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
111	Durham School of the Arts	Public, Magnet	6-12	401 North Duke Street	Durham	27701	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 560-3926	1,764	100	17.6	99.2%	612 (34.7%)	437 (24.8%)	542 (30.7%)	50 (2.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	122 (6.9%)	$10,260			$523			$9,737	85.1	80.5	132	21		370126001547
112	Croatan High	Public	9-12	1 Cougar Ln	Newport	28570	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 393-7022	1,019	44	23.4	27.9%	855 (83.9%)	9 (0.9%)	97 (9.5%)	16 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	41 (4.0%)	$9,671			$682			$8,989	84.8	83.6	119	7		370063002369
113	Caldwell Applied Sciences Academy	Public	9-12	2857 Hickory Boulevard	Hudson	28638	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 759-4640	218	10	21.1	33.9%	173 (79.4%)	4 (1.8%)	25 (11.5%)	4 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.5%)	$8,388			$210			$8,178	84.4	80.9	130	17		370058002435
114	Wilmington Early College High	Public	9-12	4500 Blue Clay Rd	Castle Hayne	28429	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 362-7789	270	13	20.6	98.9%	146 (54.1%)	57 (21.1%)	48 (17.8%)	8 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.1%)	$8,673			$273			$8,400	84.2	88.3	95	19		370333002915
115	Mayland Early College	Public	9-12	264 Mayland Dr	Spruce Pine	28777	Avery County	Mitchell County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 766-2590	113	5	23.2	97.3%	91 (80.5%)	1 (0.9%)	11 (9.7%)	3 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.2%)	$7,370			$209			$7,160	83.9	84.6	113	2		370300003137
116	Community School of Davidson	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	404 Armour Street	Davidson	28036	Mecklenburg County	Community School of Davidson	Yes	No	No	No	(704) 897-8061	1,631	87	18.7		1,263 (77.4%)	63 (3.9%)	151 (9.3%)	56 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	98 (6.0%)								83.6	83.7	118	2		370013502736
117	Tri-County Early College High	Public	9-12	Tri-County Early College High	Murphy	28906	Cherokee County	Cherokee County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 837-6775	153	8	18.5	96.1%	112 (73.2%)	4 (2.6%)	24 (15.7%)	4 (2.6%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.2%)	$7,830			$280			$7,549	83.6	77.7	140	23		370078002892
118	Northwest School of the Arts	Public, Magnet	6-12	1415 Beatties Ford Rd	Charlotte	28216	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-5500	993	62	15.9	38.1%	323 (32.5%)	432 (43.5%)	147 (14.8%)	12 (1.2%)	6 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	73 (7.4%)	$9,618			$478			$9,141	83.5	73.1	164	46		370297001250
119	Camden Early College High	Public	9-12	103-A US Highway 158 West	Camden	27921	Camden County	Camden County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 335-7219	124	4	30.3	16.1%	98 (79.0%)	3 (2.4%)	10 (8.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (10.5%)	$6,039			$00			$6,039	83.2	91.8	59	60		370060003391
120	Davie County Early College High	Public	9-12	1211 Salisbury Road	Mocksville	27028	Davie County	Davie County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 753-0888	131	3	47.1	55.7%	74 (56.5%)	10 (7.6%)	38 (29.0%)	2 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (5.3%)	$5,779			$197			$5,583	83	69.7	181	61		370117002827

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:

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

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.