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
1741	Da Vinci RISE High	Public, Virtual, Charter	9-12	201 North Douglas St.	El Segundo	90245	Los Angeles County	Da Vinci RISE High District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(310) 725-5800	167	5	31.8	89.8%	4 (2.4%)	49 (29.3%)	100 (59.9%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (6.6%)	$23,094			$3,603			$19,491	17	15	1820	79		060221514355
1742	Garfield High	Public	9-12	1255 16th St.	San Diego	92101	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 362-4500	226	22	10.3	95.1%	10 (4.4%)	13 (5.8%)	193 (85.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	8 (3.5%)	$39,402			$5,349			$34,053	16.9	11.6	1971	229		063432005468
1743	Gateway Educational Options	Public, Alternative	K-12	17752 Shasta Dam Blvd.	Shasta Lake	96019	Shasta County	Gateway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 275-7000	72	4	18	84.7%	50 (69.4%)	2 (2.8%)	9 (12.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (11.1%)	$14,714			$2,711			$12,003	16.9	32.2	1442	301		061495001636
1744	Pacific High	Public	9-12	501 College Dr.	Ventura	93003	Ventura County	Ventura Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 289-7950	213	15	14.2	88.7%	39 (18.3%)	1 (0.5%)	158 (74.2%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.2%)	$34,661			$6,618			$28,043	16.9	11.8	1961	217		064098001872
1745	Mountain Lakes High	Public	10-12	17752 Shasta Dam Blvd.	Shasta Lake	96019	Shasta County	Gateway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 275-7000	68	4	18	94.1%	48 (70.6%)	2 (2.9%)	9 (13.2%)	3 (4.4%)	4 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.9%)	$27,151			$2,758			$24,393	16.9	10.9	2013	268		061495001631
1746	Sierra High	Public	9-12	570 East Ninth St.	San Bernardino	92410	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 388-6478	384	28	13.8	95.8%	11 (2.9%)	43 (11.2%)	320 (83.3%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.3%)	$28,721			$7,261			$21,460	16.9	13.3	1877	131		063417007345
1747	Moreno Valley Online Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	24521 Cactus Ave.	Moreno Valley	92553	Riverside County	Moreno Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 571-4970	722	19	38.6	89.9%	49 (6.8%)	91 (12.6%)	517 (71.6%)	26 (3.6%)	1 (0.1%)	8 (1.1%)	29 (4.0%)	$15,554			$1,840			$13,714	16.8	20.9	1683	64		062580013683
1748	Ukiah Independent Study Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	1000 Low Gap Rd.	Ukiah	95482	Mendocino County	Ukiah Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 472-5096	118	7	17.6	73.7%	51 (43.2%)	1 (0.8%)	53 (44.9%)	1 (0.8%)	5 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (5.9%)	$23,482			$2,218			$21,264	16.8	35.8	1344	404		064030013714
1749	Provisional Accelerated Learning Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	2450 Blake St.	San Bernardino	92407	San Bernardino County	Provisional Accelerated Learning Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 887-7002	244	12	19.8	73.0%	11 (4.5%)	42 (17.2%)	169 (69.3%)	2 (0.8%)	3 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (6.6%)	$27,633			$1,158			$26,475	16.8	11.9	1956	207		060164110364
1750	Rio Cazadero High	Public	9-12	7825 Grandstaff Dr.	Sacramento	95823	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 422-3058	120	10	12.6	80.0%	3 (2.5%)	37 (30.8%)	53 (44.2%)	13 (10.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (5.8%)	7 (5.8%)	$24,673			$1,849			$22,824	16.7	10.9	2012	262		061233007702

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.