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
1091	Waterford High	Public	9-12	121 South Reinway	Waterford	95386	Stanislaus County	Waterford Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 874-9060	582	30	19.1	85.9%	143 (24.6%)	8 (1.4%)	402 (69.1%)	14 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.1%)	$18,012			$1,380			$16,632	47.2	60.1	761	330		060006308657
1092	Pioneer Valley High	Public	9-12	675 Panther Dr.	Santa Maria	93454	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 922-1305	3,080	140	22	71.9%	70 (2.3%)	13 (0.4%)	2,893 (93.9%)	87 (2.8%)	4 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	8 (0.3%)	$16,176			$1,641			$14,535	47.2	52.1	952	140		063567011438
1093	Bear Creek High	Public	9-12	10555 Thornton Rd.	Stockton	95209	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 953-8234	1,925	102	18.8	65.8%	189 (9.8%)	300 (15.6%)	802 (41.7%)	491 (25.5%)	10 (0.5%)	16 (0.8%)	113 (5.9%)	$17,449			$2,077			$15,372	47.2	50.2	992	101		062223010314
1094	Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High	Public	9-12	451 McClatchy Way	Sacramento	95818	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5010	156	12	13.4	62.8%	15 (9.6%)	28 (17.9%)	87 (55.8%)	11 (7.1%)	2 (1.3%)	7 (4.5%)	6 (3.8%)	$30,364			$3,833			$26,531	47.2	44.8	1130	36		063384011078
1095	Valley Center Prep	Public, Alternative	K-12	28751-U Cole Grade Rd.	Valley Center	92082	San Diego County	Valley Center-Pauma Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 751-0455	56	3	22.4	57.1%	6 (10.7%)	1 (1.8%)	34 (60.7%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (21.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (5.4%)	$16,625			$4,195			$12,430	47.1	41.7	1197	102		060006910646
1096	Maxwell Senior High	Public	9-12	515 Oak St.	Maxwell	95955	Colusa County	Maxwell Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 438-2291	117	11	11	71.8%	43 (36.8%)	0 (0.0%)	72 (61.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,250			$1,340			$19,910	47.1	60.9	748	348		062415003642
1097	Options for Youth-Victor Valley Charter	Public, Charter	7-12	14120 Bear Valley Rd.	Victorville	92392	San Bernardino County	Options for Youth-Victor Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 241-8300	886	30	29.4	85.6%	106 (12.0%)	122 (13.8%)	596 (67.3%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	43 (4.9%)	$20,777			$247			$20,530	47.1	33.9	1400	303		060235902619
1098	Canoga Park Senior High	Public	9-12	6850 Topanga Canyon Blvd.	Canoga Park	91303	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 673-1300	1,389	79	17.5	92.4%	88 (6.3%)	36 (2.6%)	1,202 (86.5%)	48 (3.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (1.0%)	$21,265			$4,281			$16,984	47	40.7	1229	131		062271002890
1099	Weber Institute	Public	9-12	302 West Weber Ave.	Stockton	95203	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7330	358	23	15.5	78.5%	9 (2.5%)	5 (1.4%)	314 (87.7%)	23 (6.4%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	3 (0.8%)	$19,851			$3,109			$16,742	46.9	74.1	501	598		063801008619
1100	Bonsall High	Public	9-12	7350 West Lilac Rd.	Bonsall	92003	San Diego County	Bonsall Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 305-5700	342	21	16	66.7%	79 (23.1%)	6 (1.8%)	183 (53.5%)	8 (2.3%)	33 (9.6%)	3 (0.9%)	30 (8.8%)	$21,333			$715			$20,618	46.9	51.2	978	122		060142613751

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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