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
1111	Desert Junior-Senior High	Public	7-12	1575 Payne Ave.	Edwards	93523	Kern County	Muroc Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 306-4964	497	30	16.4	13.3%	180 (36.2%)	27 (5.4%)	179 (36.0%)	26 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	82 (16.5%)	$10,251			$758			$9,493	46.2	55.3	871	240		062649003995
1112	Matilda Torres High	Public	9-12	16645 Road 26	Madera	93638	Madera County	Madera Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 416-5909	2,017	98	20.4	89.9%	95 (4.7%)	14 (0.7%)	1,856 (92.0%)	21 (1.0%)	6 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (1.0%)	$19,810			$3,723			$16,087	46.2	48.1	1056	56		062334014457
1113	Thomas Downey High	Public	9-12	1000 Coffee Rd.	Modesto	95355	Stanislaus County	Modesto City High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-1685	2,192	92	23.8	76.0%	396 (18.1%)	36 (1.6%)	1,514 (69.1%)	46 (2.1%)	7 (0.3%)	8 (0.4%)	185 (8.4%)	$19,656			$2,735			$16,921	46.1	38.8	1272	159		062515003753
1114	Altus Schools Mirus Charter	Public, Charter	7-12	14135 Main St. Ste. 201	Hesperia	92345	San Bernardino County	Altus Schools Mirus Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 947-7100	292	10	29.2	73.6%	61 (20.9%)	10 (3.4%)	202 (69.2%)	3 (1.0%)	5 (1.7%)	1 (0.3%)	10 (3.4%)	$17,137			$1,924			$15,213	46.1	42.3	1186	72		060184711899
1115	Altus Schools Charter School of San Diego	Public, Charter	6-12	10170 Huennekens St.	San Diego	92121	San Diego County	Altus Schools Charter School of San Diego District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 678-2020	1,375	40	34.6	72.9%	303 (22.0%)	107 (7.8%)	810 (58.9%)	39 (2.8%)	9 (0.7%)	3 (0.2%)	95 (6.9%)	$18,083			$1,102			$16,981	46.1	52.2	947	168		060187603939
1116	John W. North High	Public	9-12	1550 West Third St.	Riverside	92507	Riverside County	Riverside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 788-7311	2,011	88	22.7	87.9%	147 (7.3%)	177 (8.8%)	1,519 (75.5%)	82 (4.1%)	9 (0.4%)	14 (0.7%)	58 (2.9%)	$17,924			$1,102			$16,822	46	40.1	1235	119		063315005154
1117	El Sereno Alternative Education	Public	9-12	10700 Fair Oaks Blvd.	Fair Oaks	95628	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-5060	166	11	15.7	43.4%	89 (53.6%)	7 (4.2%)	44 (26.5%)	4 (2.4%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	16 (9.6%)	$27,099			$2,281			$24,818	45.9	53.3	923	194		063462008192
1118	Palmdale Academy Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3838 East Ave. R	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 234-4800	989	46	21.3	72.1%	27 (2.7%)	82 (8.3%)	802 (81.1%)	12 (1.2%)	42 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (2.4%)	$42,792			$3,761			$39,031	45.9	53.7	913	205		062958014567
1119	Scale Leadership Academy - East	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1880 Compton Ave	Corona	92881	Riverside County	Scale Leadership Academy - East District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(888) 315-4660	1,261	36	35.4	56.1%	639 (50.7%)	213 (16.9%)	162 (12.8%)	147 (11.7%)	4 (0.3%)	6 (0.5%)	89 (7.1%)	$15,787			$999			$14,788	45.9	36.9	1316	197		060189714356
1120	Ednovate - South LA College Prep	Public, Charter	9-12	9301 South Hoover St.	Los Angeles	90044	Los Angeles County	Ednovate - South LA College Prep District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 377-9377	394	21	18.3	66.8%	4 (1.0%)	57 (14.5%)	324 (82.2%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)	$19,165			$1,464			$17,701	45.9	57	837	283		060254014489

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.