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
4802	Palmdale Aerospace Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3300 East Palmdale Blvd.	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Aerospace Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 273-3680	2,259	90	25	72.5%	103 (4.6%)	139 (6.2%)	1,888 (83.6%)	74 (3.3%)	7 (0.3%)	3 (0.1%)	43 (1.9%)	$17,893			$2,252			$15,641	20.3	23.7	4505	297		060194513029
4803	Capistrano Elementary	Public	K-6	400 Capistrano Dr.	Modesto	95354	Stanislaus County	Empire Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 521-8664	469	18	26	89.8%	45 (9.6%)	22 (4.7%)	358 (76.3%)	20 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	23 (4.9%)	$17,406			$2,832			$14,574	20.3	24.7	4397	406		061269001429
4804	Rhoda Maxwell Elementary	Public	K-6	50 Ashley Ave.	Woodland	95695	Yolo County	Woodland Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 662-1784	395	16	24.2	83.5%	57 (14.4%)	9 (2.3%)	286 (72.4%)	22 (5.6%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	17 (4.3%)	$13,234			$4,867			$8,367	20.3	31.3	3829	975		064308007007
4805	Hoover Elementary	Public	K-8	2900 Kirk Ave.	Stockton	95204	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7215	654	27	23.8	83.3%	53 (8.1%)	61 (9.3%)	445 (68.0%)	49 (7.5%)	3 (0.5%)	4 (0.6%)	39 (6.0%)	$16,504			$3,143			$13,361	20.2	16.5	5169	364		063801006418
4806	Jefferson Elementary	Public	K-8	333 North Westwood Ave.	Lindsay	93247	Tulare County	Lindsay Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 562-6303	355	17	20.8	89.3%	19 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	323 (91.0%)	3 (0.8%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.0%)	$24,624			$4,318			$20,306	20.2	21.4	4733	73		062187002594
4807	A. M. Winn Waldorf-Inspired	Public	K-8	3351 Explorer Dr.	Sacramento	95827	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4505	405	23	17.5	58.0%	163 (40.2%)	26 (6.4%)	136 (33.6%)	19 (4.7%)	5 (1.2%)	2 (0.5%)	54 (13.3%)	$24,597			$3,419			$21,178	20.2	22.4	4642	165		063384005217
4808	Joyner Elementary	Public	K-5	4271 Myrtle Ave.	San Diego	92105	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 640-4000	410	17	24.6	93.7%	7 (1.7%)	34 (8.3%)	315 (76.8%)	34 (8.3%)	1 (0.2%)	9 (2.2%)	10 (2.4%)	$19,901			$4,006			$15,895	20.2	14.6	5345	537		063432012000
4809	Del Mar Elementary	Public	K-6	4122 North Del Mar Ave.	Fresno	93704	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 248-7070	444	25	18.1	93.9%	30 (6.8%)	45 (10.1%)	314 (70.7%)	31 (7.0%)	6 (1.4%)	3 (0.7%)	15 (3.4%)	$20,320			$2,239			$18,081	20.2	20.2	4855	46		061455001719
4810	Aspire Richmond Technology Academy	Public, Charter	K-5	3170 Hilltop Mall Rd.	Richmond	94806	Contra Costa County	Aspire Richmond Technology Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 480-0660	586	27	21.3	82.9%	10 (1.7%)	76 (13.0%)	422 (72.0%)	36 (6.1%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	40 (6.8%)	$20,864			$2,253			$18,611	20.2	27	4195	615		060154713891
4811	Houston Elementary	Public	K-6	1200 North Giddings St.	Visalia	93291	Tulare County	Visalia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 730-7772	523	23	22.6	87.0%	11 (2.1%)	1 (0.2%)	459 (87.8%)	8 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (8.4%)	$19,044			$2,526			$16,518	20.2	22.1	4669	142		064116006796

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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.