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Best High Schools in Polk County, IA

Coming soon: We're expecting this year's test scores from the Iowa Department of Education any day now — new rankings will be posted the moment they're released!

Coming soon: This year's test scores are expected from the Iowa Department of Education any day now — new rankings will follow the moment they're released!

At a glance

Schools

22,187

Students

Districts

5-star schools

Top rankedAnkeny Centennial High School27^th of 340 Iowa high schools

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Biggest riser

Urbandale High School up 113 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Walnut Creek Campus 10.8 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

5★

4★

3★

1★

0★

1 school without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

See the top-ranked Iowa schools →

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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 (2025)				Ranking (2024)				ISASP English Language Arts (2025)			ISASP Mathematics (2025)			ISASP Science (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
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/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	ISASP English Language Arts 9th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 10th Grade	ISASP English Language Arts 11th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 9th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 10th Grade	ISASP Mathematics 11th Grade	ISASP Science 10th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Ankeny High School	Public	10-12	1155 SW Cherry St	Ankeny	50023	Polk County	Ankeny Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 965-9630	1,375	77	17.7	23.0%	1,051 (76.4%)	53 (3.9%)	131 (9.5%)	44 (3.2%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	89 (6.5%)	73.2	67^th of 340 public high schools	80.3%		77.9	42^nd of 338 public high schools	87.6%	25		85.0	77.7		80.5	73.6	78.7	$15,157	$246	$14,911
Ankeny Centennial High School	Public	10-12	2220 NW State St	Ankeny	50023	Polk County	Ankeny Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 965-9610	1,470	88	16.6	16.5%	1,156 (78.6%)	75 (5.1%)	120 (8.2%)	38 (2.6%)	2 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	75 (5.1%)	81.5	27^th of 340 public high schools	92.1%		76.5	50^th of 338 public high schools	85.2%	23		89.4	80.7		84.6	79.5	82.7	$14,519	$200	$14,319
Bondurant-Farrar High School	Public	9-12	1000 Grant St. North	Bondurant	50035	Polk County	Bondurant-Farrar Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 957-8191	849	51	16.6	20.4%	711 (83.7%)	20 (2.4%)	74 (8.7%)	11 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	27 (3.2%)	50.5	196^th of 340 public high schools	42.4%		59	153^rd of 338 public high schools	54.7%	43	81.7	73.5	64.4	74.9	72.6	67.5	55.6	$12,930	$241	$12,689
Dallas Center-Grimes High School	Public	9-12	2555 W 1st St	Grimes	50111	Polk County	Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 986-9747	1,073	64	16.8	17.8%	922 (85.9%)	46 (4.3%)	57 (5.3%)	16 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	30 (2.8%)	68.7	98^th of 340 public high schools	71.2%		65.7	116^th of 338 public high schools	65.7%	18	85.5	82.8	72.9	76.9	76.5	71.9	73.9	$12,103	$211	$11,892
East High School	Public	9-12	815 E 13th St	Des Moines	50316	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 242-7788	1,952	89	21.8	78.4%	484 (24.8%)	334 (17.1%)	890 (45.6%)	130 (6.7%)	12 (0.6%)	5 (0.3%)	94 (4.8%)	2.6	328^th of 340 public high schools	3.5%		2.1	326^th of 338 public high schools	3.6%	2	45.1	48.6	42.5	36.0	41.2	29.7	37.6	$14,908	$672	$14,236
Hoover High School	Public	9-12	4800 Aurora Ave	Des Moines	50310	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 242-7300	898	44	20.5	80.0%	150 (16.7%)	329 (36.6%)	229 (25.5%)	134 (14.9%)	4 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (5.3%)	5.7	319^th of 340 public high schools	6.2%		4.8	321^st of 338 public high schools	5.0%	2	51.8	51.2	49.7	43.0	45.1	39.5	39.9	$17,790	$689	$17,101
Lincoln High School	Public	9-12	2600 SW 9th St	Des Moines	50315	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 242-7500	2,364	94	25.1	74.9%	717 (30.3%)	402 (17.0%)	903 (38.2%)	195 (8.2%)	10 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	130 (5.5%)	4.1	322^nd of 340 public high schools	5.3%		2.7	324^th of 338 public high schools	4.1%	2	54.5	47.9	43.5	40.5	42.1	37.9	38.9	$14,888	$697	$14,190
