Best High Schools in California

A teacher and two students give a thumbs-up in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
41	Stockton Early College Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	349 East Vine St.	Stockton	95202	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7370	428	14	30.2	64.5%	19 (4.4%)	9 (2.1%)	197 (46.0%)	189 (44.2%)	3 (0.7%)	2 (0.5%)	9 (2.1%)	$14,204			$3,153			$11,051	97.6	95.9	90	49		063801012446
42	Henry M. Gunn High	Public	9-12	780 Arastradero Rd.	Palo Alto	94306	Santa Clara County	Palo Alto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 354-8200	1,643	100	16.4	11.7%	450 (27.4%)	20 (1.2%)	215 (13.1%)	765 (46.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.2%)	188 (11.4%)	$30,704			$1,048			$29,656	97.6	97.8	47	5		062961004587
43	Westview High	Public	9-12	13500 Camino Del Sur	San Diego	92129	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 780-2000	2,116	87	24.4	11.9%	699 (33.0%)	22 (1.0%)	259 (12.2%)	893 (42.2%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.0%)	238 (11.2%)	$15,127			$664			$14,463	97.5	98.9	22	21		063153010632
44	Del Norte High	Public	9-12	16601 Nighthawk Ln.	San Diego	92127	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 487-0877	2,557	107	23.8	9.5%	909 (35.5%)	29 (1.1%)	221 (8.6%)	1,137 (44.5%)	3 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	255 (10.0%)	$13,962			$576			$13,386	97.5	97.7	51	7		063153012216
45	River Valley Charter	Public, Charter	7-12	9707 1/2 Marilla Dr.	Lakeside	92040	San Diego County	River Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 390-2579	231	12	19.5	20.8%	158 (68.4%)	5 (2.2%)	56 (24.2%)	3 (1.3%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.0%)	$14,938			$387			$14,551	97.5	96.6	75	30		060146207308
46	Albany High	Public	9-12	603 Key Route Blvd.	Albany	94706	Alameda County	Albany City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 558-2500	1,122	59	18.8	31.0%	318 (28.3%)	47 (4.2%)	185 (16.5%)	368 (32.8%)	4 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	189 (16.8%)	$19,014			$316			$18,698	97.5	97.4	55	9		060186000059
47	Davis Senior High	Public	10-12	315 West 14th St.	Davis	95616	Yolo County	Davis Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 757-5400	1,755	77	22.8	31.1%	738 (42.1%)	54 (3.1%)	421 (24.0%)	368 (21.0%)	4 (0.2%)	9 (0.5%)	150 (8.5%)	$18,330			$1,043			$17,287	97.3	95	110	63		061062001176
48	Monta Vista High	Public	9-12	21840 McClellan Rd.	Cupertino	95014	Santa Clara County	Fremont Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 366-7600	1,630	68	23.9	6.0%	118 (7.2%)	1 (0.1%)	75 (4.6%)	1,282 (78.7%)	8 (0.5%)	6 (0.4%)	140 (8.6%)	$24,048			$326			$23,722	97.3	98.5	28	20		061443001699
49	Cupertino High	Public	9-12	10100 Finch Ave.	Cupertino	95014	Santa Clara County	Fremont Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 366-7300	1,800	79	22.9	10.2%	168 (9.3%)	7 (0.4%)	196 (10.9%)	1,285 (71.4%)	2 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	137 (7.6%)	$23,811			$267			$23,544	97.2	98.2	35	14		061443001695
50	Lowell High	Public	9-12	1101 Eucalyptus Dr.	San Francisco	94132	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 759-2730	2,571	123	20.9	42.5%	397 (15.4%)	58 (2.3%)	441 (17.2%)	1,346 (52.4%)	3 (0.1%)	7 (0.3%)	316 (12.3%)	$21,746			$1,660			$20,086	97.2	97	71	21		063441005643

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.