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
131	Piedmont Community Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2596 Robinwood Road	Gastonia	28054	Gaston County	Piedmont Community Charter	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 853-2428	1,963	129	15.2		957 (48.8%)	383 (19.5%)	460 (23.4%)	29 (1.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	133 (6.8%)								80.8	79.1	137	6		370010402520
132	Ronald W Reagan High School	Public	9-12	3750 Transou Road	Pfafftown	27040	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 703-6776	2,122	115	18.4	29.8%	1,286 (60.6%)	291 (13.7%)	333 (15.7%)	98 (4.6%)	1 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	113 (5.3%)	$7,615			$522			$7,093	80.7	77.8	139	7		370150002765
133	Jackson County Early College	Public	9-12	404 College Drive	Sylva	28779	Jackson County	Jackson County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 339-4499	113	2	47	97.3%	74 (65.5%)	2 (1.8%)	18 (15.9%)	4 (3.5%)	6 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (8.0%)	$7,254			$111			$7,144	80.7	87	103	30		370234003111
134	CITI High School	Public	9-12	530-A North Old Carriage Rd	Rocky Mount	27804	Nash County	Nash County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 462-2842	87	5	15.9	96.6%	20 (23.0%)	39 (44.8%)	22 (25.3%)	3 (3.4%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.3%)	$14,539			$900			$13,639	80.3	73.2	162	28		370327003475
135	Cornerstone Charter Academy-CFA	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	7800 Airport Center Drive	Greensboro	27409	Guilford County	Cornerstone Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(336) 482-3855	1,343	79	16.9		928 (69.1%)	138 (10.3%)	95 (7.1%)	80 (6.0%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	99 (7.4%)								79.6	74.5	157	22		370032803255
136	Topsail High	Public	9-12	245 St. Johns Church Road	Hampstead	28443	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 270-2755	1,945	67	29	23.5%	1,603 (82.4%)	60 (3.1%)	148 (7.6%)	15 (0.8%)	6 (0.3%)	3 (0.2%)	110 (5.7%)	$8,065			$589			$7,476	79.4	76.8	145	9		370357001469
137	Pisgah High	Public	9-12	1 Black Bear Drive	Canton	28716	Haywood County	Haywood County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 646-3440	859	40	21.4	99.7%	702 (81.7%)	11 (1.3%)	111 (12.9%)	6 (0.7%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	24 (2.8%)	$9,758			$969			$8,789	79.3	76.6	147	10		370204000908
138	East Carteret High	Public	9-12	3263 Hwy 70 E	Beaufort	28516	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 728-3514	521	30	17.3	97.7%	407 (78.1%)	39 (7.5%)	37 (7.1%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (6.5%)	$11,795			$560			$11,235	79.1	75.2	152	14		370063000253
139	Durham School of Technology	Public	9-12	3727 Fayetteville St	Durham	27707	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 560-9183	219	16	13.5	98.6%	13 (5.9%)	146 (66.7%)	49 (22.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.0%)	$8,663			$236			$8,427	78.9	68.9	188	49		370126002920
140	Gray Stone Day	Public, Charter	6-12	49464 Merner Terrace	Misenheimer	28109	Stanly County	Gray Stone Day School	Yes	No	No	No	(704) 463-0567	728	42	17.3		600 (82.4%)	16 (2.2%)	47 (6.5%)	23 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	41 (5.6%)								78.6	76.8	146	6		370012802613

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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

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.