Best Elementary Schools in California

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Find the best California elementary 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 5856)	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
1851	Arthur C. Butler Elementary	Public	K-6	9180 Brown Rd.	Elk Grove	95624	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 681-7595	949	39	24.3	65.4%	110 (11.6%)	83 (8.7%)	237 (25.0%)	427 (45.0%)	5 (0.5%)	12 (1.3%)	75 (7.9%)	$14,937			$1,302			$13,635	64.8	61.4	2010	159		061233007608
1852	Joe Michell	Public	K-8	1001 Elaine Ave.	Livermore	94550	Alameda County	Livermore Valley Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 606-4738	786	36	22	17.7%	324 (41.2%)	11 (1.4%)	236 (30.0%)	139 (17.7%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	72 (9.2%)	$15,992			$248			$15,744	64.8	70.5	1574	278		062211002628
1853	John Ehrhardt Elementary	Public	K-6	8900 Old Creek Dr.	Elk Grove	95758	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 686-7259	827	35	23.6	70.5%	133 (16.1%)	114 (13.8%)	224 (27.1%)	232 (28.1%)	5 (0.6%)	18 (2.2%)	101 (12.2%)	$15,975			$1,540			$14,435	64.7	63.8	1888	35		061233010293
1854	Fairgrove Elementary	Public	K-6	2101 The Pike	Grover Beach	93433	San Luis Obispo County	Lucia Mar Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 474-3740	365	20	18.6	67.9%	128 (35.1%)	0 (0.0%)	212 (58.1%)	6 (1.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.9%)	$15,697			$1,515			$14,182	64.7	64.8	1833	21		062308003525
1855	Ventura Charter School of Arts and Global Education	Public, Charter	K-8	2060 Cameron St.	Ventura	93001	Ventura County	Ventura Charter School of Arts and Global Education District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 648-5503	455	20	22.5	37.4%	236 (51.9%)	1 (0.2%)	158 (34.7%)	9 (2.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (10.5%)	$13,660			$710			$12,950	64.7	60.6	2043	188		060219311829
1856	Gold Trail	Public	4-8	889 Cold Springs Rd.	Placerville	95667	El Dorado County	Gold Trail Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 626-2595	274	13	20.7	34.7%	220 (80.3%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (16.8%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.8%)	$16,009			$1,094			$14,915	64.7	54.2	2330	474		061545001963
1857	River Oaks Elementary	Public	K-6	905 Vintage Oak Ave.	Galt	95632	Sacramento County	Galt Joint Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 745-4614	505	24	21	56.8%	145 (28.7%)	7 (1.4%)	282 (55.8%)	48 (9.5%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.2%)	$17,087			$1,885			$15,202	64.6	55.2	2281	424		061479001051
1858	Hillcrest Elementary	Public	K-6	795 Pepper St.	Monterey Park	91755	Los Angeles County	Garvey Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 307-3371	439	21	20.9	70.4%	6 (1.4%)	1 (0.2%)	118 (26.9%)	289 (65.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (5.7%)	$20,213			$2,587			$17,626	64.6	75.1	1367	491		061494001896
1859	William G. Paden Elementary	Public	K-5	444 Central Ave.	Alameda	94501	Alameda County	Alameda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 748-4014	372	16	23.2	46.0%	102 (27.4%)	25 (6.7%)	78 (21.0%)	94 (25.3%)	2 (0.5%)	3 (0.8%)	67 (18.0%)	$19,128			$1,583			$17,545	64.5	72.3	1485	374		060177000003
1860	Bay View Elementary	Public	K-5	1231 Bay St.	Santa Cruz	95060	Santa Cruz County	Santa Cruz City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 429-3991	394	21	18.7	45.2%	162 (41.1%)	1 (0.3%)	198 (50.3%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.4%)	$20,624			$4,224			$16,400	64.5	43.4	2972	1112		063559006058

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic 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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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