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
551	Rocky Mount High	Public	9-12	1400 Bethlehem Road	Rocky Mount	27803	Nash County	Nash County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 937-9050	1,023	43	23.9	97.7%	78 (7.6%)	791 (77.3%)	98 (9.6%)	17 (1.7%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	35 (3.4%)	$9,474			$733			$8,740	16.4	16.6	541	10		370327000763
552	South Rowan High	Public	9-12	1655 Patterson St	China Grove	28023	Rowan County	Rowan-Salisbury Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 857-1161	932	43	21.5	99.7%	552 (59.2%)	85 (9.1%)	230 (24.7%)	9 (1.0%)	5 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	50 (5.4%)	$9,584			$1,002			$8,582	16.2	11.9	578	26		370405001629
553	Northeast Guilford High	Public	9-12	6700 McLeansville Road	Mc Leansville	27301	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 375-2500	977	69	14	99.7%	132 (13.5%)	584 (59.8%)	192 (19.7%)	16 (1.6%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	49 (5.0%)	$10,865			$1,243			$9,622	15.9	21.2	506	47		370192000836
554	Bessemer City High	Public	9-12	119 Yellow Jacket Lane	Bessemer City	28016	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 836-9601	590	32	18.5	99.5%	259 (43.9%)	148 (25.1%)	144 (24.4%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (5.9%)	$9,616			$754			$8,862	15.9	23.9	491	63		370162000668
555	Julius L. Chambers High School	Public	9-12	7600 IBM Dr	Charlotte	28262	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-5284	2,225	117	18.9	99.9%	50 (2.2%)	1,208 (54.3%)	869 (39.1%)	34 (1.5%)	4 (0.2%)	6 (0.3%)	54 (2.4%)	$9,360			$974			$8,387	15.8	13.3	566	11		370297002326
556	J. F. Webb High	Public	9-12	3200 Webb School Rd	Oxford	27565	Granville County	Granville County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 693-2521	512	26	19.8	98.4%	111 (21.7%)	285 (55.7%)	94 (18.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.1%)	$12,237			$926			$11,311	15.7	25.4	479	77		370180000742
557	Shelby High	Public	9-12	230 E Dixon Boulevard	Shelby	28152	Cleveland County	Cleveland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 476-8325	792	51	15.4	99.6%	231 (29.2%)	417 (52.7%)	79 (10.0%)	10 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	54 (6.8%)	$9,492			$690			$8,802	15.5	21.3	505	52		370090002720
558	Hillside High	Public, Magnet	9-12	3727 Fayetteville St	Durham	27707	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 560-3925	1,433	82	17.3	99.8%	27 (1.9%)	859 (59.9%)	460 (32.1%)	19 (1.3%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	62 (4.3%)	$11,407			$967			$10,441	15.3	14	560	2		370126000385
559	Alamance Virtual School	Public, Virtual	6-12	609 Ray Street	Graham	27253	Alamance County	Alamance-Burlington Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(336) 570-6134	203	18	11.3	62.1%	89 (43.8%)	60 (29.6%)	28 (13.8%)	4 (2.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (10.3%)								15.1	42	358	201		370003003574
560	Hunter Huss High	Public	9-12	1518 Edgefield Avenue	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 866-6610	1,165	62	18.9	99.7%	214 (18.4%)	488 (41.9%)	403 (34.6%)	3 (0.3%)	6 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	50 (4.3%)	$9,702			$791			$8,910	15.1	17.8	532	28		370162000691

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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:

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

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.