Best High Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina 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 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 EOC 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 641)	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
411	Sanderson High	Public	9-12	5500 Dixon Drive	Raleigh	27609	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 881-4800	1,648	91	18	43.4%	779 (47.3%)	384 (23.3%)	349 (21.2%)	55 (3.3%)	3 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	76 (4.6%)	$8,965			$528			$8,437	35.3	42.1	357	54		370472001892
412	North Mecklenburg High School	Public, Magnet	9-12	11201 Old Statesville Rd	Huntersville	28078	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-3840	1,854	110	16.9	99.8%	102 (5.5%)	1,028 (55.4%)	588 (31.7%)	70 (3.8%)	4 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	61 (3.3%)	$9,173			$451			$8,723	35.1	37.8	389	23		370297001248
413	Mallard Creek High School	Public	9-12	3825 Johnston Oehler Rd	Charlotte	28269	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-1341	2,068	109	19	99.9%	152 (7.4%)	1,434 (69.3%)	313 (15.1%)	68 (3.3%)	3 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	98 (4.7%)	$8,152			$456			$7,697	34.9	25.8	475	62		370297002811
414	Providence Grove High School	Public	9-12	5555 Mack Lineberry Rd	Climax	27233	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	No	(336) 685-0728	587	36	16.4	53.8%	432 (73.6%)	16 (2.7%)	101 (17.2%)	3 (0.5%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (5.5%)	$9,290			$677			$8,613	34.9	22	500	86		370378003016
415	Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington	Public, Charter	6-12	4100 Sunglow Drive	Wilmington	28405	New Hanover County	Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 338-5258	362	35	10.2	98.9%	151 (41.7%)	96 (26.5%)	70 (19.3%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	39 (10.8%)								34.7	46.4	321	94		370040703397
416	KIPP Gaston College Preparatory	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	320 Pleasant Hill Road	Gaston	27832	Northampton County	KIPP Gaston College Preparatory	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 308-6932	1,143	75	15.2	98.9%	51 (4.5%)	940 (82.2%)	90 (7.9%)	6 (0.5%)	5 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (4.5%)								34.5	26	474	58		370012302597
417	East Gaston High	Public	9-12	1744 Lane Road	Mount Holly	28120	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 836-9613	917	49	18.5	99.6%	563 (61.4%)	117 (12.8%)	181 (19.7%)	9 (1.0%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	44 (4.8%)	$10,078			$870			$9,208	34.5	53.1	281	136		370162000681
418	Gates County Senior High	Public	9-12	088 Hwy 158 West	Gatesville	27938	Gates County	Gates County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 357-0720	432	23	18.6	54.6%	253 (58.6%)	144 (33.3%)	10 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (5.6%)	$13,228			$500			$12,728	34.4	29.5	454	36		370168000720
419	Lumberton Senior High	Public	9-12	3901 Fayetteville Rd	Lumberton	28358	Robeson County	Public Schools of Robeson County	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 671-6050	1,894	116	16.3	98.8%	300 (15.8%)	597 (31.5%)	429 (22.7%)	22 (1.2%)	414 (21.9%)	3 (0.2%)	129 (6.8%)	$10,521			$1,493			$9,028	34	31.4	435	16		370393002237
420	Hoke County High	Public	9-12	505 S Bethel Road	Raeford	28376	Hoke County	Hoke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 875-2156	2,110	113	18.7	99.9%	343 (16.3%)	841 (39.9%)	572 (27.1%)	13 (0.6%)	143 (6.8%)	6 (0.3%)	192 (9.1%)	$10,531			$821			$9,710	33.9	33	421	1		370225000968

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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 EOC Biology, EOC English II, EOC Math I, EOC Math III 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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.