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
1391	E. Los Angeles Renaiss Academy at Esteban E. Torres High #2	Public	9-12	4211 Dozier St.	Los Angeles	90063	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 265-6760	355	20	17.5	89.9%	4 (1.1%)	5 (1.4%)	344 (96.9%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,395			$3,367			$18,028	34.5	36.1	1337	54		062271012657
1392	West Valley High	Public	9-12	3401 Mustang Way	Hemet	92545	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 765-1600	1,857	89	20.7	90.1%	202 (10.9%)	187 (10.1%)	1,334 (71.8%)	35 (1.9%)	7 (0.4%)	9 (0.5%)	80 (4.3%)	$20,653			$2,505			$18,148	34.5	40.2	1233	159		061692009852
1393	Richard D. Browning High	Public	9-12	2120 Obispo Ave.	Long Beach	90804	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 997-1700	340	18	18.5	75.9%	24 (7.1%)	70 (20.6%)	193 (56.8%)	29 (8.5%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (6.5%)	$25,009			$3,550			$21,459	34.4	23.7	1607	214		062250014120
1394	Riverbank High	Public	9-12	6200 Claus Rd.	Riverbank	95367	Stanislaus County	Riverbank Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 869-1891	744	39	18.9	73.1%	87 (11.7%)	5 (0.7%)	617 (82.9%)	6 (0.8%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	23 (3.1%)	$19,195			$2,061			$17,134	34.3	31.3	1461	67		060006104232
1395	Hoopa Valley High	Public	9-12	11400 State Highway 96	Hoopa	95546	Humboldt County	Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 625-5600	265	18	14.9	77.7%	26 (9.8%)	1 (0.4%)	16 (6.0%)	0 (0.0%)	219 (82.6%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	$17,898			$13,618			$4,280	34.2	54.6	889	506		061995002390
1396	ACE Charter High	Public, Charter	9-12	1776 Educational Park Dr.	San Jose	95133	Santa Clara County	ACE Charter High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 251-1362	313	16	19	89.8%	4 (1.3%)	2 (0.6%)	303 (96.8%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	$18,035			$993			$17,042	34.2	23.5	1611	215		060156113023
1397	Pajaro Valley High	Public	9-12	500 Harkins Slough Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-8102	1,293	60	21.6	84.3%	23 (1.8%)	2 (0.2%)	1,253 (96.9%)	11 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.3%)								34.1	38.3	1287	110		062949011462
1398	e3 Civic High	Public, Charter	9-12	395 11th Ave. 6th Fl.	San Diego	92101	San Diego County	e3 Civic High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 546-0000	360	20	17.6	76.1%	7 (1.9%)	6 (1.7%)	331 (91.9%)	6 (1.7%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.5%)	$21,108			$842			$20,266	34.1	56.9	838	560		060235013288
1399	Gold Rush Home Study Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	16331 Hidden Valley Rd.	Sonora	95370	Tuolumne County	Gold Rush Home Study Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 532-9781	430	21	20.3	43.0%	315 (73.3%)	4 (0.9%)	71 (16.5%)	2 (0.5%)	8 (1.9%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (6.7%)	$11,806			$127			$11,679	34.1	25.4	1578	179		060178011827
1400	Imperial Ave. Holbrook High	Public	9-12	322 North Imperial Ave.	Imperial	92251	Imperial County	Imperial Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 355-3207	28	3	11.1	60.7%	3 (10.7%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (89.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,006			$1,789			$6,217	34.1	14.2	1844	444		061821002242

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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:

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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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