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
361	Crest High	Public	9-12	800 Old Boiling Springs Road	Shelby	28152	Cleveland County	Cleveland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 476-8331	1,098	58	18.8	99.7%	671 (61.1%)	254 (23.1%)	91 (8.3%)	4 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	76 (6.9%)	$8,650			$808			$7,842	42.2	66.2	199	162		370090000340
362	Academy at Smith	Public, Magnet	9-12	2225 South Holden Road	Greensboro	27407	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 316-5866	246	20	12.4	98.8%	7 (2.8%)	131 (53.3%)	77 (31.3%)	20 (8.1%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.7%)	$14,187			$784			$13,403	41.8	54.2	267	95		370192002889
363	Southeast Guilford High	Public	9-12	4530 Southeast School Road	Greensboro	27406	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 674-4300	1,209	78	15.5	99.8%	538 (44.5%)	400 (33.1%)	166 (13.7%)	33 (2.7%)	8 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	63 (5.2%)	$9,360			$799			$8,561	41.8	52.2	286	77		370192000846
364	Ashe County High	Public	9-12	184 Campus Drive	West Jefferson	28694	Ashe County	Ashe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 846-2400	767	41	18.7	99.1%	649 (84.6%)	4 (0.5%)	93 (12.1%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (2.2%)	$10,958			$817			$10,142	41.8	44.8	335	29		370021002425
365	West Johnston High	Public	9-12	5935 Raleigh Road	Benson	27504	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 934-7333	1,563	66	23.6	99.2%	797 (51.0%)	209 (13.4%)	458 (29.3%)	13 (0.8%)	10 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	76 (4.9%)	$8,533			$535			$7,999	41.7	41.4	363	2		370237002635
366	Hobbton High	Public	9-12	12201 Hobbton Hwy	Newton Grove	28366	Sampson County	Sampson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 594-0242	467	24	19.4	99.4%	121 (25.9%)	68 (14.6%)	259 (55.5%)	2 (0.4%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.0%)	$9,904			$1,058			$8,846	41.2	40.1	371	5		370414001672
367	Central Davidson High	Public	9-12	2747 NC Hwy 47	Lexington	27292	Davidson County	Davidson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 357-2920	897	50	17.7	55.1%	663 (73.9%)	45 (5.0%)	137 (15.3%)	9 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (4.7%)	$8,319			$521			$7,798	41.2	34	411	44		370114000459
368	Trinity High School	Public	9-12	5746 Trinity High Drive	Trinity	27370	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	No	(336) 861-6870	675	39	17.4	55.9%	418 (61.9%)	49 (7.3%)	112 (16.6%)	58 (8.6%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	34 (5.0%)	$9,523			$662			$8,861	41.2	36	401	33		370378001534
369	Forestview High	Public	9-12	5545 Union Road	Gastonia	28056	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 861-2625	1,133	62	18.2	99.7%	515 (45.5%)	282 (24.9%)	247 (21.8%)	27 (2.4%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	57 (5.0%)	$8,409			$693			$7,716	41.1	47.6	314	55		370162002384
370	Southern Nash High	Public	9-12	6446 Southern Nash High Road	Bailey	27807	Nash County	Nash County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 451-8520	1,048	44	23.8	99.0%	384 (36.6%)	215 (20.5%)	399 (38.1%)	4 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (4.3%)	$9,274			$717			$8,556	41.1	38.7	378	8		370327001354

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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

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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.