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
161	Bertie Early College High	Public	9-12	717 US Hwy 13 North	Windsor	27983	Bertie County	Bertie County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 794-2150	99	4	24.7	97.0%	17 (17.2%)	71 (71.7%)	7 (7.1%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.0%)	$11,537			$1,528			$10,008	73.6	89.3	83	78		370036003149
162	Highlands School	Public, Alternative	K-12	545 Pierson Dr	Highlands	28741	Macon County	Macon County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 526-2147	344	27	12.5	33.4%	230 (66.9%)	1 (0.3%)	107 (31.1%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.2%)	$12,967			$1,206			$11,761	73.6	81.7	128	34		370276001139
163	Warren Early College High	Public	9-12	210 Ridgeway St	Warrenton	27589	Warren County	Warren County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 257-6810	117	5	25.2	97.4%	11 (9.4%)	65 (55.6%)	21 (17.9%)	4 (3.4%)	9 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.0%)	$11,925			$724			$11,201	73.3	88.7	93	70		370474003044
164	Longleaf School of the Arts	Public, Charter	9-12	322 Chapanoke Road	Raleigh	27603	Wake County	Longleaf School of the Arts	Yes	No	No	No	(919) 896-8164	405	32	12.6		254 (62.7%)	74 (18.3%)	48 (11.9%)	8 (2.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (4.9%)								73	60.6	231	67		370033703282
165	Middle College at GTCC-High Point	Public	9-12	901 South Main Street	High Point	27260	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 819-4111	194	11	18.2	98.5%	29 (14.9%)	101 (52.1%)	43 (22.2%)	14 (7.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.6%)	$11,118			$733			$10,385	72.8	82.1	124	41		370192002772
166	Watauga High	Public	9-12	300 Go Pioneers Drive	Boone	28607	Watauga County	Watauga County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 264-2407	1,289	82	15.6	33.0%	1,042 (80.8%)	16 (1.2%)	159 (12.3%)	27 (2.1%)	7 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (2.9%)	$11,160			$624			$10,536	72.8	75.2	153	13		370483001943
167	Cs Brown High - STEM Program	Public	9-12	102 CSB Dr	Winton	27986	Hertford County	Hertford County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 358-2852	100	6	16.6	97.0%	6 (6.0%)	84 (84.0%)	3 (3.0%)	1 (1.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (5.0%)	$21,553			$437			$21,117	72.7	79.8	133	34		370216003107
168	Elkin High	Public	9-12	334 Elk Spur St	Elkin	28621	Surry County	Elkin City Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 835-3858	401	28	14.5	50.9%	264 (65.8%)	14 (3.5%)	97 (24.2%)	10 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (4.0%)	$12,105			$1,046			$11,058	72.6	72.7	167	1		370138000562
169	East Lincoln High	Public	9-12	6471 Hwy 73	Denver	28037	Lincoln County	Lincoln County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 736-1860	1,047	55	19	31.8%	758 (72.4%)	84 (8.0%)	117 (11.2%)	18 (1.7%)	6 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (6.1%)	$7,000			$484			$6,516	72.3	65.2	202	33		370268001110
170	Jack Britt High	Public	9-12	7403 Rockfish Road	Fayetteville	28306	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 429-2800	1,940	78	25	41.6%	607 (31.3%)	615 (31.7%)	408 (21.0%)	111 (5.7%)	21 (1.1%)	7 (0.4%)	171 (8.8%)	$7,975			$881			$7,094	71.8	74.7	156	14		370001102512

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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

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

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.