Best High Schools in Illinois

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Find the best Illinois 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 Illinois 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 PreACT Secure and ACT test scores by the Illinois State Board of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 30, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 698)	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
271	Wheeling High School	Public	9-12	900 S Elmhurst Rd	Wheeling	60090	Cook County	Township HSD 214	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 718-7000	1,743	114	15.2		428 (24.6%)	54 (3.1%)	1,115 (64.0%)	104 (6.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (2.4%)	$28,791			$917			$27,873	57.2	63.1	207	64		170417000117
272	Hartsburg-Emden Junior-Senior High School	Public	6-12	400 W Front St	Hartsburg	62643	Logan County	Hartsburg Emden CUSD 21	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 642-5244	85	9	9.1	44.7%	82 (96.5%)	1 (1.2%)	2 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$22,005			$678			$21,327	57.1	44.9	353	81		171839002123
273	Elmwood Park High School	Public	9-12	8201 W Fullerton Ave	Elmwood Park	60707	Cook County	Elmwood Park CUSD 401	No	(n/a)	No	No	(708) 452-7272	1,015	73	13.8	59.4%	356 (35.1%)	28 (2.8%)	591 (58.2%)	27 (2.7%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	9 (0.9%)	$17,503			$854			$16,649	56.9	53.5	278	5		171410001761
274	Pontiac High School	Public	9-12	1100 E Indiana Ave	Pontiac	61764	Livingston County	Pontiac Township HSD 90	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 844-6113	658	51	13	45.9%	501 (76.1%)	21 (3.2%)	92 (14.0%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (5.9%)	$18,902			$444			$18,458	56.9	53.6	277	3		173222003369
275	Dwight High School	Public	9-12	801 S Franklin St	Dwight	60420	Livingston County	Dwight Township HSD 230	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 584-6201	211	21	9.9	32.7%	190 (90.0%)	2 (0.9%)	9 (4.3%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.3%)	$27,554			$1,348			$26,205	56.9	44.8	355	80		171287001538
276	Olympia High School	Public	9-12	7832 N 100 East Rd	Stanford	61774	McLean County	Olympia CUSD 16	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 379-5911	495	37	13.3	34.7%	452 (91.3%)	7 (1.4%)	16 (3.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	17 (3.4%)	$18,700			$403			$18,297	56.9	46.4	341	65		172989003096
277	Franklin Junior/Senior High School	Public	6-12	110 State	Franklin	62638	Morgan County	Franklin CUSD 1	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 675-2395	157	17	9.1	26.1%	155 (98.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.3%)	$22,683			$318			$22,365	56.6	55.2	258	19		171575001885
278	Farmington Central High School	Public	9-12	310 N Lightfoot Rd	Farmington	61531	Peoria County	Farmington Central CUSD 265	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(309) 245-1000	383	27	14.2	38.1%	356 (93.0%)	2 (0.5%)	7 (1.8%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.9%)	$13,193			$652			$12,541	56.6	33.9	442	164		170004405230
279	Carmi-White County High School	Public	9-12	800 W Main St	Carmi	62821	White County	Carmi-White County CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	No	No	(618) 382-4661	419	28	15	49.4%	396 (94.5%)	9 (2.1%)	4 (1.0%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.4%)	$14,619			$1,145			$13,474	56.4	65.5	191	88		170850000472
280	Belvidere North High School	Public	9-12	9393 Beloit Rd	Belvidere	61008	Boone County	Belvidere CUSD 100	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 544-2636	1,354	96	14.1	45.6%	762 (56.3%)	53 (3.9%)	475 (35.1%)	17 (1.3%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	44 (3.2%)	$18,478			$692			$17,786	56.4	41	385	105		170579005909

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on PreACT Secure English Language Arts, PreACT Secure Mathematics, PreACT Secure Science, ACT English Language Arts, ACT Mathematics, ACT Science test scores released by the Illinois State Board of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 30, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Illinois State Board 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 Illinois State Board of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.