Best Middle Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

Find the best California middle 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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 2760)	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
2622	Aspire Alexander Twilight Secondary Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	2360 El Camino Ave.	Sacramento	95821	Sacramento County	Aspire Alexander Twilight Secondary Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 979-1788	464	22	21	81.7%	28 (6.0%)	82 (17.7%)	267 (57.5%)	14 (3.0%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	68 (14.7%)	$18,260			$2,362			$15,898	9.8	11.4	2614	8		060170312785
2623	Hilliard Comstock Middle	Public	7-8	2750 West Steele Ln.	Santa Rosa	95403	Sonoma County	Santa Rosa High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 890-3885	423	23	18	86.3%	33 (7.8%)	7 (1.7%)	340 (80.4%)	27 (6.4%)	2 (0.5%)	5 (1.2%)	8 (1.9%)	$20,965			$1,043			$19,922	9.7	12.1	2585	38		063583006123
2624	Washington Middle	Public	6-8	1101 Noble Ave.	Bakersfield	93305	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5810	639	30	21.6	91.1%	46 (7.2%)	45 (7.0%)	537 (84.0%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.9%)	$18,263			$2,817			$15,446	9.7	9.5	2682	58		060363000320
2625	Indio Middle	Public	6-8	81-195 Miles Ave.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 775-3800	768	34	22.3	92.7%	30 (3.9%)	14 (1.8%)	697 (90.8%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (3.0%)	$18,518			$3,214			$15,304	9.7	12.3	2570	55		061111010275
2626	Sunnyside Elementary	Public	K-8	21644 Avenue 196	Strathmore	93267	Tulare County	Sunnyside Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 568-1741	311	16	18.8	85.9%	12 (3.9%)	1 (0.3%)	296 (95.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$25,631			$5,574			$20,057	9.7	11.6	2609	17		063843006455
2627	Allensworth Elementary	Public	K-8	3320 Young Rd.	Earlimart	93219	Tulare County	Allensworth Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 849-2401	118	7	16.8	97.5%	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.7%)	116 (98.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$19,040			$3,264			$15,776	9.5	5.3	2773	146		060198000086
2628	Astronaut Jose' M. Hernandez Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	703 East Swain Rd.	Stockton	95207	San Joaquin County	Astronaut Jose' M. Hernandez Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 830-9219	214	11	20.2	63.6%	3 (1.4%)	18 (8.4%)	171 (79.9%)	16 (7.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	3 (1.4%)	$18,915			$1,224			$17,691	9.5	19.9	2265	363		060258113884
2629	Reef-Sunset Middle	Public	6-8	608 North First Ave.	Avenal	93204	Kings County	Reef-Sunset Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 386-4128	554	27	20.7	95.5%	11 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	540 (97.5%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$18,657			$2,322			$16,335	9.5	11	2629			063227010227
2630	Carmichael (Bessie)/FEC	Public	K-8	375 Seventh St.	San Francisco	94103	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 355-6916	555	22	24.7	76.6%	50 (9.0%)	106 (19.1%)	144 (25.9%)	157 (28.3%)	5 (0.9%)	6 (1.1%)	87 (15.7%)	$22,197			$1,940			$20,257	9.5	11.7	2599	31		063441005590
2631	America's Finest Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	730 45th St.	San Diego	92102	San Diego County	America's Finest Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 694-4809	396	27	14.9	95.5%	9 (2.3%)	57 (14.4%)	303 (76.5%)	12 (3.0%)	4 (1.0%)	7 (1.8%)	4 (1.0%)	$21,837			$3,923			$17,914	9.4	20.9	2224	407		060146814198

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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 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

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.