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
1251	Santa Maria High	Public	9-12	901 South Broadway	Santa Maria	93458	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 925-2567	3,143	144	21.9	76.1%	39 (1.2%)	6 (0.2%)	3,057 (97.3%)	29 (0.9%)	4 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.1%)	$17,274			$1,811			$15,463	40.3	38.7	1277	26		063567006084
1252	San Jacinto Valley Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	480 North San Jacinto Ave.	San Jacinto	92583	Riverside County	San Jacinto Valley Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 654-6113	1,658	94	17.5	60.4%	323 (19.5%)	77 (4.6%)	1,142 (68.9%)	29 (1.7%)	24 (1.4%)	7 (0.4%)	56 (3.4%)	$15,810			$1,523			$14,287	40.3	48.4	1042	210		060239007219
1253	Downtown College Preparatory	Public, Charter	9-12	1402 Monterey Hwy.	San Jose	95110	Santa Clara County	Downtown College Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 271-8120	520	29	18.2	78.8%	3 (0.6%)	6 (1.2%)	497 (95.6%)	11 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$20,075			$1,986			$18,089	40.2	46.1	1099	154		060159708632
1254	North High	Public	9-12	300 Galaxy Ave.	Bakersfield	93308	Kern County	Kern High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 399-3351	2,135	84	25.3	87.4%	626 (29.3%)	115 (5.4%)	1,122 (52.6%)	18 (0.8%)	18 (0.8%)	7 (0.3%)	228 (10.7%)	$17,637			$2,100			$15,537	40.1	39.4	1252	2		061954002350
1255	Fortuna Union High	Public	9-12	379 12th St.	Fortuna	95540	Humboldt County	Fortuna Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 725-4461	826	40	20.5	66.1%	446 (54.0%)	1 (0.1%)	287 (34.7%)	3 (0.4%)	33 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (6.3%)	$14,757			$1,971			$12,786	40.1	34.4	1386	131		061419001620
1256	Insight School of California	Public, Virtual, Charter	9-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Insight School of California District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	458	12	37.7	78.4%	94 (20.5%)	73 (15.9%)	251 (54.8%)	12 (2.6%)	6 (1.3%)	3 (0.7%)	19 (4.1%)	$10,792			$912			$9,880	40.1	23	1629	373		060174513167
1257	Gustine High	Public	9-12	501 North Ave.	Gustine	95322	Merced County	Gustine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 854-6414	531	27	19.5	79.5%	55 (10.4%)	1 (0.2%)	447 (84.2%)	10 (1.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (3.0%)	$11,823			$950			$10,873	40	35.1	1369	112		061632302033
1258	Taft Union High	Public	9-12	701 Wildcat Way	Taft	93268	Kern County	Taft Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 763-2300	1,064	58	18.3	81.9%	377 (35.4%)	3 (0.3%)	656 (61.7%)	10 (0.9%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	13 (1.2%)	$26,341			$1,855			$24,486	40	41.4	1207	51		063873006511
1259	Yosemite High	Public	9-12	50200 Road 427	Oakhurst	93644	Madera County	Yosemite Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 683-4667	542	27	20	65.9%	315 (58.1%)	3 (0.6%)	162 (29.9%)	11 (2.0%)	17 (3.1%)	1 (0.2%)	32 (5.9%)	$18,478			$1,268			$17,210	40	34.2	1391	132		060016007023
1260	East Nicolaus High	Public	9-12	2454 Nicolaus Ave.	Nicolaus	95659	Sutter County	East Nicolaus Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 656-2255	308	17	17.8	26.0%	174 (56.5%)	3 (1.0%)	97 (31.5%)	4 (1.3%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (1.0%)	26 (8.4%)	$16,761			$800			$15,961	39.9	36.1	1336	76		061178001299

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.