Beta You're viewing our redesigned school list. Prefer the classic layout?

Best High Schools in Zip Code 95344

New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its California rankings with newly released test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

Be the first to know when we post new rankings!

At a glance

Schools

5,730

Students

Top rankedEl Capitan High1214^th of 2,135 California high schools

See the top-ranked California schools →

Summary:

Zip code 95344 has four Merced High, Golden Valley High, El Capitan High and Sequoia High schools, all serving grades 9–12 in the Merced Union High district. In 2025–2026, the three schools with test results averaged 44% proficiency in ELA, 16% in math and 24% in science, compared with state rates of 49%, 38% and 36%. The clearest area-wide academic concern is math: the local average was 23 percentage points below the state rate.

El Capitan High leads the three reporting schools in every subject, with 48% in ELA, 19% in math and 26% in science; its ELA result is about 1 point below the state rate, while its math and science results remain 20 and 10 points below. Golden Valley High has the lowest math and science results, at 13% and 23%, while Merced High is lowest in ELA at 41%, just under Golden Valley’s 41.5%. Graduation rates are strong for the three schools with figures: 96%–99%, compared with 88% statewide. Attendance stands out as a concern: chronic absenteeism averages 27% at the three larger schools, versus 18% statewide, and reaches 88% at Sequoia, which enrolls 77 students compared with 1,793–1,943 at the others. Sequoia has no supplied test-score values, so its academic standing cannot be compared.

Recent results are mixed: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, the three-school average fell 2 points in ELA but rose 1 point each in math and science; because state results also improved, the local gaps widened by 2 points in ELA, 1 in math and 3 in science. SchoolDigger percentiles also declined from 2023–2024 to 2025–2026: Merced moved from 38 to 35, Golden Valley from 40 to 33, and El Capitan from 50 to 43. Among the three larger schools, El Capitan has the lowest student-teacher ratio, 21.1, compared with 21.3 at Golden Valley and 22.5 at Merced. Their 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 76% at El Capitan, 79% at Merced and 85% at Golden Valley; these are differences in reported school measures, not an explanation for academic results.

Load more schools when map is moved

Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				CAST Science (2026)			Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2026)		Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2026)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 11th Grade	CAST Science 12th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Golden Valley High	Public	9-12	2121 East Childs Ave.	Merced	95344	Merced County	Merced Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 325-1800	1,917	90	21.3	85.1%	178 (9.3%)	96 (5.0%)	1,393 (72.7%)	182 (9.5%)	12 (0.6%)	4 (0.2%)	51 (2.7%)	33	1423^rd of 2135 public high schools	33.3%		36.4	1347^th of 2162 public high schools	37.7%	76	22.8		22.6	41.5	41.5	13.4	13.4	$19,380	$1,589	$17,791
Merced High	Public	9-12	205 West Olive Ave.	Merced	95344	Merced County	Merced Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 325-1000	1,943	86	22.5	79.4%	262 (13.5%)	107 (5.5%)	1,326 (68.2%)	142 (7.3%)	12 (0.6%)	7 (0.4%)	84 (4.3%)	34.4	1389^th of 2135 public high schools	34.9%		36	1358^th of 2162 public high schools	37.2%	31	23.1		22.8	41.1	41.1	15.6	15.6	$18,935	$1,718	$17,217
Sequoia High	Public	9-12	1900 G St.	Merced	95344	Merced County	Merced Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 325-1700	77	9	8.9	90.9%	10 (13.0%)	3 (3.9%)	63 (81.8%)	1 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)								$60,330	$4,834	$55,496
El Capitan High	Public	9-12	100 West Farmland	Merced	95344	Merced County	Merced Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 384-5500	1,793	85	21.1	76.2%	243 (13.6%)	89 (5.0%)	1,173 (65.4%)	226 (12.6%)	3 (0.2%)	7 (0.4%)	47 (2.6%)	42.2	1214^th of 2135 public high schools	43.1%		47.5	1085^th of 2162 public high schools	49.8%	129	26.6	18.2	26.3	48.3	48.3	18.5	18.5	$19,562	$1,592	$17,970

Cities Near Zip Code 95344

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Winton	0.38 mi	5	417^th
Atwater	0.88 mi	14	559^th
Livingston	4 mi	7	682^nd
Cressey	4.17 mi	1
Merced	5.33 mi	38	709^th

See the top CA California cities

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

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.