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
891	Alder Grove Charter School 2	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	714 F St.	Eureka	95501	Humboldt County	Alder Grove Charter School 2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 268-0854	481	25	19.5	65.3%	311 (64.7%)	2 (0.4%)	84 (17.5%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (14.1%)	$16,453			$1,656			$14,797	57	72.5	531	360		060207211593
892	James A. Garfield Senior High	Public	9-12	5101 East Sixth St.	Los Angeles	90022	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 981-5500	2,237	127	17.5	92.8%	29 (1.3%)	11 (0.5%)	2,182 (97.5%)	4 (0.2%)	1 (0.0%)	3 (0.1%)	7 (0.3%)	$21,084			$4,171			$16,913	56.9	61.3	734	158		062271003037
893	Del Mar High	Public	9-12	1224 Del Mar Ave.	San Jose	95128	Santa Clara County	Campbell Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 626-3403	1,350	66	20.5	69.6%	169 (12.5%)	51 (3.8%)	959 (71.0%)	121 (9.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (3.3%)	$20,466			$1,877			$18,589	56.9	54.2	901	8		060723000665
894	Valor Academy High	Public, Charter	9-12	9356 Lemona Ave.	North Hills	91343	Los Angeles County	Valor Academy High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 934-8910	492	27	18.2	94.5%	2 (0.4%)	4 (0.8%)	462 (93.9%)	17 (3.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$23,545			$1,537			$22,008	56.7	64.7	659	235		060178913564
895	Lifeline Education Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	225 South Santa Fe Ave.	Compton	90221	Los Angeles County	Lifeline Education Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 885-1872	698	30	22.9	95.0%	8 (1.1%)	105 (15.0%)	584 (83.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	$24,546			$1,072			$23,474	56.7	61.5	727	168		060168312119
896	Family Partnership Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1157 E. Clark Ave. Ste. H	Santa Maria	93455	Santa Barbara County	Family Partnership Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 348-3333	372	23	16.1	41.1%	200 (53.8%)	2 (0.5%)	125 (33.6%)	8 (2.2%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (8.1%)	$13,366			$316			$13,050	56.7	63.6	682	214		060237811789
897	KIPP San Francisco College Preparatory	Public, Charter	9-12	1195 Hudson Ave.	San Francisco	94124	San Francisco County	KIPP San Francisco College Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 643-6951	196	21	9.3	89.3%	3 (1.5%)	54 (27.6%)	119 (60.7%)	4 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.6%)	5 (2.6%)	$44,660			$4,306			$40,354	56.6	37.1	1312	415		060195713410
898	Edward C. Merlo Institute of Environmental Studies	Public	9-12	1670 East Sixth St.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7190	200	14	14	79.0%	2 (1.0%)	9 (4.5%)	183 (91.5%)	5 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,204			$3,625			$17,579	56.5	46.7	1083	185		063801012098
899	Ednovate - Legacy College Prep.	Public, Charter	9-12	1450 17th St.	Santa Ana	92705	Orange County	Ednovate - Legacy College Prep. District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 988-2775	427	19	22.4	74.7%	6 (1.4%)	6 (1.4%)	411 (96.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	$19,571			$1,033			$18,538	56.5	55.2	873	26		060204314046
900	Alexander Hamilton Senior High	Public	9-12	2955 Robertson Blvd.	Los Angeles	90034	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 280-1400	2,055	118	17.3	76.1%	257 (12.5%)	509 (24.8%)	1,128 (54.9%)	64 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.2%)	92 (4.5%)	$20,945			$3,244			$17,701	56.4	59.2	787	113		062271003064

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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

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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