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
801	Paradise Senior High	Public	9-12	5911 Maxwell Dr.	Paradise	95969	Butte County	Paradise Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 872-6425	495	26	18.6	49.9%	372 (75.2%)	3 (0.6%)	73 (14.7%)	3 (0.6%)	5 (1.0%)	2 (0.4%)	34 (6.9%)	$24,440			$4,132			$20,308	60.8	34.1	1392	591		062982004640
802	River Islands High	Public, Charter	9-12	16601 Riptide Way	Lathrop	95330	San Joaquin County	River Islands High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 717-6715	512	28	18.5	37.9%	41 (8.0%)	56 (10.9%)	153 (29.9%)	245 (47.9%)	5 (1.0%)	7 (1.4%)	5 (1.0%)	$10,883			$300			$10,583	60.8			(n/a)		060257414622
803	MIT Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	2 Positive Pl.	Vallejo	94589	Solano County	MIT Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 552-6482	473	19	25.2	63.2%	20 (4.2%)	42 (8.9%)	281 (59.4%)	96 (20.3%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.7%)	25 (5.3%)	$20,772			$994			$19,778	60.8	60.3	757	46		060248310681
804	Woodrow Wilson Senior High	Public	9-12	4500 Multnomah St.	Los Angeles	90032	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 276-1600	1,260	84	14.9	94.0%	33 (2.6%)	15 (1.2%)	1,177 (93.4%)	28 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.6%)	$37,852			$4,897			$32,955	60.8	48.2	1052	248		062271003466
805	Nova Education Center	Public, Alternative	K-12	720 Diablo Blvd.	Novato	94947	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-7653	73	5	14.7	32.9%	33 (45.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (26.0%)	7 (9.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (16.4%)	$28,702			$1,888			$26,814	60.8	69.1	577	228		062772004199
806	Durham High	Public	9-12	9455 Putney Dr.	Durham	95938	Butte County	Durham Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 895-4685	320	19	16.4	38.8%	213 (66.6%)	2 (0.6%)	77 (24.1%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (8.4%)	$19,365			$1,099			$18,266	60.7	81.4	388	418		061173001296
807	Frazier Mountain High	Public	9-12	700 Falcon Way	Lebec	93243	Kern County	El Tejon Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 248-0310	244	12	21.1	74.6%	90 (36.9%)	1 (0.4%)	127 (52.0%)	5 (2.0%)	4 (1.6%)	1 (0.4%)	15 (6.1%)	$24,765			$3,147			$21,618	60.7	64.4	665	142		060002604544
808	Guajome Learning Centers	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2000 North Santa Fe Ave.	Vista	92083	San Diego County	Guajome Learning Centers District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 631-8500	61	4	16.2	50.8%	9 (14.8%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (73.8%)	2 (3.3%)	1 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (6.6%)	$13,613			$00			$13,613	60.6	35	1371	563		060224712930
809	Da Vinci Communications	Public, Charter	9-12	201 N. Douglas	El Segundo	90245	Los Angeles County	Da Vinci Communications District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 725-5800	550	30	18.1	49.1%	55 (10.0%)	111 (20.2%)	314 (57.1%)	13 (2.4%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	49 (8.9%)	$19,114			$745			$18,369	60.5	68.4	590	219		060150513832
810	Compass Charter Schools of Los Angeles	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	850 Hampshire Rd. Ste. R	Thousand Oaks	91361	Ventura County	Compass Charter Schools of Los Angeles District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(855) 937-4227	1,032	46	22.6	53.2%	266 (25.8%)	68 (6.6%)	583 (56.5%)	40 (3.9%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	70 (6.8%)	$14,138			$1,169			$12,969	60.4	72.7	526	284		060179014045

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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