Best Elementary Schools in California

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Find the best California elementary 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 5856)	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
4522	Jefferson Elementary	Public	K-5	14300 Bancroft Ave.	San Leandro	94578	Alameda County	San Leandro Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 618-4310	551	27	20.4	84.9%	21 (3.8%)	50 (9.1%)	370 (67.2%)	81 (14.7%)	2 (0.4%)	3 (0.5%)	24 (4.4%)	$20,885			$2,529			$18,356	23.8	23.2	4566	44		063468005834
4523	Dos Caminos Dual Immersion	Public	K-8	39066 Palm Tree Way	Palmdale	93551	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 947-1849	945	38	24.5	74.5%	27 (2.9%)	38 (4.0%)	861 (91.1%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.2%)	$17,236			$2,520			$14,716	23.8	31.3	3823	700		062958012870
4524	Wingland Elementary	Public	K-5	701 Douglas St.	Bakersfield	93308	Kern County	Standard Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 392-2125	783	38	20.5	93.5%	335 (42.8%)	30 (3.8%)	377 (48.1%)	4 (0.5%)	8 (1.0%)	3 (0.4%)	26 (3.3%)	$17,959			$1,086			$16,873	23.8	13.7	5421	897		063789006392
4525	Leontine Gracey Elementary	Public	K-6	945 West Ave.	Merced	95341	Merced County	Merced City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 385-6710	509	22	23.1	81.7%	25 (4.9%)	14 (2.8%)	419 (82.3%)	31 (6.1%)	6 (1.2%)	1 (0.2%)	13 (2.6%)	$18,940			$2,368			$16,572	23.7	26.4	4260	265		062460008900
4526	Ontario Center	Public	K-5	835 North Center Ave.	Ontario	91764	San Bernardino County	Cucamonga Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 948-3044	585	29	19.9	75.4%	62 (10.6%)	139 (23.8%)	304 (52.0%)	36 (6.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.0%)	38 (6.5%)	$22,246			$1,286			$20,960	23.7	19.7	4894	368		061630009841
4527	Kings River Elementary	Public	K-8	3961 Avenue 400	Kingsburg	93631	Tulare County	Kings River Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 897-7209	389	20	19.4	87.7%	15 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	370 (95.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$22,865			$4,969			$17,896	23.7	20.4	4823	296		061974002378
4528	Carriage Drive Elementary	Public	K-6	7519 Carriage Dr.	Citrus Heights	95621	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-5241	444	18	24.6	70.3%	205 (46.2%)	16 (3.6%)	161 (36.3%)	24 (5.4%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (7.9%)	$18,870			$4,719			$14,151	23.7	24.4	4422	106		063462005763
4529	Alder Grove Charter School 2	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	714 F St.	Eureka	95501	Humboldt County	Alder Grove Charter School 2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 268-0854	481	25	19.5	65.3%	311 (64.7%)	2 (0.4%)	84 (17.5%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (14.1%)	$16,453			$1,656			$14,797	23.7	34.4	3567	962		060207211593
4530	Pasadena Rosebud Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	3700 Denair St	Pasadena	91107	Los Angeles County	Pasadena Rosebud Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 318-1261	169	10	16.9	56.2%	0 (0.0%)	84 (49.7%)	56 (33.1%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (16.6%)								23.7	57.8	2160	2370		060200711918
4531	Buttonwillow Elementary	Public	K-8	42600 Hwy 58	Buttonwillow	93206	Kern County	Buttonwillow Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 764-5166	288	23	12.4	90.6%	13 (4.5%)	4 (1.4%)	270 (93.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$26,677			$6,429			$20,248	23.7	11.9	5561	1030		060672000594

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic 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.