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
1551	Coachella Valley High	Public	9-12	83-800 Airport Blvd.	Thermal	92274	Riverside County	Coachella Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 399-5183	2,300	111	20.6	90.3%	10 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	2,275 (98.9%)	2 (0.1%)	4 (0.2%)	1 (0.0%)	3 (0.1%)	$29,949			$1,303			$28,646	27	29.2	1509	42		060907000920
1552	Olive Grove Charter - Orcutt/Santa Maria	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5075 Bradley Rd.	Orcutt	93455	Santa Barbara County	Olive Grove Charter - Orcutt/Santa Maria District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 623-1111	153	7	23.3	62.1%	44 (28.8%)	1 (0.7%)	96 (62.7%)	2 (1.3%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (5.9%)	$16,642			$2,364			$14,278	27	34.6	1383	169		060204214265
1553	College Bridge Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	3635 Atlantic Ave	Long Beach	90807	Los Angeles County	College Bridge Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 285-1111	255	14	18.6	93.3%	1 (0.4%)	54 (21.2%)	195 (76.5%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.6%)	$41,280			$3,544			$37,736	27	21.1	1681	128		060163313704
1554	Mountain Empire High	Public	9-12	3305 Buckman Springs Rd.	Pine Valley	91962	San Diego County	Mountain Empire Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 473-8601	412	22	18.7	42.0%	124 (30.1%)	6 (1.5%)	261 (63.3%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.2%)	$22,857			$1,159			$21,698	26.9	37.7	1304	250		062610003906
1555	West Shores High	Public	7-12	2381 Shore Hawk Ave.	Salton City	92275	Imperial County	Coachella Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 848-1360	503	32	15.5	93.8%	17 (3.4%)	7 (1.4%)	469 (93.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.6%)	$32,614			$1,308			$31,306	26.8	31.1	1466	89		060907007685
1556	Public Safety Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	1482 East Enterprise Dr.	San Bernardino	92408	San Bernardino County	Public Safety Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 382-2211	396	17	23	98.7%	14 (3.5%)	13 (3.3%)	344 (86.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (6.3%)	$17,783			$1,059			$16,724	26.8	24.7	1592	36		060211511108
1557	Pathways Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	150 Professional Center Dr. St	Rohnert Park	94928	Sonoma County	Pathways Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 585-6510	348	17	20.1	45.7%	158 (45.4%)	9 (2.6%)	119 (34.2%)	19 (5.5%)	3 (0.9%)	2 (0.6%)	34 (9.8%)	$14,250			$767			$13,483	26.8	45	1123	434		060208810685
1558	Mt. Signal Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual	9-12	1001 Brighton Avenue Tr. 25	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	Central Union High	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(760) 312-7050	60	2	25.2	83.3%	2 (3.3%)	1 (1.7%)	56 (93.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								26.8	39	1265	293		060801014563
1559	Arleta High	Public	9-12	14200 Van Nuys Blvd.	Arleta	91331	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 686-4100	1,038	59	17.4	88.9%	14 (1.3%)	6 (0.6%)	990 (95.4%)	13 (1.3%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	12 (1.2%)	$22,566			$4,739			$17,827	26.7	23.7	1606	47		062271011652
1560	Lodestar: A Lighthouse Community Charter Public	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	701 105th Ave.	Oakland	94603	Alameda County	Lodestar: A Lighthouse Community Charter Public District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 775-0255	723	49	14.7	96.7%	1 (0.1%)	77 (10.7%)	606 (83.8%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.8%)	27 (3.7%)	$25,278			$1,725			$23,553	26.7	28.3	1536	24		060175514027

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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:

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

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.