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
201	Ascend Leadership Academy: Lee County	Public, Charter	6-12	283 Harvey Faulk Road	Sanford	27332	Lee County	Ascend Leadership Academy: Lee County	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 842-5411	628	46	13.5		340 (54.1%)	81 (12.9%)	129 (20.5%)	8 (1.3%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	65 (10.4%)								65.4	61.1	228	27		370043803459
202	Millennium Charter Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	500 Old Springs Rd	Mount Airy	27030	Surry County	Millennium Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(336) 789-7570	628	42	14.8		517 (82.3%)	25 (4.0%)	57 (9.1%)	10 (1.6%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (2.7%)								65.4	47.4	316	114		370011102548
203	Midway High	Public	9-12	15274 Spiveys Corner Highway	Newton Grove	28366	Sampson County	Sampson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 567-6664	726	36	20.2	98.9%	353 (48.6%)	80 (11.0%)	260 (35.8%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (3.9%)	$8,712			$908			$7,804	64.1	62	221	18		370414001676
204	Wheatmore High School	Public	9-12	3678 Finch Farm Rd	Trinity	27370	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	No	(336) 476-1500	667	41	16.4	48.4%	544 (81.6%)	15 (2.2%)	66 (9.9%)	10 (1.5%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (4.5%)	$8,813			$788			$8,025	64.1	58.3	244	40		370378003100
205	Langtree Charter Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	154 Foundation Ct	Mooresville	28117	Iredell County	Langtree Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 235-0865	1,376	44	31.4	30.8%	854 (62.1%)	191 (13.9%)	192 (14.0%)	36 (2.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	102 (7.4%)								64	64.6	208	3		370033103287
206	Manteo High School	Public	9-12	829 Wingina Avenue	Manteo	27954	Dare County	Dare County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 473-5841	528	28	18.6	40.3%	333 (63.1%)	17 (3.2%)	147 (27.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (5.7%)	$12,230			$507			$11,723	63.9	72.8	165	41		370111000457
207	Wake Forest High School	Public	9-12	420 West Stadium Drive	Wake Forest	27587	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 554-8611	2,043	109	18.8	30.4%	1,052 (51.5%)	473 (23.2%)	360 (17.6%)	71 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.2%)	82 (4.0%)	$8,011			$375			$7,637	63.8	60.5	232	25		370472001901
208	West Forsyth High	Public	9-12	1735 Lewisville-Clemmons	Clemmons	27012	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 712-4400	2,145	116	18.5	37.9%	1,087 (50.7%)	360 (16.8%)	452 (21.1%)	115 (5.4%)	4 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	127 (5.9%)	$7,594			$428			$7,166	63.7	65.1	203	5		370150000647
209	Chatham Central High	Public	9-12	14950 NC Hwy 902 W	Bear Creek	27207	Chatham County	Chatham County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 837-2251	320	31	10.3	99.1%	208 (65.0%)	20 (6.3%)	76 (23.8%)	4 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.8%)	$12,606			$549			$12,058	63.6	45.9	324	115		370075000306
210	West Henderson High	Public	9-12	3600 Haywood Road	Hendersonville	28791	Henderson County	Henderson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 891-6571	1,053	66	15.9	36.3%	800 (76.0%)	26 (2.5%)	162 (15.4%)	18 (1.7%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	42 (4.0%)	$8,614			$457			$8,157	63.6	70.1	179	31		370210000926

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.