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
971	Escondido High	Public	9-12	1535 North Broadway	Escondido	92026	San Diego County	Escondido Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 291-4000	1,656	90	18.3	82.7%	192 (11.6%)	27 (1.6%)	1,334 (80.6%)	79 (4.8%)	10 (0.6%)	3 (0.2%)	11 (0.7%)	$19,610			$1,813			$17,797	52.9	53.2	928	43		061291001465
972	La Habra High	Public	9-12	801 West Highlander Ave.	La Habra	90631	Orange County	Fullerton Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 266-5200	1,881	80	23.5	65.1%	236 (12.5%)	24 (1.3%)	1,552 (82.5%)	33 (1.8%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.3%)	20 (1.1%)	$16,901			$1,078			$15,823	52.8	62.8	700	272		061476001811
973	KIPP Esperanza High	Public, Charter	9-12	1039 Garden St.	East Palo Alto	94303	San Mateo County	KIPP Esperanza High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 528-1546	194	19	10.2	95.9%	1 (0.5%)	5 (2.6%)	185 (95.4%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$42,398			$2,676			$39,722	52.8	41.1	1220	247		060253314482
974	Magnolia Science Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	18238 Sherman Way	Reseda	91335	Los Angeles County	Magnolia Science Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 609-0507	746	39	19.1	86.2%	29 (3.9%)	7 (0.9%)	661 (88.6%)	43 (5.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.7%)	$21,916			$1,902			$20,014	52.7	57.5	823	151		060170610524
975	Central High	Public	9-12	2045 North Dickenson Ave.	Fresno	93723	Fresno County	Central Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 276-5276	625	39	15.9	74.9%	111 (17.8%)	28 (4.5%)	391 (62.6%)	90 (14.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)								52.7	61.1	739	236		060797014556
976	Madison High	Public	9-12	4833 Doliva Dr.	San Diego	92117	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 536-0336	780	38	20.3	80.8%	97 (12.4%)	71 (9.1%)	494 (63.3%)	38 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.4%)	67 (8.6%)	$22,057			$4,605			$17,452	52.7	39.4	1255	279		063432005509
977	Soc Just Leadership Academy at Esteban E. Torres High #5	Public	9-12	4211 Dozier St.	Los Angeles	90063	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 265-6865	121	12	9.7	95.9%	2 (1.7%)	1 (0.8%)	118 (97.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$30,938			$5,062			$25,876	52.7	57.4	825	152		062271012720
978	Enterprise Alternative	Public, Alternative	K-12	1550 Herndon Ave.	Clovis	93611	Fresno County	Clovis Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 327-1900	50	5	9.8	54.0%	16 (32.0%)	1 (2.0%)	22 (44.0%)	6 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (8.0%)	$10,077			$354			$9,723	52.6	73.6	514	464		060903009760
979	CHAMPS - Charter High School of Arts-Multimedia & Performing	Public, Charter	9-12	6842 Van Nuys Blvd.	Van Nuys	91405	Los Angeles County	CHAMPS - Charter High School of Arts-MULmedia & Perf Distri	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 994-7614	424	28	15.3	59.9%	113 (26.7%)	37 (8.7%)	220 (51.9%)	16 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (5.0%)	$20,656			$2,003			$18,653	52.6	49	1024	45		060158010865
980	Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1254 East Helmick St.	Carson	90746	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(424) 444-0488	878	43	20.1	87.5%	46 (5.2%)	120 (13.7%)	647 (73.7%)	16 (1.8%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	44 (5.0%)	$18,598			$3,144			$15,454	52.5	44.2	1144	164		062271014635

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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:

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

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.