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
621	Phoenix Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	204 Taylor St	Oxford	27565	Granville County	Granville County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 690-2300	17	2	8.5	82.4%	2 (11.8%)	11 (64.7%)	2 (11.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (11.8%)	$32,167			$162			$32,005	4.8	1.8	634	13		370180003114
622	Central Haywood High	Public	9-12	62 Joy Lane	Waynesville	28786	Haywood County	Haywood County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 627-9944	63	7	8.5	93.7%	48 (76.2%)	2 (3.2%)	10 (15.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.2%)	$18,725			$2,409			$16,316	4.6			(n/a)		370204001147
623	Ray Street Academy	Public	6-12	609 Ray Street	Graham	27253	Alamance County	Alamance-Burlington Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 570-6644	36	15	2.4	91.7%	12 (33.3%)	17 (47.2%)	7 (19.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$33,251			$3,956			$29,295	4.5			(n/a)		370003002153
624	Montgomery Learning Academy	Public	6-12	310 S Main	Troy	27371	Montgomery County	Montgomery County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 572-1161	54	7	7.7	94.4%	19 (35.2%)	13 (24.1%)	19 (35.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (5.6%)	$21,924			$12			$21,912	4.2	1.7	636	12		370306002328
625	Jackson Community School	Public	5-12	3770 Skyland Drive	Sylva	28779	Jackson County	Jackson County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 586-4328	50	4	14	88.0%	38 (76.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (14.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (6.0%)	$26,010			$1,858			$24,152	4.1	4.3	623	2		370234002467
626	Northampton County High School	Public	9-12	152 Hurricane Drive	Gaston	27832	Northampton County	Northampton County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 537-1910	265	19	14.1	98.9%	15 (5.7%)	222 (83.8%)	13 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.9%)	$17,040			$1,791			$15,249	3.8	7.9	609	17		370342001412
627	Commonwealth High	Public, Charter	9-12	5112 Central Ave	Charlotte	28205	Mecklenburg County	Commonwealth High School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 899-4998	377	12	32.2		22 (5.8%)	166 (44.0%)	158 (41.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (8.0%)								3.8			(n/a)		370038203336
628	Durham's Performance Learning Center	Public	9-12	401 North Driver Street	Durham	27703	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 560-9190	122	17	7.3	90.2%	3 (2.5%)	61 (50.0%)	52 (42.6%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.1%)	$15,776			$849			$14,927	3.6	14.1	558	70		370126003085
629	Tarboro High	Public	9-12	1400 Howard Avenue	Tarboro	27886	Edgecombe County	Edgecombe County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 823-4284	496	26	19.2	99.4%	58 (11.7%)	378 (76.2%)	44 (8.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.2%)	$11,401			$1,160			$10,241	3.3	5.6	614	15		370132001770
630	Stokes County Academy	Public	6-12	4611 NC 8 Hwy North	Lawsonville	27022	Stokes County	Stokes County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 593-8284	59	9	6.8	94.9%	45 (76.3%)	2 (3.4%)	5 (8.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (11.9%)	$15,262			$1,163			$14,099	3.1	1.5	637	7		370438002411

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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:

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.