Best High Schools in Iowa

A teacher and two students give a thumbs-up in a classroom.

Find the best Iowa 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 Iowa 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 ISASP test scores by the Iowa Department of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, August 20, 2025.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 340)	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
61	Clear Lake High School	Public	9-12	125 N 20th St	Clear Lake	50428	Cerro Gordo County	Clear Lake Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 357-5235	461	30	15.3	26.9%	395 (85.7%)	7 (1.5%)	32 (6.9%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (4.8%)	$16,404			$315			$16,089	74.4	65.9	114	53		190762000363
62	Alburnett Senior High School	Public	9-12	131 Roosevelt Street	Alburnett	52202	Linn County	Alburnett Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 842-2263	293	19	15.6	7.5%	278 (94.9%)	5 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.1%)	$15,024			$123			$14,901	74.4	78	41	21		190330000025
63	IKM-Manning High School	Public	9-12	209 10th St	Manning	51455	Carroll County	IKM-Manning Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(712) 655-3781	185	19	9.7	27.6%	173 (93.5%)	1 (0.5%)	10 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	$16,896			$150			$16,746	74	70.5	92	29		191488001050
64	Martensdale-St Marys Junior-Senior High School	Public	7-12	390 Burlington	Martensdale	50160	Warren County	Martensdale-St Marys Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 764-2486	225	19	12.1	26.7%	209 (92.9%)	3 (1.3%)	10 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)	$13,788			$409			$13,378	73.7	62	136	72		191875001097
65	Lisbon Secondary School	Public	7-12	235 W School St	Lisbon	52253	Linn County	Lisbon Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 455-2106	301	24	12.6	17.9%	284 (94.4%)	2 (0.7%)	8 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.3%)	$18,740			$76			$18,664	73.6	57.6	158	93		191725001009
66	Cedar Falls High School	Public	10-12	2701 W 27th St	Cedar Falls	50613	Black Hawk County	Cedar Falls Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(319) 553-2500	1,333	96	13.8	20.7%	1,124 (84.3%)	37 (2.8%)	48 (3.6%)	37 (2.8%)	1 (0.1%)	10 (0.8%)	76 (5.7%)	$13,835			$301			$13,534	73.2	74.8	64	2		190651000221
67	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%)	$15,157			$246			$14,911	73.2	77.9	42	25		190369000071
68	Ballard High School	Public	9-12	701 Ballard Drive	Huxley	50124	Story County	Ballard Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 597-2971	586	37	15.8	15.4%	544 (92.8%)	10 (1.7%)	24 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.7%)	$13,456			$266			$13,189	73.1	75.5	57	11		190420000105
69	Madrid High School	Public	9-12	599 N Kennedy	Madrid	50156	Boone County	Madrid Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(515) 795-3240	195	20	9.7	18.5%	183 (93.8%)	1 (0.5%)	6 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.6%)	$15,049			$71			$14,978	73	75.2	61	8		191818001040
70	Interstate 35 High School	Public	7-12	405 E North St	Truro	50257	Madison County	Interstate 35 Community School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(641) 765-4818	385	27	14.4	20.5%	361 (93.8%)	1 (0.3%)	14 (3.6%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.8%)	$14,262			$161			$14,100	72.7	72.1	79	9		191467002196

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Iowa

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on ISASP English Language Arts, ISASP Mathematics, ISASP Science test scores released by the Iowa Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 20, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Iowa 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 Iowa Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection