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
441	Los Angeles Leadership Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	234 East Avenue 33	Los Angeles	90031	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Leadership Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 227-7719	322	21	15.5	91.3%	4 (1.2%)	1 (0.3%)	304 (94.4%)	5 (1.6%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.9%)	$24,449			$4,531			$19,918	78.5	34.7	1377	936		060149410517
442	Cosumnes Oaks High	Public	9-12	8350 Lotz Pkwy.	Elk Grove	95757	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 683-7670	2,109	98	21.4	38.9%	289 (13.7%)	246 (11.7%)	420 (19.9%)	909 (43.1%)	7 (0.3%)	15 (0.7%)	223 (10.6%)	$14,850			$881			$13,969	78.4	86	307	135		061233012274
443	High Technical High	Public, Charter	9-12	2861 Womble Rd.	San Diego	92106	San Diego County	High Technical High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 243-5000	412	21	19.6	47.1%	105 (25.5%)	33 (8.0%)	216 (52.4%)	40 (9.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.9%)	$14,404			$922			$13,482	78.2	81.6	385	58		060175308599
444	California High	Public	9-12	9800 South Mills Ave.	Whittier	90604	Los Angeles County	Whittier Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 698-8121	2,261	102	22	80.3%	97 (4.3%)	13 (0.6%)	2,090 (92.4%)	42 (1.9%)	7 (0.3%)	3 (0.1%)	6 (0.3%)	$21,501			$615			$20,886	78.2	80.2	411	33		064248006950
445	Murrieta Valley High	Public	9-12	42200 Nighthawk Way	Murrieta	92562	Riverside County	Murrieta Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 696-1408	2,104	94	22.4	46.7%	886 (42.1%)	63 (3.0%)	863 (41.0%)	100 (4.8%)	6 (0.3%)	10 (0.5%)	172 (8.2%)	$15,421			$1,038			$14,383	78.2	89.4	244	201		060002909685
446	Method Schools LA	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	27232 Via Industria	Temecula	92590	Riverside County	Method Schools LA District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 461-4620	227	16	14	50.7%	89 (39.2%)	27 (11.9%)	87 (38.3%)	10 (4.4%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.4%)	$29,042			$966			$28,076	78.1	74.2	494	48		060215014259
447	California Pacific Charter- Los Angeles	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	940 South Coast Dr. #185	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	California Pacific Charter- Los Angeles District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(855) 225-7227	423	40	10.5	69.7%	108 (25.5%)	43 (10.2%)	218 (51.5%)	14 (3.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	34 (8.0%)	$14,693			$863			$13,830	78	28.5	1529	1082		060235413904
448	Morro Bay High	Public	9-12	235 Atascadero Rd.	Morro Bay	93442	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 771-1845	751	42	17.8	51.1%	427 (56.9%)	2 (0.3%)	238 (31.7%)	36 (4.8%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (5.3%)	$20,818			$1,985			$18,833	77.9	78.3	431	17		063480005875
449	Bella Vista High	Public	9-12	8301 Madison Ave.	Fair Oaks	95628	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-5052	1,939	80	24.2	35.6%	1,140 (58.8%)	49 (2.5%)	449 (23.2%)	112 (5.8%)	5 (0.3%)	9 (0.5%)	162 (8.4%)	$15,822			$1,610			$14,212	77.8	74	504	55		063462005756
450	Sierra High	Public	9-12	1700 Thomas St.	Manteca	95337	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7410	1,670	74	22.6	55.9%	315 (18.9%)	74 (4.4%)	735 (44.0%)	461 (27.6%)	2 (0.1%)	24 (1.4%)	59 (3.5%)	$16,349			$2,082			$14,267	77.8	68.9	580	130		062361004002

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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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:

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

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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