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
641	El Modena High	Public	9-12	3920 Spring St.	Orange	92869	Orange County	Orange Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 997-6240	1,795	84	21.4	69.0%	301 (16.8%)	15 (0.8%)	1,319 (73.5%)	119 (6.6%)	2 (0.1%)	5 (0.3%)	32 (1.8%)	$15,941			$1,182			$14,759	67.9	74.3	490	151		062865004425
642	El Diamante High	Public	9-12	5100 West Whitendale Ave.	Visalia	93277	Tulare County	Visalia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 735-3500	1,890	89	21.2	62.6%	321 (17.0%)	21 (1.1%)	1,363 (72.1%)	84 (4.4%)	4 (0.2%)	5 (0.3%)	90 (4.8%)	$19,143			$2,516			$16,627	67.7	68.7	588	54		064116010703
643	21st Century Learning Institute	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	939 East 10th St.	Beaumont	92223	Riverside County	Beaumont Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 769-8424	314	15	20.9	72.0%	68 (21.7%)	18 (5.7%)	193 (61.5%)	9 (2.9%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (6.7%)	$13,858			$1,220			$12,638	67.7	52.1	951	308		060429013779
644	Griffin Academy High	Public, Charter	9-12	233 Hobbs Ave.	Vallejo	94589	Solano County	Griffin Academy High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 552-6482	186	10	18.8	71.5%	12 (6.5%)	35 (18.8%)	95 (51.1%)	23 (12.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.1%)	19 (10.2%)	$20,868			$825			$20,043	67.7	57	832	188		060253014479
645	Harbor Springs Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	27740 Jefferson Ave.	Temecula	92590	Riverside County	Harbor Springs Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 252-8800	299	17	17.6	60.5%	104 (34.8%)	23 (7.7%)	126 (42.1%)	22 (7.4%)	2 (0.7%)	1 (0.3%)	21 (7.0%)								67.6	77.1	453	192		060151613715
646	Central City Value	Public, Charter	9-12	221 North Westmoreland Ave.	Los Angeles	90004	Los Angeles County	Central City Value District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 471-4686	477	23	20.3	84.7%	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	453 (95.0%)	15 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	$20,333			$2,376			$17,957	67.6	79.2	423	223		060213111337
647	Petaluma High	Public	9-12	201 Fair St.	Petaluma	94952	Sonoma County	Petaluma Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 778-4651	1,193	57	20.9	40.9%	712 (59.7%)	15 (1.3%)	371 (31.1%)	22 (1.8%)	4 (0.3%)	4 (0.3%)	55 (4.6%)	$16,495			$788			$15,707	67.5	67.3	608	39		063025004723
648	Animo Pat Brown	Public, Charter	9-12	8205 Beach St.	Los Angeles	90001	Los Angeles County	Animo Pat Brown District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 585-3312	617	30	20.2	96.8%	4 (0.6%)	3 (0.5%)	609 (98.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$27,990			$3,973			$24,017	67.5	59.2	790	142		060225710849
649	Middletown High	Public	9-12	20932 Big Canyon Rd.	Middletown	95461	Lake County	Middletown Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 987-4140	421	23	18.3	55.1%	247 (58.7%)	0 (0.0%)	133 (31.6%)	3 (0.7%)	4 (1.0%)	2 (0.5%)	30 (7.1%)	$15,940			$787			$15,153	67.4	59.1	794	145		062475003708
650	Downey High	Public	9-12	11040 Brookshire Ave.	Downey	90241	Los Angeles County	Downey Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 869-7301	4,051	170	23.8	79.2%	183 (4.5%)	113 (2.8%)	3,589 (88.6%)	123 (3.0%)	2 (0.0%)	14 (0.3%)	26 (0.6%)	$18,307			$2,603			$15,704	67.3	64.3	670	20		061146001264

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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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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