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
1381	Gunderson High	Public	9-12	620 Gaundabert Ln.	San Jose	95136	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6340	744	45	16.5	54.6%	79 (10.6%)	34 (4.6%)	505 (67.9%)	77 (10.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	45 (6.0%)	$23,769			$1,611			$22,158	34.9	48.7	1032	349		063459005716
1382	Luis Valdez Leadership Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	1855 Lucretia Ave.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Luis Valdez Leadership Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 479-0253	225	13	16.9	83.6%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	225 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$20,645			$2,985			$17,660	34.9	27.1	1552	170		060203813815
1383	Highlands High	Public	9-12	6601 Guthrie Way	North Highlands	95660	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-3465	778	41	18.9	88.8%	130 (16.7%)	87 (11.2%)	404 (51.9%)	66 (8.5%)	3 (0.4%)	10 (1.3%)	73 (9.4%)	$24,945			$4,029			$20,916	34.8	30.6	1475	92		060133201988
1384	Academy of Innovation	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	26866 San Jacinto St.	Hemet	92544	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 765-5193	545	32	17	85.7%	85 (15.6%)	29 (5.3%)	383 (70.3%)	9 (1.7%)	4 (0.7%)	4 (0.7%)	31 (5.7%)	$21,781			$2,127			$19,654	34.8	43	1171	213		061692009555
1385	Keyes to Learning Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5709 Ninth St.	Keyes	95328	Stanislaus County	Keyes Union	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 634-6467	348	13	27.8	28.2%	148 (42.5%)	1 (0.3%)	160 (46.0%)	16 (4.6%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	21 (6.0%)	$14,987			$726			$14,261	34.7	63	695	690		061962006745
1386	Needles High	Public	9-12	1600 Washington St.	Needles	92363	San Bernardino County	Needles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 326-2191	269	14	18.7	77.3%	104 (38.7%)	8 (3.0%)	92 (34.2%)	4 (1.5%)	44 (16.4%)	1 (0.4%)	16 (5.9%)	$16,287			$302			$15,985	34.7	41.2	1217	169		062676004057
1387	Coast High	Public	9-12	17231 Gothard St.	Huntington Beach	92647	Orange County	Huntington Beach Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 842-4227	159	9	17.7	31.4%	81 (50.9%)	1 (0.6%)	51 (32.1%)	17 (10.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.3%)	7 (4.4%)	$18,617			$780			$17,837	34.6	49.8	1000	387		061806008856
1388	Cesar E. Chavez Learning Acads-Technical Prep Academy	Public	9-12	1001 Arroyo Ave.	San Fernando	91340	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 838-3946	321	21	14.9	96.0%	5 (1.6%)	3 (0.9%)	311 (96.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$28,878			$7,645			$21,233	34.6	30.1	1484	96		062271012964
1389	Whitney Young Continuation	Public	9-12	3051 West 52nd St.	Los Angeles	90043	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 296-3258	25	2	12.1	100.0%	0 (0.0%)	12 (48.0%)	11 (44.0%)	1 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$62,322			$16,393			$45,929	34.5	17.9	1737	348		062271003477
1390	Brookfield Engineering Science Technology Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1704 Cape Horn	Julian	92036	San Diego County	Brookfield Engineering Science Technology Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(833) 619-2378	693	24	28.7	62.8%	386 (55.7%)	13 (1.9%)	270 (39.0%)	17 (2.5%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	$14,494			$1,269			$13,225	34.5	41.8	1196	194		060250114440

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.