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
281	Alpha Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	8030 Raeford Road	Fayetteville	28304	Cumberland County	Alpha Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 223-7711	960	55	17.5	67.5%	109 (11.4%)	509 (53.0%)	203 (21.1%)	23 (2.4%)	9 (0.9%)	15 (1.6%)	92 (9.6%)								51.8	54.2	270	11		370010302511
282	Carrboro High	Public	9-12	201 Rock Haven Rd	Carrboro	27510	Orange County	Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 918-2200	885	64	13.7	30.4%	441 (49.8%)	82 (9.3%)	272 (30.7%)	43 (4.9%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	45 (5.1%)	$13,304			$311			$12,993	51.8	64.7	206	76		370072002823
283	Roanoke Valley Early College	Public	9-12	100 College Dr	Weldon	27890	Halifax County	Weldon City Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 536-6364	114	2	52.2	97.4%	5 (4.4%)	104 (91.2%)	3 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.8%)	$10,910			$689			$10,222	51.7	43.2	347	64		370489003079
284	Northside High	Public	9-12	7868 Free Union Church Road	Pinetown	27865	Beaufort County	Beaufort County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 943-6341	380	22	17.6	99.2%	269 (70.8%)	50 (13.2%)	45 (11.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (4.2%)	$12,647			$840			$11,807	51.4	43.6	344	60		370033002224
285	Murphy High	Public	9-12	234 High School Circle	Murphy	28906	Cherokee County	Cherokee County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 837-2426	424	20	20.8	99.3%	340 (80.2%)	13 (3.1%)	36 (8.5%)	7 (1.7%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (5.9%)	$10,724			$1,248			$9,476	51.2	53.4	279	6		370078000323
286	Madison High School	Public	9-12	5740 US Hwy 25-70	Marshall	28753	Madison County	Madison County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 649-2876	377	45	8.4	97.9%	354 (93.9%)	1 (0.3%)	16 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.6%)	$13,733			$1,107			$12,625	51.2	52	288	2		370282001153
287	Spring Creek High	Public	9-12	4340 Indian Springs Rd	Seven Springs	28578	Wayne County	Wayne County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 751-7160	732	32	22.9	98.6%	137 (18.7%)	114 (15.6%)	454 (62.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (3.6%)	$9,260			$926			$8,335	51.1	33.7	413	126		370488002499
288	South Caldwell High	Public	9-12	7035 Spartan Drive	Hudson	28638	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 396-2188	1,272	67	19	99.1%	1,030 (81.0%)	25 (2.0%)	151 (11.9%)	7 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (4.6%)	$9,486			$729			$8,757	51	46.9	318	30		370058000239
289	Alleghany High	Public	9-12	404 Trojan Avenue	Sparta	28675	Alleghany County	Alleghany County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 372-4554	395	34	11.6	99.2%	284 (71.9%)	4 (1.0%)	96 (24.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	7 (1.8%)	$13,265			$926			$12,339	50.8	46.4	320	31		370012000037
290	Nash Central High	Public	9-12	4279 Nash Central High Road	Rocky Mount	27804	Nash County	Nash County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 451-2860	703	32	21.8	99.6%	240 (34.1%)	351 (49.9%)	73 (10.4%)	6 (0.9%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (4.3%)	$9,453			$925			$8,529	50.8	34.8	406	116		370327002643

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.