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
1331	Pacific Coast Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	294 Green Valley Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 786-2180	132	6	21.6	78.0%	13 (9.8%)	0 (0.0%)	109 (82.6%)	5 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.8%)								36.9	41.9	1194	137		062949008364
1332	Carlsbad Village Academy	Public	10-12	3557 Lancer Way	Carlsbad	92008	San Diego County	Carlsbad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 331-5200	38	6	6.5	76.3%	11 (28.9%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (57.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.6%)	3 (7.9%)	$30,990			$1,146			$29,844	36.9	23.2	1623	291		060750000712
1333	Hawthorne High	Public	9-12	4859 West El Segundo Blvd.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Centinela Valley Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 263-4400	1,675	78	21.5	80.0%	24 (1.4%)	158 (9.4%)	1,424 (85.0%)	33 (2.0%)	3 (0.2%)	3 (0.2%)	30 (1.8%)	$24,032			$5,096			$18,936	36.9	43.2	1164	169		060792000756
1334	Glendale High	Public	9-12	1440 East Broadway	Glendale	91205	Los Angeles County	Glendale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 242-3161	2,066	91	22.6	55.0%	1,171 (56.7%)	20 (1.0%)	638 (30.9%)	205 (9.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.0%)	31 (1.5%)	$16,849			$966			$15,883	36.9	36.5	1328	6		061524001931
1335	Natural High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	2508 Howard Ave.	Lakeport	95453	Lake County	Lakeport Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 262-3013	25	1	24.5	84.0%	10 (40.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (28.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (16.0%)	$9,007			$22			$8,985	36.8			(n/a)		062067002486
1336	Kings Canyon Online	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	39500 Dunlap Rd.	Dunlap	93621	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(559) 305-7320	142	9	16.7	93.0%	48 (33.8%)	0 (0.0%)	87 (61.3%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.5%)	$19,071			$2,484			$16,587	36.8	47.4	1070	266		061970012321
1337	William C. Overfelt High	Public	9-12	1835 Cunningham Ave.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	East Side Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 347-5900	1,363	68	20	62.7%	7 (0.5%)	16 (1.2%)	1,153 (84.6%)	167 (12.3%)	2 (0.1%)	18 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	$19,168			$1,422			$17,746	36.7	26.3	1567	230		061182001306
1338	Sunnyside High	Public	9-12	1019 South Peach Ave.	Fresno	93727	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 253-6700	2,858	134	21.2	87.2%	62 (2.2%)	166 (5.8%)	1,964 (68.7%)	597 (20.9%)	10 (0.3%)	12 (0.4%)	46 (1.6%)	$18,440			$2,158			$16,282	36.7	34.9	1372	34		061455007963
1339	Independence	Public, Alternative	K-12	13451 North Extension Rd.	Lodi	95242	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 331-8275	166	12	14.1	72.3%	30 (18.1%)	10 (6.0%)	87 (52.4%)	30 (18.1%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	6 (3.6%)	$15,319			$2,065			$13,254	36.6	51.5	971	368		062223008320
1340	Concord High	Public	9-12	4200 Concord Blvd.	Concord	94521	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 687-2030	1,137	58	19.5	69.6%	219 (19.3%)	30 (2.6%)	656 (57.7%)	114 (10.0%)	5 (0.4%)	5 (0.4%)	103 (9.1%)	$3,761			$906			$2,855	36.6	42.6	1183	157		062637003942

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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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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