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
5082	Machado Elementary	Public	K-5	15150 Joy St.	Lake Elsinore	92530	Riverside County	Lake Elsinore Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 253-7500	531	24	22.3	91.3%	40 (7.5%)	15 (2.8%)	448 (84.4%)	6 (1.1%)	6 (1.1%)	2 (0.4%)	14 (2.6%)	$18,628			$2,307			$16,321	17.2	13.4	5443	361		060002709491
5083	Sylvan Elementary	Public	K-5	2908 Coffee Rd.	Modesto	95355	Stanislaus County	Sylvan Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-5600	326	18	18.1	80.4%	67 (20.6%)	15 (4.6%)	175 (53.7%)	37 (11.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (9.8%)	$20,881			$1,049			$19,832	17.2	15.4	5263	180		063867006502
5084	Ida Jew Academies	Public, Charter	K-8	1966 Flint Ave.	San Jose	95148	Santa Clara County	Mount Pleasant Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 223-3750	435	22	19.9	69.2%	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.6%)	393 (90.3%)	20 (4.6%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.8%)	$23,520			$2,868			$20,652	17.2	20.3	4825	259		062640001486
5085	Fay Elementary	Public	K-5	4080 52nd St.	San Diego	92105	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 624-2600	514	19	27	96.1%	13 (2.5%)	125 (24.3%)	312 (60.7%)	38 (7.4%)	3 (0.6%)	5 (1.0%)	18 (3.5%)	$20,041			$3,992			$16,049	17.1	15	5303	218		063432005484
5086	Burbank Elementary	Public	K-5	2146 Julian Ave.	San Diego	92113	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 652-4500	317	13	24.3	95.0%	7 (2.2%)	6 (1.9%)	302 (95.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	$25,625			$5,508			$20,117	17.1	13.8	5404	318		063432005426
5087	Charles H. Castle Elementary	Public	K-6	6001 Edgemont Dr.	Bakersfield	93309	Kern County	Panama-Buena Vista Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 834-5311	832	31	27	93.8%	68 (8.2%)	95 (11.4%)	611 (73.4%)	17 (2.0%)	5 (0.6%)	6 (0.7%)	29 (3.5%)	$15,181			$1,986			$13,195	17.1	16.4	5177	90		060639009332
5088	Kit Carson Elementary	Public	K-8	9895 Seventh Ave.	Hanford	93230	Kings County	Kit Carson Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 582-2843	345	21	16.3	67.8%	85 (24.6%)	5 (1.4%)	234 (67.8%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (5.2%)	$16,772			$688			$16,084	17.1	16.8	5137	49		061989002386
5089	Olive View Elementary	Public	K-6	1402 Fig St.	Corning	96021	Tehama County	Corning Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 824-7715	549	23	23.8	89.6%	104 (18.9%)	0 (0.0%)	433 (78.9%)	5 (0.9%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)	$17,747			$2,503			$15,244	17.1	17.9	5036	53		060978001041
5090	Hooper Avenue Elementary	Public	1-5	1225 East 52nd St.	Los Angeles	90011	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 232-3571	608	31	19.6	98.8%	10 (1.6%)	21 (3.5%)	568 (93.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.5%)	$25,955			$5,794			$20,161	17.1	13.2	5465	375		062271003091
5091	Harriet Tubman Village Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	6880 Mohawk St.	San Diego	92115	San Diego County	Harriet Tubman Village Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 668-8635	446	19	23.3	93.7%	6 (1.3%)	226 (50.7%)	177 (39.7%)	7 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.1%)	25 (5.6%)	$17,888			$644			$17,244	17.1	29.5	3964	1127		060181703943

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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