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
481	Southern Wake Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	5108 Old Powell Rd	Holly Springs	27540	Wake County	Southern Wake Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(919) 567-9955	534	36	14.7		351 (65.7%)	55 (10.3%)	59 (11.0%)	15 (2.8%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (9.7%)								27	26.8	471	10		370011402554
482	J F Kennedy High	Public, Virtual, Magnet	6-12	890 E 11th Street	Winston Salem	27101	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	(336) 703-4143	332	24	14.1	99.1%	50 (15.1%)	95 (28.6%)	167 (50.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (5.4%)	$14,798			$1,646			$13,152	26.5	12.5	574	92		370150002194
483	North Lenoir High	Public	9-12	2400 Institute Road	La Grange	28551	Lenoir County	Lenoir County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 527-9184	957	59	16.3	99.7%	332 (34.7%)	390 (40.8%)	195 (20.4%)	7 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (3.3%)	$9,635			$1,181			$8,454	26.4	16.4	543	60		370261001091
484	Farmville Central High	Public	9-12	3308 E Wilson Street	Farmville	27828	Pitt County	Pitt County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 753-5138	778	45	17.4	99.6%	193 (24.8%)	446 (57.3%)	89 (11.4%)	8 (1.0%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	39 (5.0%)	$9,488			$1,038			$8,450	26.3	30.9	443	41		370001201497
485	Cochrane Collegiate Academy	Public	6-12	6200 Starhaven Dr	Charlotte	28215	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-6460	854	44	19.3	99.6%	20 (2.3%)	203 (23.8%)	593 (69.4%)	24 (2.8%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	11 (1.3%)	$10,602			$1,223			$9,379	26.2	33.6	415	70		370297001203
486	Hickory High	Public	9-12	1234 3rd Street NE	Hickory	28601	Catawba County	Hickory City Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 322-5860	1,024	38	26.6	99.7%	358 (35.0%)	196 (19.1%)	297 (29.0%)	47 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	120 (11.7%)	$8,704			$694			$8,010	26.1	37.8	390	96		370219000943
487	Avery County High	Public	9-12	401 Avery County High School R	Newland	28657	Avery County	Avery County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 733-0151	542	27	20.2	99.3%	423 (78.0%)	1 (0.2%)	92 (17.0%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	20 (3.7%)	$10,821			$537			$10,285	26.1	31.1	441	46		370030000081
488	Western Harnett High	Public	9-12	10637 NC Hwy 27 West	Lillington	27546	Harnett County	Harnett County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 499-5113	1,324	56	23.4	61.8%	622 (47.0%)	208 (15.7%)	392 (29.6%)	13 (1.0%)	9 (0.7%)	3 (0.2%)	77 (5.8%)	$8,173			$760			$7,413	26	23.2	496	8		370201000894
489	Macon Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1202 Old Murphy Rd	Franklin	28734	Macon County	Macon County Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(828) 524-3314	44			43.2%	38 (86.4%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (11.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.3%)								25.5			(n/a)		370276003546
490	Southern Wayne High	Public	9-12	124 Walter Fulcher Rd	Dudley	28333	Wayne County	Wayne County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 705-6060	1,007	41	24.2	97.9%	208 (20.7%)	328 (32.6%)	446 (44.3%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	20 (2.0%)	$9,549			$903			$8,646	25.5	12.5	575	85		370488001963

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.