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
751	Independence High	Public	9-12	8001 Old River Rd.	Bakersfield	93311	Kern County	Kern High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 834-8001	2,324	89	26	74.7%	315 (13.6%)	187 (8.0%)	1,499 (64.5%)	184 (7.9%)	11 (0.5%)	11 (0.5%)	116 (5.0%)	$17,995			$1,765			$16,230	62.4	58.1	813	62		061954012132
752	Costa Mesa High	Public	7-12	2650 Fairview Rd.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 424-8700	1,730	89	19.4	73.2%	261 (15.1%)	20 (1.2%)	1,215 (70.2%)	109 (6.3%)	3 (0.2%)	23 (1.3%)	98 (5.7%)	$25,199			$2,037			$23,162	62.4	56.6	847	95		062724004110
753	Rocklin Alternative Education Center	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	3250 Victory Dr.	Rocklin	95765	Placer County	Rocklin Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(916) 632-3195	42	3	14.2	40.5%	31 (73.8%)	1 (2.4%)	5 (11.9%)	1 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (7.1%)	$17,959			$291			$17,668	62.4	76.6	467	286		060001314465
754	Sotomayor Arts and Sciences Magnet	Public	6-12	2050 San Fernando Rd.	Los Angeles	90065	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 276-5402	517	32	16.1	95.4%	14 (2.7%)	7 (1.4%)	475 (91.9%)	17 (3.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	$27,964			$6,368			$21,596	62.4	56.5	851	97		062271012916
755	Camino Nuevo High #2	Public, Charter	9-12	3500 West Temple St.	Los Angeles	90004	Los Angeles County	Camino Nuevo High #2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 736-5566	512	28	18.4	98.8%	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	502 (98.0%)	6 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,256			$1,835			$19,421	62.3	67.1	615	140		060200013537
756	Delano High	Public	9-12	1331 Cecil Ave.	Delano	93215	Kern County	Delano Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 720-4137	1,221	58	20.8	92.8%	18 (1.5%)	2 (0.2%)	1,100 (90.1%)	97 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.3%)	$19,800			$2,495			$17,305	62.2	63.8	678	78		061086001206
757	Sequoia High	Public	9-12	1201 Brewster Ave.	Redwood City	94062	San Mateo County	Sequoia Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 367-9780	1,854	106	17.5	39.3%	543 (29.3%)	15 (0.8%)	1,133 (61.1%)	83 (4.5%)	11 (0.6%)	15 (0.8%)	54 (2.9%)	$18,556			$836			$17,720	62.2	61.3	733	24		063639006198
758	Visalia Technical Early College	Public, Charter	9-12	2245 South Linwood	Visalia	93277	Tulare County	Visalia Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 622-3212	216	14	15.1	56.5%	76 (35.2%)	1 (0.5%)	121 (56.0%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (7.4%)	$26,190			$3,212			$22,978	62.2	63.9	676	82		064116012503
759	Norwalk High	Public	9-12	11356 East Leffingwell Rd.	Norwalk	90650	Los Angeles County	Norwalk-La Mirada Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 210-3830	2,075	87	23.8	77.9%	50 (2.4%)	40 (1.9%)	1,835 (88.4%)	99 (4.8%)	8 (0.4%)	6 (0.3%)	37 (1.8%)	$18,431			$2,193			$16,238	62.2	64.2	671	88		062769004180
760	Odyssey STEM Academy	Public	9-12	3701 Michelson St.	Lakewood	90712	Los Angeles County	Paramount Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 602-6025	336	19	17.6	95.2%	10 (3.0%)	32 (9.5%)	287 (85.4%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.2%)	$23,540			$1,589			$21,951	62.1	84.3	340	420		062985014236

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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

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.