Best Elementary Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina elementary 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 North Carolina 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 EOG test scores by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 3, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 1490)	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
1151	Union Chapel Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	4271 Union Chapel Road	Pembroke	28372	Robeson County	Public Schools of Robeson County	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 521-4456	442	29	15	99.3%	10 (2.3%)	20 (4.5%)	134 (30.3%)	0 (0.0%)	266 (60.2%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.7%)	$9,976			$1,620			$8,356	26.2	21.6	1257	106		370393001589
1152	Graham A Barden Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	200 Cedar Drive	Havelock	28532	Craven County	Craven County Board of Education	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 444-5100	237	17	14	92.0%	101 (42.6%)	44 (18.6%)	61 (25.7%)	2 (0.8%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	26 (11.0%)	$11,632			$1,529			$10,103	26.1	27.5	1153	1		370331000382
1153	B F Grady Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	2627 N Nc 11 & 903	Albertson	28508	Duplin County	Duplin County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 568-3487	865	54	16	99.7%	184 (21.3%)	56 (6.5%)	600 (69.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (2.8%)	$10,266			$1,280			$8,986	26.1	13.7	1383	230		370120000492
1154	Pleasant Ridge Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1260 Floyd Lane	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 866-6096	887	56	15.9	99.7%	150 (16.9%)	388 (43.7%)	282 (31.8%)	7 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (6.8%)	$8,924			$1,150			$7,774	26	25	1191	37		370162000705
1155	Tyrrell Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	486 Elementary School Road	Columbia	27925	Tyrrell County	Tyrrell County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 796-3881	196	20	10	98.5%	58 (29.6%)	70 (35.7%)	54 (27.6%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (6.6%)	$14,570			$2,104			$12,466	26	42.6	877	278		370459001789
1156	C C Spaulding Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1531 S Roxboro Road	Durham	27707	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 560-3974	247	24	10.2	98.8%	22 (8.9%)	88 (35.6%)	117 (47.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (7.7%)	$16,448			$4,879			$11,568	26	14.1	1376	220		370126000571
1157	Fred L Wilson Elementary	Public, Magnet	K-5	1401 Pine Street	Kannapolis	28081	Cabarrus County	Kannapolis City Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(704) 932-8656	415	30	13.7	99.3%	78 (18.8%)	59 (14.2%)	250 (60.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (6.0%)	$10,056			$1,308			$8,748	26	25.3	1186	29		370243001041
1158	Blue Creek Elementary	Public	K-5	1260 Burgaw Hwy	Jacksonville	28540	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 347-1717	498	38	13.2	67.3%	235 (47.2%)	87 (17.5%)	118 (23.7%)	4 (0.8%)	6 (1.2%)	1 (0.2%)	47 (9.4%)	$10,673			$1,191			$9,482	26	14.3	1373	215		370345001418
1159	Selma Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	311 W Richardson St	Selma	27576	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 965-3361	794	63	12.5	99.6%	60 (7.6%)	201 (25.3%)	492 (62.0%)	7 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (4.3%)	$12,423			$1,727			$10,696	25.9	26.4	1172	13		370237001025
1160	Morganton Road Elementary	Public	K-5	102 Bonanza Drive	Fayetteville	28303	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 867-4137	491	30	16.2	99.4%	64 (13.0%)	286 (58.2%)	84 (17.1%)	10 (2.0%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	43 (8.8%)	$9,482			$1,213			$8,269	25.8	45.4	827	333		370001100423

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NC student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Gifted and Talented Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on EOG Mathematics, EOG Reading, EOG Science test scores released by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
These rankings were last updated on September 3, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

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

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

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.