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
21	Isaac M Bear Early College High School	Public	9-12	630 MacMillan Avenue	Wilmington	28403	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 350-1387	260	11	24.7	25.8%	162 (62.3%)	10 (3.8%)	47 (18.1%)	23 (8.8%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	16 (6.2%)	$9,555			$284			$9,271	95.2	91.3	63	42		370333002888
22	Wake Young Men's Leadership Academy	Public	6-12	567 East Hargett St	Raleigh	27601	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 664-5644	262	21	12.7	35.1%	75 (28.6%)	116 (44.3%)	42 (16.0%)	20 (7.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.4%)	$12,691			$443			$12,248	95.2	95.6	18	4		370472003239
23	Harnett County Early College	Public	9-12	910 W. Harnett Street	Dunn	28334	Harnett County	Harnett County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 814-3470	185	5	34.4	45.4%	62 (33.5%)	38 (20.5%)	65 (35.1%)	6 (3.2%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (7.0%)	$8,448			$103			$8,345	95.1	89.8	80	57		370201003443
24	PCS Early College High School	Public	9-12	Pitt Community College	Winterville	28590	Pitt County	Pitt County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 493-7821	334	14	23.3	99.1%	107 (32.0%)	117 (35.0%)	93 (27.8%)	6 (1.8%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	9 (2.7%)	$7,489			$876			$6,613	95.1	94.4	31	7		370001203359
25	City of Medicine Academy	Public	9-12	301 Crutchfield Road	Durham	27704	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 560-2001	329	20	16.6	98.5%	24 (7.3%)	121 (36.8%)	157 (47.7%)	11 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (4.9%)	$12,056			$1,005			$11,051	94.9	85	112	87		370126003112
26	J D Clement Early College High School	Public	9-12	1801 Fayetteville Street	Durham	27707	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 560-2696	380	14	26.2	99.2%	16 (4.2%)	214 (56.3%)	119 (31.3%)	12 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	18 (4.7%)	$8,162			$393			$7,769	94.8	94.1	37	11		370126002726
27	Davidson Early College	Public	9-12	297 DCCC Road	Thomasville	27360	Davidson County	Davidson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 242-5686	138	5	30.6	42.8%	98 (71.0%)	11 (8.0%)	14 (10.1%)	6 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (6.5%)	$9,157			$89			$9,067	94.7	93.9	44	17		370114002759
28	Richmond Early College High	Public	9-12	1042 W Hamlet Ave	Hamlet	28345	Richmond County	Richmond County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 410-1922	294	8	37.8	99.0%	168 (57.1%)	38 (12.9%)	62 (21.1%)	6 (2.0%)	6 (2.0%)	1 (0.3%)	13 (4.4%)	$6,338			$528			$5,810	94.7	95.3	26	2		370387002916
29	Stanly Early College High	Public	9-12	141 College Drive	Albemarle	28001	Stanly County	Stanly County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 961-4400	188	8	23.4	98.4%	143 (76.1%)	7 (3.7%)	25 (13.3%)	8 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.7%)	$7,609			$364			$7,245	94.7	91.7	60	31		370432002890
30	Pender Early College High	Public	9-12	100 East Industrial Drive	Burgaw	28425	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 362-7925	215	4	50.8	98.6%	140 (65.1%)	10 (4.7%)	50 (23.3%)	3 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.6%)	$7,865			$425			$7,440	94.3	95.5	22	8		370357002906

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.