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
1011	Hayward High	Public	9-12	1633 East Ave.	Hayward	94541	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3170	1,580	83	19.1	75.1%	60 (3.8%)	191 (12.1%)	1,074 (68.0%)	133 (8.4%)	8 (0.5%)	38 (2.4%)	75 (4.7%)	$22,746			$2,909			$19,837	51.3	44.6	1133	122		061674002116
1012	Buena High	Public	9-12	5670 Telegraph Rd.	Ventura	93003	Ventura County	Ventura Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 289-1826	1,585	72	22	60.2%	477 (30.1%)	22 (1.4%)	965 (60.9%)	47 (3.0%)	8 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	55 (3.5%)	$17,398			$1,904			$15,494	51.3	55.2	874	138		064098006748
1013	Justin Garza High	Public	9-12	4100 North Grantland Ave.	Fresno	93723	Fresno County	Central Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 274-4700	2,095	92	22.8	72.9%	267 (12.7%)	160 (7.6%)	1,229 (58.7%)	393 (18.8%)	10 (0.5%)	2 (0.1%)	31 (1.5%)								51.3	64.7	660	353		060797014570
1014	South Tahoe High	Public	9-12	1735 Lake Tahoe Blvd.	South Lake Tahoe	96150	El Dorado County	Lake Tahoe Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 541-4111	1,076	55	19.6	46.7%	457 (42.5%)	4 (0.4%)	519 (48.2%)	47 (4.4%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	36 (3.3%)	$10,734			$584			$10,150	51.3	56	855	159		062064002481
1015	Mission Oak High	Public	9-12	3442 East Bardsley Ave.	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Tulare Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 688-2021	1,678	80	20.8	66.3%	261 (15.6%)	36 (2.1%)	1,326 (79.0%)	25 (1.5%)	4 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	19 (1.1%)	$19,175			$2,413			$16,762	51.3	48.4	1044	29		063993012084
1016	Abraham Lincoln High	Public	9-12	555 Dana Ave.	San Jose	95126	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6300	1,590	81	19.6	56.2%	181 (11.4%)	58 (3.6%)	1,200 (75.5%)	85 (5.3%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	60 (3.8%)								51.2	56	856	160		063459005696
1017	Patterson High	Public	9-12	200 North Seventh St.	Patterson	95363	Stanislaus County	Patterson Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 892-4750	1,830	88	20.7	73.6%	161 (8.8%)	107 (5.8%)	1,387 (75.8%)	93 (5.1%)	10 (0.5%)	33 (1.8%)	39 (2.1%)	$16,020			$2,529			$13,491	51.2	45.3	1117	100		063003004703
1018	Central Union High	Public	9-12	1001 Brighton Ave.	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	Central Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 336-4300	2,006	96	20.9	72.6%	41 (2.0%)	19 (0.9%)	1,931 (96.3%)	10 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.2%)								51	61.1	740	278		060801000771
1019	Communication and Technical at Diego Rivera Learning Complex	Public	9-12	6100 South Central Ave.	Los Angeles	90001	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 846-2118	505	26	19.1	97.0%	6 (1.2%)	29 (5.7%)	468 (92.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$19,060			$4,194			$14,866	51	35.5	1353	334		062271012973
1020	Roseland Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1691 Burbank Ave.	Santa Rosa	95407	Sonoma County	Roseland Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 545-0102	1,254	67	18.7	89.3%	19 (1.5%)	9 (0.7%)	1,182 (94.3%)	16 (1.3%)	9 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (1.4%)	$20,671			$5,456			$15,215	51	41.4	1208	188		060233411178

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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:

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

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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