Best High Schools in North Carolina

A teacher and two students give a thumbs-up in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
461	New Hanover High	Public	9-12	1307 Market St	Wilmington	28401	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 251-6100	1,437	91	15.7	98.5%	523 (36.4%)	457 (31.8%)	381 (26.5%)	15 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	59 (4.1%)	$10,692			$741			$9,950	29.2	32	432	29		370333001384
462	Performance Learning Center	Public	6-12	4521 Weddington Road	Concord	28027	Cabarrus County	Cabarrus County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 260-6800	77	7	11.8	96.1%	37 (48.1%)	13 (16.9%)	23 (29.9%)	1 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.9%)	$10,998			$489			$10,509	29.2	18.6	527	65		370053002975
463	South Columbus High	Public	9-12	40 Stallion Drive	Tabor City	28463	Columbus County	Columbus County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 653-4073	669	43	15.7	99.4%	409 (61.1%)	157 (23.5%)	80 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	18 (2.7%)	$9,661			$1,025			$8,636	29	31.3	439	24		370096000237
464	Mount Tabor High School	Public	9-12	342 Petree Road	Winston Salem	27106	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 703-6700	1,426	81	17.6	99.8%	416 (29.2%)	553 (38.8%)	358 (25.1%)	32 (2.2%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	63 (4.4%)	$8,336			$579			$7,757	29	31.3	438	26		370150000623
465	McDowell High School	Public	9-12	600 McDowell High School Dr	Marion	28752	McDowell County	McDowell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 652-7920	1,379	88	15.6	98.8%	1,003 (72.7%)	50 (3.6%)	221 (16.0%)	13 (0.9%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	89 (6.5%)	$9,698			$1,036			$8,662	29	32.1	429	36		370294001179
466	Newton-Conover High	Public	9-12	338 W 15th Street	Newton	28658	Catawba County	Newton Conover City Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 465-0920	724	44	16.5	60.5%	314 (43.4%)	71 (9.8%)	222 (30.7%)	46 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	71 (9.8%)	$10,228			$626			$9,601	28.9	44	341	125		370336001400
467	Columbia High	Public	9-12	902 Main St	Columbia	27925	Tyrrell County	Tyrrell County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 796-8161	176	15	11.9	98.3%	50 (28.4%)	56 (31.8%)	49 (27.8%)	4 (2.3%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	15 (8.5%)	$17,784			$1,533			$16,251	28.8	49.5	302	165		370459001788
468	Overhills High	Public	9-12	2495 Ray Road	Spring Lake	28390	Harnett County	Harnett County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 436-1436	1,981	74	26.7	50.9%	623 (31.4%)	681 (34.4%)	467 (23.6%)	15 (0.8%)	17 (0.9%)	19 (1.0%)	159 (8.0%)	$7,867			$653			$7,214	28.7	30.6	445	23		370201002733
469	Clinton High	Public	9-12	340 Indian Town Road	Clinton	28328	Sampson County	Clinton City Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 592-2067	828	44	18.8	99.6%	181 (21.9%)	274 (33.1%)	305 (36.8%)	3 (0.4%)	24 (2.9%)	1 (0.1%)	40 (4.8%)	$10,512			$1,042			$9,470	28.4	23.4	493	24		370093000353
470	Surry Online Magnet School	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	883 Zephyr Road	Dobson	27017	Surry County	Surry County Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(336) 386-8215	121	2	60.5	53.7%	98 (81.0%)	3 (2.5%)	11 (9.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (7.4%)								28.3	41.3	364	106		370441003549

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

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.