Summary:
Midland Public Schools serves two public high schools—HH Dow High School and Midland High School—for grades 9-12 in Midland, Michigan, a district that ranks in the 86th percentile statewide with a 4-star rating.
If you’re comparing the two, HH Dow High School is the clear academic leader. It holds a 5-star rating and ranks in the 96th percentile in Michigan, with notably stronger math scores—57% proficient on the SAT math section versus 45.5% at Midland High School. The gap is even wider on PSAT math, where HH Dow posts 60-62% proficiency compared to Midland High’s 42%. HH Dow also excels in 10th-grade ELA, hitting 83.8% proficiency, a jump of nearly 9 points from its 9th-grade rate. However, Midland High School has its own strengths: it graduates students at a higher rate (92.3% vs. 89.4%) and has a lower dropout rate (3.2% vs. 4.2%), even though it serves a student population with a higher percentage of economic disadvantage (41.4% free/reduced lunch vs. 24.8%). The district appears to invest more per student at Midland High ($14,441 vs. $13,547), which may help support those graduation outcomes.
Both schools comfortably outperform state averages across nearly every subject—even Midland High’s lowest score (41.7% in 9th-grade PSAT math) beats the state’s 33.5%. Still, there are areas to watch. Midland High’s chronic absenteeism rate (22.9%) is higher than HH Dow’s (18.6%), and its state ranking has slipped from the 93rd to the 88th percentile over three years. HH Dow, meanwhile, saw a notable drop in SAT reading proficiency (from 83.1% to 74.5%) year-over-year, though it remains well above state levels. For parents, HH Dow offers the strongest test performance and stability, while Midland High provides a supportive environment that successfully guides more students to graduation—both are solid choices within a high-performing district.
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