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
951	Sutter Union High	Public	9-12	2665 Acacia St.	Sutter	95982	Sutter County	Sutter Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 822-5161	734	35	21.1	25.3%	450 (61.3%)	2 (0.3%)	196 (26.7%)	29 (4.0%)	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (6.9%)	$14,486			$455			$14,031	53.9	51.8	962	11		063861006473
952	Simi Valley High	Public	9-12	5400 Cochran St.	Simi Valley	93063	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 577-1400	1,910	79	24.1	36.5%	801 (41.9%)	36 (1.9%)	782 (40.9%)	187 (9.8%)	2 (0.1%)	7 (0.4%)	95 (5.0%)	$15,717			$1,077			$14,640	53.8	53.8	909	43		063684006268
953	Alisal High	Public	9-12	777 Williams Rd.	Salinas	93905	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7600	2,742	120	22.9	95.2%	9 (0.3%)	4 (0.1%)	2,685 (97.9%)	31 (1.1%)	2 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (0.3%)	$16,278			$1,640			$14,638	53.8	53.4	921	32		063398005332
954	UCLA Community K-12	Public, Alternative	K-12	700 South Mariposa Ave.	Los Angeles	90005	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 480-3750	887	47	18.8	97.3%	21 (2.4%)	19 (2.1%)	751 (84.7%)	89 (10.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.6%)	$23,119			$5,356			$17,763	53.8	56.6	846	108		062271012524
955	Mendota High	Public	9-12	1200 Belmont Ave.	Mendota	93640	Fresno County	Mendota Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 655-1993	1,065	48	21.9	97.5%	5 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1,057 (99.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$14,380			$1,946			$12,434	53.7	43.1	1166	211		060002200395
956	Creative Connections Arts Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	7201 Arutas Dr.	North Highlands	95660	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-1870	716	33	21.4	78.1%	148 (20.7%)	111 (15.5%)	346 (48.3%)	24 (3.4%)	9 (1.3%)	7 (1.0%)	70 (9.8%)	$22,545			$3,265			$19,280	53.6	53.3	926	30		060133211074
957	Sunset High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	684 Requeza St.	Encinitas	92024	San Diego County	San Dieguito Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 753-3860	87	7	12.4	33.3%	49 (56.3%)	2 (2.3%)	25 (28.7%)	5 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (6.9%)	$37,968			$4,773			$33,195	53.6	56	854	103		063438005578
958	NOVA Academy - Coachella	Public, Charter	9-12	52-780 Frederick St.	Coachella	92236	Riverside County	NOVA Academy - Coachella District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 569-0948	235	11	22.1	88.5%	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	229 (97.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	$21,292			$3,076			$18,216	53.6	48.1	1054	96		060204012684
959	Eureka Senior High	Public	9-12	1915 J St.	Eureka	95501	Humboldt County	Eureka City Schools	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 441-2508	1,162	60	19.2	51.1%	532 (45.8%)	21 (1.8%)	306 (26.3%)	104 (9.0%)	45 (3.9%)	22 (1.9%)	131 (11.3%)	$17,604			$1,846			$15,758	53.6	59.7	773	186		060005201477
960	Garey High	Public	9-12	321 West Lexington Ave.	Pomona	91766	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4451	1,567	75	20.9	91.4%	22 (1.4%)	36 (2.3%)	1,450 (92.5%)	38 (2.4%)	3 (0.2%)	3 (0.2%)	15 (1.0%)	$20,129			$2,546			$17,583	53.6	41.1	1222	262		063132004842

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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