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
221	Meraki High	Public	8-12	10700 Fair Oaks Blvd.	Fair Oaks	95628	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-5001	93	3	37.2	39.8%	70 (75.3%)	1 (1.1%)	12 (12.9%)	3 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (6.5%)	$31,372			$3,691			$27,681	88.8	94.1	129	92		063462014105
222	Port of Los Angeles High	Public, Charter	9-12	250 West Fifth St.	San Pedro	90731	Los Angeles County	Port of Los Angeles High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 832-9201	916	53	17.2	63.6%	85 (9.3%)	26 (2.8%)	740 (80.8%)	36 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	27 (2.9%)	$19,288			$790			$18,498	88.7	88.2	259	37		060185010864
223	Escondido Charter High	Public, Charter	9-12	1868 East Valley Pkwy.	Escondido	92027	San Diego County	Escondido Charter High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 737-3154	932	54	17.3	35.2%	347 (37.2%)	15 (1.6%)	415 (44.5%)	91 (9.8%)	12 (1.3%)	3 (0.3%)	49 (5.3%)	$13,397			$00			$13,397	88.7	92.6	170	53		060244306493
224	Pacifica High	Public	9-12	6851 Lampson Ave.	Garden Grove	92845	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6515	1,634	74	22.1	51.2%	427 (26.1%)	16 (1.0%)	590 (36.1%)	495 (30.3%)	3 (0.2%)	5 (0.3%)	93 (5.7%)	$20,918			$2,486			$18,432	88.7	90	228	4		061488001868
225	Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies	Public	6-12	5931 West 18th St.	Los Angeles	90035	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 549-5900	1,357	66	20.5	56.8%	364 (26.8%)	218 (16.1%)	473 (34.9%)	199 (14.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	102 (7.5%)	$18,213			$2,595			$15,618	88.6	82.3	368	143		062271008887
226	Castro Valley High	Public	9-12	19400 Santa Maria Ave.	Castro Valley	94546	Alameda County	Castro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 537-5910	2,874	122	23.5	40.0%	595 (20.7%)	144 (5.0%)	732 (25.5%)	1,035 (36.0%)	2 (0.1%)	7 (0.2%)	351 (12.2%)	$14,418			$239			$14,179	88.6	89.8	234	8		060780000742
227	Feather River Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4305 South Meridian Rd.	Meridian	95957	Sutter County	Feather River Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(626) 932-1802	2,731	92	29.6	34.5%	1,892 (69.3%)	43 (1.6%)	408 (14.9%)	81 (3.0%)	2 (0.1%)	16 (0.6%)	285 (10.4%)	$13,263			$336			$12,927	88.6	75.2	480	253		060240014025
228	University High	Public	9-12	4771 Campus Dr.	Irvine	92612	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-7600	2,307	88	26.1	23.0%	727 (31.5%)	58 (2.5%)	281 (12.2%)	1,019 (44.2%)	2 (0.1%)	6 (0.3%)	211 (9.1%)	$14,260			$404			$13,856	88.5	94	132	96		068450007067
229	Henry High	Public	9-12	6702 Wandermere Dr.	San Diego	92120	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 286-7700	2,485	95	26.2	41.6%	975 (39.2%)	142 (5.7%)	783 (31.5%)	349 (14.0%)	3 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	228 (9.2%)	$16,484			$2,288			$14,196	88.5	90.1	222	7		063432005479
230	Mountain Valley Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	1010 Ramona St.	Ramona	92065	San Diego County	Ramona City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 787-3600	182	8	22.2	45.6%	100 (54.9%)	0 (0.0%)	62 (34.1%)	3 (1.6%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (8.8%)	$8,902			$1,380			$7,522	88.5	91.4	193	37		063171008945

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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:

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

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