Best Elementary Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina elementary 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 1490)	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
701	Brunson Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	155 N Hawthorne Road	Winston Salem	27104	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 703-4206	355	29	12.3	99.2%	107 (30.1%)	147 (41.4%)	71 (20.0%)	7 (2.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (6.2%)	$9,861			$976			$8,885	52.6	51.4	723	22		370150000590
702	Wilson Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2755 Tilghman Rd N	Wilson	27896	Wilson County	Wilson Preparatory Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 294-2533	725	41	17.6	98.6%	39 (5.4%)	566 (78.1%)	65 (9.0%)	5 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (6.8%)								52.6	69	427	275		370037903323
703	Plain View Elementary	Public	K-5	4140 Plain View Hwy	Dunn	28334	Sampson County	Sampson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 891-4354	362	20	17.6	99.2%	214 (59.1%)	26 (7.2%)	99 (27.3%)	3 (0.8%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.1%)	$9,947			$1,248			$8,699	52.5	65.7	481	222		370414001678
704	Douglas Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	600 Ortega Rd	Raleigh	27609	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 881-4894	562	41	13.7	44.0%	280 (49.8%)	97 (17.3%)	155 (27.6%)	12 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.2%)	$9,422			$383			$9,039	52.5	57.4	628	76		370472001851
705	Emereau: Bladen	Public, Charter	K-8	995 Airport Rd	Elizabethtown	28337	Bladen County	Emereau: Bladen	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 247-6595	629	49	12.9		382 (60.7%)	107 (17.0%)	71 (11.3%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (7.2%)								52.4	44.4	851	146		370041303430
706	Little River Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2315 Snow Hill Road	Durham	27712	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 560-3940	326	29	11.3	99.1%	127 (39.0%)	74 (22.7%)	87 (26.7%)	4 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (10.4%)	$12,393			$773			$11,620	52.3	41.7	898	192		370126000539
707	Catawba Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	5415 Hudson Chapel Road	Catawba	28609	Catawba County	Catawba County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 241-3131	450	26	17	99.3%	279 (62.0%)	33 (7.3%)	75 (16.7%)	24 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (8.7%)	$9,663			$1,298			$8,365	52.2	59.5	590	117		370069000278
708	Estes Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	275 Overlook Road	Asheville	28803	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 654-1795	754	53	14.2	99.5%	408 (54.1%)	100 (13.3%)	173 (22.9%)	25 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	44 (5.8%)	$10,805			$1,421			$9,384	52.1	58.4	609	99		370045002063
709	JCPS Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1455 Buffalo Rd	Smithfield	27577	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(984) 285-3700	203	16	12.9	98.0%	87 (42.9%)	54 (26.6%)	44 (21.7%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (8.4%)								52.1	28.7	1127	418		370237003583
710	Reaching All Minds Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2703 Holloway St.	Durham	27703	Durham County	Reaching All Minds Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 596-1899	391	36	10.9		45 (11.5%)	52 (13.3%)	289 (73.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)								52.1	46.9	802	92		370036303346

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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 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.