Best Middle Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

Find the best California middle 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 California 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 CAST and Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the California Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 9, 2025.

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

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 2760)	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 (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
1852	Twentynine Palms Junior High	Public	7-8	5798 Utah Trail	Twentynine Palms	92277	San Bernardino County	Morongo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 367-9507	413	20	20.3	65.1%	153 (37.0%)	64 (15.5%)	153 (37.0%)	18 (4.4%)	5 (1.2%)	6 (1.5%)	13 (3.1%)	$19,254			$2,791			$16,463	29.3	37.5	1547	305		062586003893
1853	Hilltop Middle	Public	7-8	44 East J St.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 498-2700	866	39	22.3	52.2%	62 (7.2%)	12 (1.4%)	738 (85.2%)	24 (2.8%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	27 (3.1%)								29.2	32.6	1723	130		063864006483
1854	Pio Pico Middle	Public	6-8	1512 South Arlington Ave.	Los Angeles	90019	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 733-8801	253	15	16.8	96.0%	2 (0.8%)	16 (6.3%)	227 (89.7%)	3 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	4 (1.6%)	$35,693			$7,525			$28,168	29.2	30.8	1776	78		062271009152
1855	Meadows Elementary	Public	K-8	2059 Bowker Rd.	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	Meadows Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 352-7512	352	19	18.5	78.7%	22 (6.3%)	3 (0.9%)	322 (91.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.9%)	$29,519			$3,139			$26,380	29.2	41.9	1394	461		062439003655
1856	Capay Joint Union Elementary	Public	K-8	7504 Cutting Ave.	Orland	95963	Tehama County	Capay Joint Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 865-1222	211	10	21.1	41.2%	118 (55.9%)	0 (0.0%)	92 (43.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	$16,093			$2,001			$14,092	29.1	57.3	955	901		060741000682
1857	Cuyama Elementary	Public	K-8	2300 Highway 166	New Cuyama	93254	Santa Barbara County	Cuyama Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 766-2642	107	6	17.7	77.6%	26 (24.3%)	0 (0.0%)	79 (73.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.9%)	$22,241			$2,443			$19,798	29.1	45.2	1308	549		060000908780
1858	Thomas Edison Language Institute K-8	Public	K-8	2950 Hurley Way	Sacramento	95864	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 979-8960	883	37	24	76.7%	165 (18.7%)	74 (8.4%)	422 (47.8%)	149 (16.9%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.1%)	62 (7.0%)	$17,459			$2,983			$14,476	29.1	40.4	1444	414		063462005775
1859	Kings River Elementary	Public	K-8	3961 Avenue 400	Kingsburg	93631	Tulare County	Kings River Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 897-7209	389	20	19.4	87.7%	15 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	370 (95.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$22,865			$4,969			$17,896	29.1	28.1	1901	42		061974002378
1860	Tioga Middle	Public	7-8	3232 East Fairmont Ave.	Fresno	93726	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 248-7280	692	36	19	91.2%	47 (6.8%)	62 (9.0%)	441 (63.7%)	106 (15.3%)	5 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	30 (4.3%)	$20,345			$2,737			$17,608	29	29.5	1836	24		061455001773
1861	Buckeye School of the Arts	Public	K-8	3407 Hiatt Dr.	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Gateway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 225-0420	482	24	20	89.4%	273 (56.6%)	10 (2.1%)	109 (22.6%)	33 (6.8%)	18 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (8.1%)	$22,795			$3,423			$19,372	29	19.7	2272	411		061495001682

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students Pacific Islander Students White Students Multi-racial Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, CAST Science test scores released by the California Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 9, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the California Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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

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