 public middle schools	20.1%		24.1	2081^st of 2783 public middle schools	25.2%	126	20.8	20.8		26.4	24.8	25.6		14.9	16.5	15.7	$13,787	$11,640	$2,147
Buena Vista Middle	Public	6-8	18250 Tara Dr.	Salinas	93908	Monterey County	Spreckels Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 455-8936	321	18	17.5	17.4%	121 (37.7%)	0 (0.0%)	163 (50.8%)	16 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (6.5%)	69.4	688^th of 2761 public middle schools	75.1%		59.9	889^th of 2783 public middle schools	68.1%	201	41.4	41.4	51.7	54.1	64.0	57.0	46.1	45.0	37.8	42.7	$19,621	$19,162	$459
San Benancio Middle	Public	6-8	43 San Benancio Rd.	Salinas	93908	Monterey County	Washington Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 484-1172	261	12	21.7	10.3%	138 (52.9%)	0 (0.0%)	75 (28.7%)	26 (10.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (8.4%)	84.8	373^rd of 2761 public middle schools	86.5%		85.2	379^th of 2783 public middle schools	86.4%	6	50.0	50.0	66.2	75.0	59.5	67.3	57.8	52.1	54.1	54.4	$17,191	$16,706	$485

SchoolDigger rankings lists for California:

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

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.