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
371	North Carolina Cyber Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2800 Meridian Parkway	Durham	27713	Durham County	North Carolina Cyber Academy	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	(984) 262-9237	2,461	144	17		1,071 (43.5%)	688 (28.0%)	401 (16.3%)	71 (2.9%)	28 (1.1%)	7 (0.3%)	195 (7.9%)								40.8	41.7	362	9		370038603361
372	Northside High	Public	9-12	365 Commons Drive South	Jacksonville	28546	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 455-4868	1,067	62	17.2	54.8%	327 (30.6%)	354 (33.2%)	227 (21.3%)	32 (3.0%)	3 (0.3%)	7 (0.7%)	117 (11.0%)	$8,134			$893			$7,241	40.7	36.4	398	26		370345002598
373	Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	1360 Martin L King Jr Dr	Elizabethtown	28337	Bladen County	Paul R Brown Leadership Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 862-2965	199	13	15.2	98.5%	25 (12.6%)	86 (43.2%)	32 (16.1%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (22.6%)								40.7	32.1	431	58		370035103285
374	A&T Four Middle College	Public	9-12	1601 East Market Street	Greensboro	27411	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 691-0941	162	14	11.9	98.1%	2 (1.2%)	141 (87.0%)	10 (6.2%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.9%)	$14,153			$230			$13,923	40.5	50.7	293	81		370192002669
375	West Cabarrus High	Public	9-12	4100 Weddington Rd	Concord	28027	Cabarrus County	Cabarrus County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 260-5970	1,627	86	18.9	57.2%	472 (29.0%)	508 (31.2%)	526 (32.3%)	36 (2.2%)	4 (0.2%)	3 (0.2%)	78 (4.8%)								40.1	36.7	395	20		370053003482
376	North Johnston High	Public	9-12	5915 US Hwy 301 N	Kenly	27542	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 284-2031	788	40	19.8	98.2%	376 (47.7%)	75 (9.5%)	316 (40.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (2.7%)	$10,995			$811			$10,184	40	38.2	383	7		370237001021
377	South Stokes High School	Public	9-12	1100 S Stokes High Drive	Walnut Cove	27052	Stokes County	Stokes County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 994-2995	538	37	14.5	51.9%	460 (85.5%)	27 (5.0%)	24 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (4.6%)	$11,490			$951			$10,538	39.8	48.2	309	68		370438001741
378	Lakewood High	Public	9-12	245 Lakewood School Rd	Salemburg	28385	Sampson County	Sampson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 525-5171	475	30	15.8	96.8%	154 (32.4%)	121 (25.5%)	168 (35.4%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (6.1%)	$10,549			$1,417			$9,132	39.8	33.6	417	39		370414001674
379	Palisades High School	Public	9-12	15221 York Road	Charlotte	28278	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(980) 343-0878	2,332	109	21.3	53.3%	340 (14.6%)	1,065 (45.7%)	700 (30.0%)	129 (5.5%)	3 (0.1%)	10 (0.4%)	85 (3.6%)								39.8	40.3	369	10		370297003622
380	North Iredell High	Public	9-12	156 Raider Road	Olin	28660	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 876-4191	983	50	19.5	99.7%	643 (65.4%)	60 (6.1%)	227 (23.1%)	6 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	45 (4.6%)	$9,856			$719			$9,137	39.6	41.8	360	20		370231000990

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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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.