Best High Schools in Kentucky

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Find the best Kentucky 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 Kentucky 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 KSA test scores by the Kentucky Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 30, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 254)	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
31	Calloway County High School	Public	9-12	2108 College Farm Rd	Murray	42071	Calloway County	Calloway County	No	No	No	Yes	(270) 762-7375	824	47	17.6	54.6%	691 (83.9%)	11 (1.3%)	83 (10.1%)	8 (1.0%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (3.5%)	$14,680	$956	$898	$1,853	$9,142	$2,767	$11,904	80.1	83.4	23	8		210087000171
32	Ballard Memorial High School	Public	9-12	3561 Paducah Rd	Barlow	42024	Ballard County	Ballard County	No	No	No	No	(270) 665-8400	276	20	13.5	54.0%	244 (88.4%)	3 (1.1%)	4 (1.4%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (8.0%)	$22,664	$669	$659	$1,325	$12,416	$5,969	$18,389	80	70.6	65	33		210021000036
33	South Laurel High School	Public	9-12	201 South Laurel Rd	London	40744	Laurel County	Laurel County	No	No	No	No	(606) 862-4727	1,119	56	19.9	66.1%	1,019 (91.1%)	16 (1.4%)	48 (4.3%)	7 (0.6%)	3 (0.3%)	4 (0.4%)	22 (2.0%)	$29,455	$1,146	$818	$1,964	$16,028	$4,195	$20,223	79.1	82	24	9		210321000865
34	Henderson County High School	Public	9-12	2424 Zion Rd	Henderson	42420	Henderson County	Henderson County	No	No	No	Yes	(270) 831-8800	1,852	110	16.8	43.6%	1,363 (73.6%)	170 (9.2%)	143 (7.7%)	11 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	10 (0.5%)	154 (8.3%)	$14,902	$760	$471	$1,231	$10,750	$2,918	$13,670	79	74.7	54	20		210271000577
35	Pineville Independent School	Public, Alternative	PK, KG-12	401 Virginia Avenue	Pineville	40977	Bell County	Pineville Independent	No	No	No	Yes	(606) 337-5701	531	38	13.9	83.1%	495 (93.2%)	13 (2.4%)	10 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.3%)	$21,278	$2,774	$2,593	$5,368	$9,415	$3,635	$13,051	78.9	68.4	76	41		210486002393
36	Whitley County High School	Public	9-12	350 Blvd of Champions	Williamsburg	40769	Whitley County	Whitley County	No	No	No	Yes	(606) 549-7025	919	68	13.5	72.7%	883 (96.1%)	5 (0.5%)	15 (1.6%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (1.4%)	$14,964	$1,967	$921	$2,889	$7,910	$2,281	$10,192	78.5	78.8	34	2		210588001386
37	Russell High School	Public	9-12	709 Red Devil Lane	Russell	41169	Greenup County	Russell Independent	No	No	No	No	(606) 836-9658	615	38	16	39.5%	561 (91.2%)	7 (1.1%)	12 (2.0%)	10 (1.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	23 (3.7%)	$18,835	$740	$480	$1,220	$10,853	$2,535	$13,388	78.4	86.8	18	19		210513001272
38	John Hardin High School	Public	9-12	384 W A Jenkins Rd	Elizabethtown	42701	Hardin County	Hardin County	No	No	No	Yes	(270) 769-8906	868	54	15.9	48.2%	493 (56.8%)	153 (17.6%)	106 (12.2%)	20 (2.3%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.5%)	90 (10.4%)	$28,185	$888	$1,112	$1,999	$21,134	$5,052	$26,186	78.3	77.8	37	1		210249001910
39	Mercer County Senior High School	Public	9-12	1124 Moberly Rd	Harrodsburg	40330	Mercer County	Mercer County	No	No	No	No	(859) 733-7000	748	43	17.3	56.4%	617 (82.5%)	30 (4.0%)	52 (7.0%)	6 (0.8%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	39 (5.2%)	$14,169	$762	$565	$1,326	$9,687	$3,156	$12,843	77.9	76.8	40	1		210411002168
40	Barbourville City School	Public, Alternative	PK, KG-12	140 School St	Barbourville	40906	Knox County	Barbourville Independent	No	No	No	Yes	(606) 546-3129	755	44	17.1	68.6%	716 (94.8%)	18 (2.4%)	7 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (1.6%)	$15,093	$1,441	$950	$2,391	$7,925	$3,213	$11,138	76.8	74.9	51	11		210024001969

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Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students White Students Multi-racial Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Gifted and Talented Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on KSA Mathematics, KSA Reading, KSA Science, KSA Writing, KSA Social Studies, KSA Editing and Mechanics test scores released by the Kentucky Department 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 Kentucky 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 Kentucky Department 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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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