Best Middle Schools in California

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Find the best California middle 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 2760)	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
1722	Los Arboles Middle	Public	7-8	294 Hillcrest Ave.	Marina	93933	Monterey County	Monterey Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 384-3550	408	23	17.8	75.5%	48 (11.8%)	23 (5.6%)	258 (63.2%)	60 (14.7%)	3 (0.7%)	9 (2.2%)	6 (1.5%)	$21,578			$2,624			$18,954	32.8	24.8	2043	321		062553003832
1723	El Sausal Middle	Public	7-8	1155 East Alisal St.	Salinas	93905	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7200	1,067	48	22.1	91.7%	10 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1,052 (98.6%)	4 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$17,859			$1,978			$15,881	32.8	34.1	1661	62		063398005333
1724	McKinleyville Middle	Public	6-8	2285 Central Ave.	McKinleyville	95519	Humboldt County	McKinleyville Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 839-1508	302	17	17.9	53.3%	185 (61.3%)	2 (0.7%)	48 (15.9%)	2 (0.7%)	23 (7.6%)	1 (0.3%)	39 (12.9%)	$15,792			$1,575			$14,217	32.8	35.1	1620	104		062430003651
1725	Sitting Bull Academy	Public	K-8	19445 Sitting Bull Rd.	Apple Valley	92308	San Bernardino County	Apple Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 961-8479	1,695	68	24.7	64.8%	500 (29.5%)	84 (5.0%)	1,003 (59.2%)	35 (2.1%)	7 (0.4%)	9 (0.5%)	57 (3.4%)	$15,889			$1,646			$14,243	32.8	40.4	1447	278		060001711747
1726	Ray Wiltsey Middle	Public	6-8	1450 East G St.	Ontario	91764	San Bernardino County	Ontario-Montclair	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 986-5838	727	42	17.4	95.2%	9 (1.2%)	49 (6.7%)	648 (89.1%)	10 (1.4%)	7 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	$23,605			$3,935			$19,670	32.7	31.3	1758	32		062847004400
1727	Today's Fresh Start-Compton	Public, Charter	K-8	4476 Crenshaw Blvd.	Los Angeles	90043	Los Angeles County	Today's Fresh Start-Compton District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 293-9826	374	22	16.6	93.0%	0 (0.0%)	194 (51.9%)	166 (44.4%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.1%)	2 (0.5%)	7 (1.9%)	$6,967			$2,672			$4,295	32.7	37.2	1556	171		060195211336
1728	Chipman Junior High	Public	7-8	2905 Eissler St.	Bakersfield	93306	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5210	708	33	21.7	66.2%	105 (14.8%)	43 (6.1%)	537 (75.8%)	11 (1.6%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	9 (1.3%)	$18,488			$2,574			$15,914	32.7	41.2	1423	305		060363000292
1729	Tehachapi Independent Learning Academy	Public	K-8	126 South Snyder Ave.	Tehachapi	93561	Kern County	Tehachapi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 822-2266	108	6	18.7	38.0%	58 (53.7%)	2 (1.9%)	38 (35.2%)	2 (1.9%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.5%)	$18,189			$1,176			$17,013	32.7	62.9	820	909		063888014651
1730	Crozier (George W.) Junior High	Public	7-8	1210 West Regent St.	Inglewood	90301	Los Angeles County	Inglewood Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 680-5280	126	8	16.1	84.1%	0 (0.0%)	52 (41.3%)	72 (57.1%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)								32.6	18.4	2323	593		061839002249
1731	Herbert Hoover Middle	Public	6-8	1635 Park Ave.	San Jose	95126	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6274	910	49	18.5	63.0%	86 (9.5%)	28 (3.1%)	711 (78.1%)	44 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	40 (4.4%)	$21,026			$855			$20,171	32.6	32.8	1714	17		063459005720

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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 Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, CAST Science 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

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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