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
5602	Chavez (Cesar) Elementary	Public	K-5	825 Shotwell St.	San Francisco	94110	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 695-5765	397	16	24.5	74.1%	5 (1.3%)	10 (2.5%)	368 (92.7%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	12 (3.0%)	$24,567			$2,595			$21,972	10.5	11	5630	28		063441005623
5603	James Madison Elementary	Public	K-5	80-845 Avenue 46	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 775-3850	403	17	23.7	93.5%	8 (2.0%)	2 (0.5%)	359 (89.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (8.2%)	$22,309			$3,505			$18,804	10.5	15.5	5261	342		061111009785
5604	Eastin Arcola Elementary	Public	K-8	29551 Avenue 8	Madera	93637	Madera County	Madera Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 674-8841	225	13	16.7	95.6%	9 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	204 (90.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.3%)	$24,915			$3,410			$21,505	10.5	28	4112	1492		062334013804
5605	Global Family Elementary	Public	K-5	2035 40th Ave.	Oakland	94601	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-2114	446	20	22.3	98.0%	3 (0.7%)	3 (0.7%)	425 (95.3%)	4 (0.9%)	6 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.1%)	$26,335			$3,515			$22,820	10.5	12.8	5496	109		062805012053
5606	Lincoln (Abraham) Elementary	Public	K-6	1413 East Broadway	Anaheim	92805	Orange County	Anaheim Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 517-8929	740	32	23.1	86.8%	33 (4.5%)	8 (1.1%)	652 (88.1%)	17 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	28 (3.8%)	$21,568			$1,769			$19,799	10.4	12.7	5506	100		060261000157
5607	Rio Plaza Elementary	Public	K-5	600 Simon Way	Oxnard	93036	Ventura County	Rio Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 485-3121	455	17	26.7	88.4%	10 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	441 (96.9%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	$28,180			$2,043			$26,137	10.4	16.2	5198	409		063276005091
5608	Barack Obama Charter	Public, Charter	K-5	13305 South San Pedro St.	Los Angeles	90061	Los Angeles County	Barack Obama Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 566-4590	360	18	20.5	96.9%	1 (0.3%)	179 (49.7%)	171 (47.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.5%)	$23,639			$3,242			$20,397	10.4	8.5	5750	142		060201812404
5609	Harder Elementary	Public	K-6	585 Willow Ave.	Hayward	94541	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3840	671	30	22.6	80.3%	8 (1.2%)	49 (7.3%)	482 (71.8%)	79 (11.8%)	2 (0.3%)	30 (4.5%)	21 (3.1%)	$20,551			$2,871			$17,680	10.4	10.9	5633	24		061674002115
5610	Cleveland Elementary	Public	K-5	455 Athens St.	San Francisco	94112	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 469-4709	300	14	22.2	69.7%	1 (0.3%)	10 (3.3%)	250 (83.3%)	21 (7.0%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (1.0%)	14 (4.7%)	$25,118			$2,011			$23,107	10.4	7.9	5778	168		063441005597
5611	Franklin Elementary	Public	K-5	210 West Cubbon	Santa Ana	92701	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 564-2900	343	15	22.6	94.2%	6 (1.7%)	1 (0.3%)	330 (96.2%)	5 (1.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$25,336			$773			$24,563	10.4	18.4	4989	622		063531005985

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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.