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
431	East Rowan High	Public	9-12	175 St Luke's Church Rd	Salisbury	28146	Rowan County	Rowan-Salisbury Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 279-5232	986	49	20	98.4%	703 (71.3%)	121 (12.3%)	97 (9.8%)	4 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (6.2%)	$9,575			$985			$8,590	32.3	31.3	436	5		370405001616
432	R J Reynolds High	Public, Magnet	9-12	301 N Hawthorne Road	Winston Salem	27104	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 703-4145	1,759	99	17.7	99.4%	565 (32.1%)	613 (34.8%)	432 (24.6%)	56 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	92 (5.2%)	$8,101			$446			$7,655	32.2	31.7	434	2		370150000634
433	Rocky Mount Preparatory	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3334 Bishop Road	Rocky Mount	27804	Nash County	Rocky Mount Preparatory	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 443-9923	854	35	24.1	97.7%	46 (5.4%)	702 (82.2%)	42 (4.9%)	10 (1.2%)	8 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	45 (5.3%)								32	9.7	594	161		370003402334
434	E E Smith High	Public	9-12	1800 Seabrook Road	Fayetteville	28301	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 483-0153	1,017	44	22.8	99.7%	98 (9.6%)	660 (64.9%)	166 (16.3%)	7 (0.7%)	10 (1.0%)	5 (0.5%)	71 (7.0%)	$10,706			$1,987			$8,720	31.9	20.8	511	77		370001102124
435	South Lenoir High	Public	9-12	3355 Old Hwy 11 South	Deep Run	28525	Lenoir County	Lenoir County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 568-6161	721	48	15.1	99.6%	392 (54.4%)	117 (16.2%)	170 (23.6%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (5.1%)	$10,185			$1,319			$8,866	31.6	30.1	448	13		370261001094
436	Southside High	Public	9-12	5700 Hwy 33 East	Chocowinity	27817	Beaufort County	Beaufort County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 940-1881	410	23	17.4	99.3%	171 (41.7%)	142 (34.6%)	73 (17.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (5.4%)	$12,556			$899			$11,657	31.2	45.6	329	107		370033002504
437	Perquimans County High	Public	9-12	305 Edenton Road St	Hertford	27944	Perquimans County	Perquimans County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 426-5778	556	34	16.2	99.5%	369 (66.4%)	134 (24.1%)	25 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (5.0%)	$13,229			$968			$12,260	31.1	34.1	410	27		370360001475
438	Asheboro High	Public	9-12	1221 S Park St	Asheboro	27203	Randolph County	Asheboro City Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 625-6185	1,338	66	20.3	99.8%	313 (23.4%)	194 (14.5%)	744 (55.6%)	29 (2.2%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (4.1%)	$9,620			$822			$8,797	31.1	28.9	461	23		370024000062
439	East Forsyth High	Public	9-12	2500 W Mountain Street	Kernersville	27284	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 703-6735	1,647	100	16.5	99.8%	707 (42.9%)	369 (22.4%)	468 (28.4%)	11 (0.7%)	2 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	90 (5.5%)	$8,955			$537			$8,418	31	33.7	412	27		370150000600
440	Freedom High	Public	9-12	511 Independence Boulevard	Morganton	28655	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 433-1310	1,299	57	22.7	99.8%	595 (45.8%)	93 (7.2%)	459 (35.3%)	54 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	98 (7.5%)	$8,511			$796			$7,716	30.4	37.9	388	52		370048000176

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.