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
1171	Trinity High	Public	9-12	321 Victory Ln.	Weaverville	96093	Trinity County	Trinity Alps Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 623-6127	289	16	17.7	60.9%	222 (76.8%)	2 (0.7%)	25 (8.7%)	6 (2.1%)	9 (3.1%)	1 (0.3%)	21 (7.3%)	$21,181			$1,764			$19,417	43.8	28.1	1537	366		060133106605
1172	Napa Valley Independent Studies	Public, Alternative	K-12	1600 Myrtle Ave.	Napa	94558	Napa County	Napa Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 259-8577	116	6	18.4	62.9%	31 (26.7%)	2 (1.7%)	74 (63.8%)	8 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,703			$2,582			$14,121	43.8	39.2	1260	88		062664011271
1173	Altus Schools North County	Public, Charter	6-12	200 East Via Rancho Pkwy.	Escondido	92025	San Diego County	Altus Schools North County District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 678-2050	149	5	30.1	76.5%	23 (15.4%)	3 (2.0%)	111 (74.5%)	2 (1.3%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (4.0%)	$15,599			$2,516			$13,083	43.8	32.8	1428	255		060224814228
1174	Colton High	Public	9-12	777 West Valley Blvd.	Colton	92324	San Bernardino County	Colton Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 580-5005	1,729	89	19.3	90.7%	27 (1.6%)	42 (2.4%)	1,642 (95.0%)	10 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.3%)	$26,777			$4,840			$21,937	43.8	48.1	1057	117		060939000946
1175	Nogales High	Public	9-12	401 South Nogales St.	La Puente	91744	Los Angeles County	Rowland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 965-3437	1,535	78	19.6	82.8%	13 (0.8%)	17 (1.1%)	1,376 (89.6%)	101 (6.6%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.5%)	18 (1.2%)	$16,444			$1,222			$15,222	43.7	41.6	1203	28		063375005207
1176	Rancho Cotate High	Public	9-12	5450 Snyder Ln.	Rohnert Park	94928	Sonoma County	Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 792-4750	1,755	76	23	47.1%	563 (32.1%)	41 (2.3%)	915 (52.1%)	55 (3.1%)	11 (0.6%)	20 (1.1%)	144 (8.2%)	$16,759			$771			$15,988	43.7	39.3	1257	81		060994001081
1177	ICEF View Park Preparatory High	Public, Charter	9-12	5701 South Crenshaw Blvd.	Los Angeles	90043	Los Angeles County	ICEF View Park Preparatory High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 290-6975	313	17	18.2	96.5%	0 (0.0%)	281 (89.8%)	25 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (1.0%)	$23,359			$3,515			$19,844	43.6	23.3	1621	444		060173111358
1178	Andrew P. Hill High	Public	9-12	3200 Senter Rd.	San Jose	95111	Santa Clara County	East Side Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 347-4100	1,564	73	21.3	67.6%	37 (2.4%)	31 (2.0%)	1,011 (64.6%)	459 (29.3%)	8 (0.5%)	5 (0.3%)	11 (0.7%)	$18,676			$1,257			$17,419	43.6	46	1102	76		061182001301
1179	Modesto High	Public	9-12	18 H St.	Modesto	95351	Stanislaus County	Modesto City High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-1776	2,292	104	22	83.7%	146 (6.4%)	46 (2.0%)	1,767 (77.1%)	168 (7.3%)	5 (0.2%)	10 (0.4%)	150 (6.5%)	$18,957			$2,731			$16,226	43.5	35.1	1367	188		062515003744
1180	Santa Paula High	Public	9-12	404 North Sixth St.	Santa Paula	93060	Ventura County	Santa Paula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 525-4400	1,494	70	21.4	83.5%	41 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1,437 (96.2%)	6 (0.4%)	3 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.4%)	$22,500			$3,994			$18,506	43.4	41.7	1198	18		060142106114

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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.