Best High Schools in California

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Find the best California 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 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.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 2162)	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
1421	Maricopa High	Public	9-12	955 Stanislaus St.	Maricopa	93252	Kern County	Maricopa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 769-8231	72	9	8.3	95.8%	30 (41.7%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (56.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$25,358			$6,732			$18,626	33.2	45.8	1104	317		062382003597
1422	Tomales High	Public	9-12	3850 Irvin Rd.	Tomales	94971	Marin County	Shoreline Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 878-2286	127	16	7.8	73.2%	30 (23.6%)	0 (0.0%)	87 (68.5%)	1 (0.8%)	3 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.1%)	$34,877			$620			$34,257	33.2	72.4	534	888		063667006217
1423	Moreno Valley High	Public	9-12	23300 Cottonwood Ave.	Moreno Valley	92553	Riverside County	Moreno Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 571-4820	2,103	105	19.9	92.5%	43 (2.0%)	194 (9.2%)	1,715 (81.6%)	57 (2.7%)	1 (0.0%)	30 (1.4%)	63 (3.0%)	$21,280			$2,859			$18,421	33	35.7	1345	78		062580003869
1424	Clear Lake High	Public	9-12	350 Lange St.	Lakeport	95453	Lake County	Lakeport Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 262-3010	335	21	16	77.3%	133 (39.7%)	6 (1.8%)	137 (40.9%)	10 (3.0%)	23 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (7.5%)	$12,544			$563			$11,981	33	25.2	1580	156		062067002484
1425	Lakeside High	Public	9-12	32593 Riverside Dr.	Lake Elsinore	92530	Riverside County	Lake Elsinore Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 253-7300	1,687	72	23.3	84.9%	179 (10.6%)	53 (3.1%)	1,346 (79.8%)	60 (3.6%)	5 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	43 (2.5%)	$17,107			$1,559			$15,548	33	38.8	1273	152		060002711036
1426	Half Moon Bay High	Public	9-12	1 Lewis Foster Dr.	Half Moon Bay	94019	San Mateo County	Cabrillo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 712-7200	911	50	18.3	25.7%	378 (41.5%)	2 (0.2%)	463 (50.8%)	24 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (4.7%)	$15,992			$1,441			$14,551	33	61.6	724	702		060678000599
1427	Madera South High	Public	9-12	755 W. Pecan Ave.	Madera	93637	Madera County	Madera Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 675-4450	1,859	93	20	95.2%	33 (1.8%)	40 (2.2%)	1,749 (94.1%)	21 (1.1%)	5 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (0.5%)	$22,433			$3,826			$18,607	32.9	38.9	1269	158		062334011679
1428	Hayward Twin Oaks Montessori	Public, Charter, Alternative	1-12	951 Palisade St.	Hayward	94542	Alameda County	Hayward Twin Oaks Montessori District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 370-3334	643	18	34.9	37.9%	94 (14.6%)	23 (3.6%)	297 (46.2%)	91 (14.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.9%)	131 (20.4%)	$15,892			$1,422			$14,470	32.9	41.1	1218	210		060223813531
1429	Desert Learning Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	2248 East Ramon Rd.	Palm Springs	92262	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 778-0487	317	20	15.5	89.6%	49 (15.5%)	22 (6.9%)	232 (73.2%)	6 (1.9%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.9%)	$21,646			$3,679			$17,967	32.8	54.8	883	546		062955013957
1430	William J. (Pete) Knight High	Public	9-12	37423 70th St. East	Palmdale	93552	Los Angeles County	Antelope Valley Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 533-9000	2,349	102	23	58.1%	76 (3.2%)	309 (13.2%)	1,854 (78.9%)	41 (1.7%)	3 (0.1%)	1 (0.0%)	65 (2.8%)	$18,375			$2,028			$16,347	32.8	36.4	1332	98		060282011346

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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 CAST Science, Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 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:

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 California Department of Education.