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
1572	Innovative Horizons Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1461 North A St.	Perris	92570	Riverside County	Perris Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 657-0728	894	40	22.4	85.6%	20 (2.2%)	35 (3.9%)	814 (91.1%)	9 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (1.8%)	$18,247			$2,061			$16,186	37.1	35.6	1605	33		063018008940
1573	La Joya Middle	Public	7-8	4711 West La Vida	Visalia	93277	Tulare County	Visalia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 730-7921	727	31	23.2	71.1%	126 (17.3%)	10 (1.4%)	548 (75.4%)	21 (2.9%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (2.5%)	$19,617			$2,968			$16,649	37.1	39	1506	67		064116004211
1574	Wasuma Elementary	Public	K-8	43109 Hwy. 49	Ahwahnee	93601	Madera County	Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 642-1585	270	13	20.6	61.1%	184 (68.1%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (23.7%)	3 (1.1%)	4 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.6%)	$18,543			$2,923			$15,620	37.1	34.9	1631	57		060408010250
1575	Centinela	Public	K-8	1123 Marlborough Ave.	Inglewood	90302	Los Angeles County	Inglewood Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 680-5440	577	20	28.6	94.1%	5 (0.9%)	83 (14.4%)	477 (82.7%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.6%)								37.1	49.8	1179	396		061839002248
1576	Olive Middle	Public	6-8	13701 Olive St.	Baldwin Park	91706	Los Angeles County	Baldwin Park Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 962-8416	477	28	17.2	87.6%	11 (2.3%)	1 (0.2%)	429 (89.9%)	33 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$28,437			$5,909			$22,528	37.1	42.2	1389	187		060369000336
1577	Vista Independent Study / Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	2625 Barnard Rd.	San Pablo	94806	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(510) 231-1431	420	35	12	52.6%	45 (10.7%)	72 (17.1%)	197 (46.9%)	61 (14.5%)	2 (0.5%)	6 (1.4%)	36 (8.6%)	$4,501			$1,377			$3,124	37.1	29	1858	281		063255010198
1578	National City Middle	Public	7-8	1701 D Ave.	National City	91950	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 336-2600	709	28	25.5	79.4%	15 (2.1%)	4 (0.6%)	628 (88.6%)	48 (6.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	12 (1.7%)								37	31.7	1744	166		063864006489
1579	Monte Vista Middle	Public	6-8	751 West Lowell Ave.	Tracy	95376	San Joaquin County	Tracy Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 830-3340	738	36	20.5	82.1%	76 (10.3%)	37 (5.0%)	459 (62.2%)	130 (17.6%)	4 (0.5%)	12 (1.6%)	19 (2.6%)	$17,631			$1,855			$15,776	37	34.5	1649	70		060004707384
1580	Wilson Middle	Public	6-8	710 West Maple St.	Exeter	93221	Tulare County	Exeter Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 592-2144	523	28	18.8	79.9%	131 (25.0%)	1 (0.2%)	385 (73.6%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$18,606			$2,716			$15,890	37	33	1704	124		060142310336
1581	Los Coches Creek Middle	Public	6-8	9669 Dunbar Ln.	El Cajon	92021	San Diego County	Cajon Valley Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 441-5741	518	27	19.5	71.8%	267 (51.5%)	5 (1.0%)	186 (35.9%)	15 (2.9%)	6 (1.2%)	4 (0.8%)	35 (6.8%)	$20,871			$2,476			$18,395	37	53.4	1060	521		060681011751

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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