Best Middle Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina middle 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 EOG 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 773)	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
181	Highfalls Elementary	Public	K-8	1220 NC Hwy 22	Bennett	27208	Moore County	Moore County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 464-3600	293	21	14	99.0%	254 (86.7%)	1 (0.3%)	27 (9.2%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	8 (2.7%)	$12,166			$832			$11,333	73	72.1	193	12		370309001319
182	North Buncombe Middle	Public	7-8	51 N Buncombe School Road	Weaverville	28787	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 645-7944	516	36	14.4	98.8%	413 (80.0%)	2 (0.4%)	72 (14.0%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (4.7%)	$9,771			$846			$8,925	72.9	80.1	131	51		370045002192
183	Grover C Fields Middle	Public	6-8	2000 M L King Jr Boulevard	New Bern	28560	Craven County	Craven County Board of Education	No	No	No	No	(252) 514-6438	542	34	15.9	46.1%	302 (55.7%)	87 (16.1%)	89 (16.4%)	27 (5.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	35 (6.5%)	$9,793			$1,127			$8,666	72.9	73.8	182	1		370331002311
184	Carmel Middle	Public	6-8	5001 Camilla Dr	Charlotte	28226	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-6705	1,004	60	16.7	36.4%	478 (47.6%)	119 (11.9%)	364 (36.3%)	18 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (2.5%)	$8,630			$632			$7,999	72.1	55.9	324	140		370297001200
185	Hawfields Middle	Public	6-8	1951 S Nc 119	Mebane	27302	Alamance County	Alamance-Burlington Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 563-5303	864	46	18.8	56.0%	338 (39.1%)	201 (23.3%)	223 (25.8%)	24 (2.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	76 (8.8%)	$8,568			$559			$8,009	71.9	67.2	229	44		370003002566
186	Swansboro Middle	Public	6-8	1240 West Corbett Ave	Swansboro	28584	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 326-3601	1,052	56	18.7	43.1%	727 (69.1%)	63 (6.0%)	144 (13.7%)	6 (0.6%)	3 (0.3%)	3 (0.3%)	106 (10.1%)	$8,610			$925			$7,686	71.5	67	233	47		370345001435
187	Hendersonville Middle	Public	6-8	825 North Whitted Street	Hendersonville	28791	Henderson County	Henderson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 697-4800	540	37	14.5	49.6%	337 (62.4%)	46 (8.5%)	102 (18.9%)	7 (1.3%)	3 (0.6%)	5 (0.9%)	40 (7.4%)	$10,377			$1,128			$9,249	71.3	66.8	234	47		370210000929
188	Queen's Grant Community School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	6400 Matthews Mint Hill Road	Mint Hill	28227	Mecklenburg County	Queen's Grant Community School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 573-6611	1,335	62	21.4	41.3%	638 (47.8%)	357 (26.7%)	218 (16.3%)	27 (2.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	94 (7.0%)								71.2	58.9	295	107		370012702612
189	Union Day School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-11	3000 Tilley Morris Road	Weddington	28104	Union County	Union Day School	Yes	No	No	No	(704) 256-1494	638	48	13.3		342 (53.6%)	100 (15.7%)	103 (16.1%)	47 (7.4%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (6.6%)								71	52.5	365	176		370040303399
190	Mint Hill Middle	Public	6-8	11501 Idlewild Road	Matthews	28105	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-5439	878	49	18	49.9%	276 (31.4%)	234 (26.7%)	248 (28.2%)	70 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	48 (5.5%)	$8,224			$573			$7,651	70.8	66.8	235	45		370297002677

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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 EOG Mathematics, EOG Reading, EOG Science 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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.