Best Elementary Schools in California

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Find the best California elementary 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 5856)	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
4642	Saul Martinez Elementary	Public	K-6	65-705 Johnson St.	Mecca	92254	Riverside County	Coachella Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 396-1935	961	41	23.2	95.7%	8 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	948 (98.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.4%)	$29,200			$1,255			$27,945	22.4	21.9	4687	45		060907007604
4643	MacArthur Park Elementary School for the Visual and Perf Arts	Public	K-5	2300 West Seventh St.	Los Angeles	90057	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 381-7217	338	16	21.1	97.9%	7 (2.1%)	10 (3.0%)	311 (92.0%)	9 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$26,576			$6,216			$20,360	22.4	25.3	4337	306		062271010529
4644	McKinnon	Public	K-5	2100 McKinnon	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Santa Rita Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 443-7224	439	21	20.9	85.4%	12 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	407 (92.7%)	14 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (1.1%)	$20,710			$2,323			$18,387	22.4	16	5211	567		063579010562
4645	Leo G. Pauly Elementary	Public	K-6	313 Planz Rd.	Bakersfield	93304	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5430	694	34	20.2	93.9%	36 (5.2%)	57 (8.2%)	578 (83.3%)	9 (1.3%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	11 (1.6%)	$19,587			$2,600			$16,987	22.3	22.5	4632	13		060363000314
4646	La Joya Elementary	Public	K-5	55 Rogge Rd.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Santa Rita Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 443-7216	498	22	22.6	88.8%	28 (5.6%)	4 (0.8%)	459 (92.2%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$20,965			$2,253			$18,712	22.3	21.5	4716	70		063579006115
4647	Grapevine Elementary	Public	K-5	630 Grapevine Rd.	Vista	92083	San Diego County	Vista Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 724-8329	730	31	23.8	81.0%	52 (7.1%)	8 (1.1%)	617 (84.5%)	15 (2.1%)	1 (0.1%)	8 (1.1%)	29 (4.0%)	$16,906			$2,158			$14,748	22.3	31.1	3852	795		064119006818
4648	J. W. Oakley Elementary	Public	K-5	1401 B St.	Brawley	92227	Imperial County	Brawley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 344-4620	654	33	19.8	86.1%	10 (1.5%)	4 (0.6%)	631 (96.5%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (0.8%)	$10,741			$1,259			$9,482	22.3	22.4	4643	5		060579000522
4649	Cesar Chavez Elementary	Public	K-6	250 Apple Ave.	Greenfield	93927	Monterey County	Greenfield Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 674-2412	642	29	22.1	70.2%	5 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	629 (98.0%)	5 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	$20,436			$3,243			$17,193	22.3	16.9	5126	477		061608002256
4650	Terrace Elementary	Public	K-5	6601 Rutland St.	Riverside	92503	Riverside County	Alvord Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 358-1660	740	32	23.4	90.4%	26 (3.5%)	13 (1.8%)	686 (92.7%)	10 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.5%)	$15,621			$1,403			$14,218	22.3	26.8	4222	428		060243000139
4651	Edward Russell Elementary	Public	K-6	600 South Jackson St.	Santa Ana	92704	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6151	473	15	32	92.8%	10 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	452 (95.6%)	10 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$17,360			$1,688			$15,672	22.3	29.3	3994	657		061488001877

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic 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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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