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
301	Northwest Harnett Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	736 Rollins Road	Fuquay Varina	27526	Harnett County	Harnett County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 552-4547	645	36	17.8	42.5%	398 (61.7%)	67 (10.4%)	121 (18.8%)	15 (2.3%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (6.4%)	$8,479			$866			$7,613	76.7	66.2	470	169		370201000886
302	Edward Best Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	4011 NC 56 Hwy East	Louisburg	27549	Franklin County	Franklin County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 853-2347	498	36	13.9	99.4%	212 (42.6%)	115 (23.1%)	135 (27.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (7.0%)	$9,632			$1,000			$8,632	76.6	76.6	301	1		370153000653
303	Colfax Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	9112 West Market Street	Colfax	27235	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 275-4332	587	37	16	99.5%	273 (46.5%)	147 (25.0%)	76 (12.9%)	49 (8.3%)	7 (1.2%)	1 (0.2%)	34 (5.8%)	$9,282			$751			$8,531	76.5	83.2	202	101		370192000820
304	Apex Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	700 Tingen Road	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-2150	550	39	14	34.2%	303 (55.1%)	49 (8.9%)	127 (23.1%)	43 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (4.9%)	$9,307			$377			$8,931	76.2	82.5	211	93		370472001827
305	FPG Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	101 Smith Level Rd	Chapel Hill	27516	Orange County	Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(919) 942-6491	536	40	13.2	36.4%	206 (38.4%)	20 (3.7%)	275 (51.3%)	7 (1.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (5.0%)	$11,908			$501			$11,407	76	64	510	205		370072000299
306	Atlantic Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	151 School Dr	Atlantic	28511	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 225-3961	88	9	9.4	95.5%	82 (93.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.3%)	$17,133			$1,662			$15,471	76	88.7	132	174		370063000249
307	River Dell Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	12100 Buffalo Road	Clayton	27527	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 553-1977	981	56	17.5	99.7%	478 (48.7%)	220 (22.4%)	192 (19.6%)	20 (2.0%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (6.9%)	$8,530			$614			$7,917	75.8	75.9	311	4		370237002672
308	Pitts School Road Elementary	Public	K-5	720 Pitts School Road SW	Concord	28027	Cabarrus County	Cabarrus County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 260-6250	885	61	14.5	51.0%	331 (37.4%)	273 (30.8%)	129 (14.6%)	84 (9.5%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	63 (7.1%)	$8,735			$586			$8,149	75.8	70.9	386	78		370053002750
309	Cape Fear Center for Inquiry	Public, Charter	K-8	2525 Wonder Way	Wilmington	28401	New Hanover County	Cape Fear Center for Inquiry	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 362-0000	395	30	13.1		320 (81.0%)	29 (7.3%)	26 (6.6%)	5 (1.3%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	12 (3.0%)								75.8	74.4	332	23		370010802534
310	Long Hill Elementary	Public	2-5	6490 Ramsey Street	Fayetteville	28311	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 488-0012	412	27	15.4	99.3%	167 (40.5%)	112 (27.2%)	65 (15.8%)	11 (2.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	55 (13.3%)	$8,174			$751			$7,422	75.6	77.5	286	24		370001100418

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.