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
531	Burroughs High	Public	9-12	500 East French St.	Ridgecrest	93555	Kern County	Sierra Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 499-1800	1,536	75	20.4	52.9%	732 (47.7%)	120 (7.8%)	508 (33.1%)	62 (4.0%)	20 (1.3%)	11 (0.7%)	77 (5.0%)	$15,876			$1,030			$14,846	73.2	60.8	749	218		063680006232
532	California Online Public Schools Southern California	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	33272 Valle Rd.	San Juan Capistrano	92675	Orange County	California Online Public Schools Southern California Distri	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(800) 906-5166	3,933	173	22.6	54.2%	1,213 (30.8%)	416 (10.6%)	1,460 (37.1%)	244 (6.2%)	27 (0.7%)	11 (0.3%)	533 (13.6%)	$14,031			$945			$13,086	73.2	48.9	1027	495		060185110983
533	New Designs Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	2303 South Figueroa Way	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	New Designs Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 765-9084	784	19	41.8	80.4%	15 (1.9%)	66 (8.4%)	624 (79.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	78 (9.9%)	$21,050			$1,908			$19,142	73.2	75.5	477	56		060154810840
534	Exeter Union High	Public	9-12	505 Rocky Hill Dr.	Exeter	93221	Tulare County	Exeter Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 592-2127	909	38	24	65.6%	286 (31.5%)	3 (0.3%)	596 (65.6%)	12 (1.3%)	6 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.4%)	$19,509			$2,978			$16,531	73.1	72.6	528	6		060142301504
535	California Virtual Academy at Sutter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	California Virtual Academy at Sutter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	1,623	60	27.2	71.3%	524 (32.3%)	275 (16.9%)	462 (28.5%)	183 (11.3%)	21 (1.3%)	28 (1.7%)	130 (8.0%)	$10,481			$399			$10,082	73	56.7	843	308		060181013698
536	Wilmer Amina Carter High	Public	9-12	2630 North Linden Ave.	Rialto	92377	San Bernardino County	Rialto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 854-4100	1,951	88	22.1	78.3%	71 (3.6%)	236 (12.1%)	1,571 (80.5%)	33 (1.7%)	7 (0.4%)	3 (0.2%)	26 (1.3%)	$20,793			$3,451			$17,342	73	63	693	157		063237011103
537	Taft Charter High	Public, Charter	9-12	5461 Winnetka Ave.	Woodland Hills	91364	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 227-3600	2,221	102	21.8	56.6%	881 (39.7%)	132 (5.9%)	867 (39.0%)	227 (10.2%)	3 (0.1%)	8 (0.4%)	103 (4.6%)	$17,541			$2,434			$15,107	73	74.2	495	42		062271003387
538	Sheldon High	Public	9-12	8333 Kingsbridge Dr.	Sacramento	95829	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 681-7500	2,368	106	22.2	61.5%	235 (9.9%)	260 (11.0%)	601 (25.4%)	1,005 (42.4%)	18 (0.8%)	39 (1.6%)	210 (8.9%)	$14,664			$1,122			$13,542	72.9	70.9	554	16		061233007226
539	Tustin Connect	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1151 San Juan St.	Tustin	92780	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(714) 430-2052	268	11	23.7	47.4%	92 (34.3%)	5 (1.9%)	106 (39.6%)	44 (16.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (7.5%)	$15,639			$1,287			$14,352	72.9	81.4	389	150		064015007201
540	Ripon High	Public	9-12	301 North Acacia Ave.	Ripon	95366	San Joaquin County	Ripon Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 599-4287	1,051	52	20.1	26.2%	487 (46.3%)	10 (1.0%)	412 (39.2%)	83 (7.9%)	5 (0.5%)	4 (0.4%)	50 (4.8%)	$17,892			$4,951			$12,941	72.9	87.3	277	263		063288005112

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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.