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
2051	Royal Sunset (Continuation)	Public	7-12	20450 Royal Ave.	Hayward	94541	Alameda County	San Lorenzo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 317-4400	107	8	12.6	62.6%	7 (6.5%)	11 (10.3%)	70 (65.4%)	10 (9.3%)	1 (0.9%)	4 (3.7%)	4 (3.7%)	$27,193			$1,290			$25,903	9.3	9.6	2097	46		063471005858
2052	Mount Toro High	Public	9-12	10 Sherwood Pl.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7700	204	14	14.7	96.1%	3 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	199 (97.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	$41,789			$8,313			$33,476	9.3	12.8	1902	150		063398005334
2053	Chesnut High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	16673 Palmer	Huron	93234	Fresno County	Coalinga-Huron Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 945-2066	35	3	10.1	88.6%	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.9%)	33 (94.3%)	1 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,177			$2,672			$18,505	9.3	8.7	2135	82		060912010205
2054	Golden Gate Community	Public, Charter	6-12	1111 Stoneman Ave.	Pittsburg	94565	Contra Costa County	Contra Costa County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 427-3199	69	7	9.7	81.2%	2 (2.9%)	24 (34.8%)	37 (53.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	$75,503			$19,770			$55,733	9.3	9.6	2097	43		069100510472
2055	John Finney High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	1347 Amador St.	Vallejo	94590	Solano County	Vallejo City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 556-8670	141	8	17	86.5%	8 (5.7%)	23 (16.3%)	99 (70.2%)	3 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.4%)	4 (2.8%)	$30,396			$2,596			$27,800	9.2	10.8	2017	38		064074006734
2056	Aurora High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	1391 Kloke Rd.	Calexico	92231	Imperial County	Calexico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 768-3940	96	10	9.9	80.2%	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	94 (97.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$30,998			$4,029			$26,969	9.2	10	2072	16		060690000633
2057	Encina High	Public	9-12	1400 Bell St.	Sacramento	95825	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7538	766	44	17.3	87.7%	145 (18.9%)	108 (14.1%)	204 (26.6%)	257 (33.6%)	7 (0.9%)	12 (1.6%)	33 (4.3%)	$22,481			$3,961			$18,520	9.2	13.5	1872	185		063462005778
2058	Jane Frederick High	Public	9-12	1141 East Weber Ave.	Stockton	95205	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7340	178	12	14.7	88.8%	5 (2.8%)	28 (15.7%)	128 (71.9%)	6 (3.4%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (5.1%)	$24,421			$3,414			$21,007	9.2	9.3	2106	48		063801009446
2059	Renaissance High	Public	9-12	333 North Palm Ave.	Santa Paula	93060	Ventura County	Santa Paula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 525-4407	113	5	22.2	96.5%	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	111 (98.2%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$24,616			$4,107			$20,509	9.2	9.1	2121	62		060142106113
2060	ACCESS Juvenile Hall	Public, Alternative	K-12	200 Kalmus Dr.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Orange County Department of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 935-7651	186	27	6.8	98.4%	12 (6.5%)	18 (9.7%)	142 (76.3%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.9%)	$74,783			$8,823			$65,960	9.1	9.1	2118	58		069102409236

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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