North High School	Public	9-12	501 Holcomb Ave	Des Moines	50313	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(515) 242-7200	1,428	66	21.4	84.0%	278 (19.5%)	342 (23.9%)	553 (38.7%)	155 (10.9%)	12 (0.8%)	4 (0.3%)	84 (5.9%)	2.8	326^th of 340 public high schools	4.1%		2.2	325^th of 338 public high schools	3.8%	1	48.0	48.8	38.5	33.5	39.2	34.8	42.1	$15,636	$747	$14,889
Roosevelt High School	Public	9-12	4419 Center St	Des Moines	50312	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 242-7272	2,051	66	31.2	55.2%	850 (41.4%)	562 (27.4%)	364 (17.7%)	64 (3.1%)	9 (0.4%)	7 (0.3%)	178 (8.7%)	31.5	269^th of 340 public high schools	20.9%		22.5	290^th of 338 public high schools	14.2%	21	71.0	67.5	61.6	58.8	65.4	54.1	60.7	$14,829	$690	$14,140
Virtual Campus	Public, Virtual	9-12	1800 Grand Avenue	Des Moines	50309	Polk County	Des Moines Independent Community School District	No	(n/a)	Yes	No	(515) 242-8502	380	16	23.9	69.5%	178 (46.8%)	51 (13.4%)	103 (27.1%)	11 (2.9%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (8.9%)	2.8	327^th of 340 public high schools	3.8%		8.9	314^th of 338 public high schools	7.1%	13	51.4	53.9	45.7	21.6	27.0	28.4	37.9
Johnston Senior High School	Public	10-12	6500 NW 100th Street	Johnston	50131	Polk County	Johnston Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 278-0449	1,820	87	20.8	22.4%	1,233 (67.7%)	195 (10.7%)	142 (7.8%)	145 (8.0%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	93 (5.1%)	77.1	49^th of 340 public high schools	85.6%		75.9	53^rd of 338 public high schools	84.3%	4		85.8	79.5		80.5	78.5	80.5	$11,440	$378	$11,061
North Polk High School	Public	9-12	13930 NE 6th St	Alleman	50007	Polk County	North Polk Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 984-3400	644	37	17.2	10.2%	590 (91.6%)	8 (1.2%)	26 (4.0%)	5 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.3%)	80.1	31^st of 340 public high schools	90.9%		87.2	12^th of 338 public high schools	96.4%	19	87.6	85.8	85.5	75.9	85.8	85.5	76.6	$14,567	$255	$14,312
Saydel High School	Public	9-12	5601 NE 7th St	Des Moines	50313	Polk County	Saydel Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 262-9325	458	28	16.6	52.8%	311 (67.9%)	9 (2.0%)	93 (20.3%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (9.0%)	9.5	315^th of 340 public high schools	7.4%		12.6	308^th of 338 public high schools	8.9%	7	53.6	62.7	49.6	41.7	46.4	47.1	44.5	$15,532	$350	$15,182
Southeast Polk High School	Public	10-12	7945 NE University Ave.	Pleasant Hill	50327	Polk County	Southeast Polk Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 967-6631	1,722	99	17.3	33.4%	1,243 (72.2%)	159 (9.2%)	190 (11.0%)	33 (1.9%)	4 (0.2%)	5 (0.3%)	88 (5.1%)	58.1	163^rd of 340 public high schools	52.1%		36.2	251^st of 338 public high schools	25.7%	88		74.6	74.4		69.2	70.3	75.6	$14,031	$366	$13,665
Urbandale High School	Public	9-12	7111 Aurora Avenue	Urbandale	50322	Polk County	Urbandale Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 457-6800	1,301	88	14.7	36.4%	817 (62.8%)	117 (9.0%)	205 (15.8%)	88 (6.8%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	68 (5.2%)	61.2	150^th of 340 public high schools	55.9%		34.3	263^rd of 338 public high schools	22.2%	113	83.2	82.0	80.4	63.3	68.1	71.0	71.8	$11,428	$388	$11,040
Walnut Creek Campus	Public	9-12	1020 8th Street	West Des Moines	50265	Polk County	West Des Moines Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 633-6480	152	14	10.8	76.3%	76 (50.0%)	30 (19.7%)	28 (18.4%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (11.2%)	0.6	334^th of 340 public high schools	1.8%		1.2	328^th of 338 public high schools	3.0%	6	23.1	34.8	41.2	7.7	26.1	23.5	26.1	$18,513	$197	$18,315
Valley High School	Public	10-12	3650 Woodland Ave	West Des Moines	50266	Polk County	West Des Moines Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 633-4000	2,178	119	18.3	68.0%	1,195 (54.9%)	258 (11.8%)	442 (20.3%)	132 (6.1%)	2 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	147 (6.7%)	37.9	254^th of 340 public high schools	25.3%		46.7	212^th of 338 public high schools	37.3%	42		73.2	61.0		64.9	62.7	61.1	$15,551	$791	$14,760
Great Oaks DSM	Public, Charter	9-12	100 East Euclid	Des Moines	50313	Polk County	Great Oaks Des Moines	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(319) 321-9976	72	3	24.1	4.2%	23 (31.9%)	27 (37.5%)	21 (29.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)			25.0			14.3

SchoolDigger rankings lists for Iowa:

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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