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
5112	Christopher Elementary	Public	K-8	565 Coyote Rd.	San Jose	95111	Santa Clara County	Oak Grove Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 227-8550	446	21	21.4	63.9%	21 (4.7%)	4 (0.9%)	341 (76.5%)	65 (14.6%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	11 (2.5%)	$22,255			$1,283			$20,972	16.9	11	5624	512		062781004208
5113	Dr. Juliet Thorner Elementary	Public	K-6	5501 Thorner St.	Bakersfield	93306	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5490	813	36	22.5	78.1%	91 (11.2%)	50 (6.2%)	627 (77.1%)	18 (2.2%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	24 (3.0%)	$19,166			$2,543			$16,623	16.9	22.5	4635	478		060363009714
5114	Selma Olinder Elementary	Public	K-5	890 East William	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6245	269	16	16.3	80.3%	7 (2.6%)	2 (0.7%)	239 (88.8%)	18 (6.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.1%)	$24,655			$2,376			$22,279	16.9	14.3	5369	255		063459005730
5115	Lincoln Elementary	Public	K-5	44021 15th St. East	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	Lancaster Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 726-9913	738	27	27.3	93.1%	25 (3.4%)	265 (35.9%)	420 (56.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	26 (3.5%)	$22,575			$2,990			$19,585	16.8	17.4	5083	32		062088009560
5116	Cooley Ranch Elementary	Public	K-6	1000 South Cooley Dr.	Colton	92324	San Bernardino County	Colton Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 580-5023	530	23	22.8	80.6%	19 (3.6%)	96 (18.1%)	391 (73.8%)	15 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	7 (1.3%)	$23,263			$4,348			$18,915	16.8	22.6	4624	492		060939010300
5117	McManus (John A.) Elementary	Public	K-5	988 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3128	397	22	18	77.6%	147 (37.0%)	12 (3.0%)	157 (39.5%)	21 (5.3%)	8 (2.0%)	3 (0.8%)	48 (12.1%)	$18,661			$1,954			$16,707	16.8	33.7	3630	1487		060837000822
5118	Hort Elementary	Public	K-5	2301 Park Dr.	Bakersfield	93306	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5330	590	30	19.8	89.3%	52 (8.8%)	17 (2.9%)	511 (86.6%)	4 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	$19,901			$2,636			$17,265	16.8	16.1	5203	85		060363000305
5119	Mark Twain Elementary	Public	K-8	646 Stanislaus Ave.	Angels Camp	95222	Calaveras County	Mark Twain Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 736-6533	507	24	21.1	68.2%	359 (70.8%)	4 (0.8%)	100 (19.7%)	3 (0.6%)	15 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.1%)	$13,068			$797			$12,271	16.8	9.3	5712	593		062397003609
5120	Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary	Public	K-5	1963 East 103rd St.	Los Angeles	90002	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 569-8141	399	21	19	99.5%	5 (1.3%)	93 (23.3%)	274 (68.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.8%)	$34,887			$6,577			$28,310	16.8	10.7	5650	530		062271003244
5121	Empire Elementary	Public	K-6	5201 First St	Empire	95351	Stanislaus County	Empire Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 521-2970	384	16	24	89.6%	42 (10.9%)	0 (0.0%)	325 (84.6%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	14 (3.6%)	$17,414			$2,825			$14,589	16.8	10.7	5646	525		061269001430

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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

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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