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
81	Middle College at GTCC-Greensboro	Public	9-12	3505 East Wendover Avenue	Greensboro	27405	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 375-2466	162	11	15.3	98.1%	20 (12.3%)	91 (56.2%)	34 (21.0%)	12 (7.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.1%)	$10,384			$218			$10,166	89.5	93.7	45	36		370192002771
82	Sallie B Howard School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1004 Herring Avenue E	Wilson	27893	Wilson County	Sallie B Howard School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 293-4150	1,228	77	15.9	97.1%	35 (2.9%)	637 (51.9%)	490 (39.9%)	15 (1.2%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (4.0%)								89.4	94	39	43		370004902365
83	Lenoir County Early College High	Public	9-12	231 Hwy 58 South	Kinston	28502	Lenoir County	Lenoir County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 233-6870	246	8	29.8	98.8%	101 (41.1%)	58 (23.6%)	68 (27.6%)	12 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.8%)	$8,270			$445			$7,825	89.4	87.8	98	15		370261002831
84	Massey Hill Classical High	Public	9-12	1062 Southern Avenue	Fayetteville	28306	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 485-8761	273	19	14.3	39.6%	127 (46.5%)	48 (17.6%)	58 (21.2%)	7 (2.6%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (11.4%)	$11,273			$981			$10,292	89.4	82.8	122	38		370001100420
85	Randolph Early College High School	Public	9-12	629 Industrial Park Avenue	Asheboro	27205	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	No	(336) 625-1137	358	12	29.8	44.4%	194 (54.2%)	8 (2.2%)	125 (34.9%)	22 (6.1%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.2%)	$5,706			$159			$5,547	89.2	94.1	36	49		370378002883
86	SEA-Technical	Public	9-12	5301 Sidbury Road	Castle Hayne	28429	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 530-6300	227	17	13.6	98.7%	144 (63.4%)	26 (11.5%)	38 (16.7%)	5 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (6.2%)	$13,361			$253			$13,108	89.1	87	104	18		370333003439
87	The JP Knapp ECH (i)School	Public	9-12	2966 Caratoke Hwy	Currituck	27929	Currituck County	Currituck County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 232-3107	274	6	44.4	22.3%	213 (77.7%)	9 (3.3%)	26 (9.5%)	6 (2.2%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (6.9%)	$8,725			$230			$8,496	89.1	90.1	76	11		370108003037
88	Central Piedmont Early College	Public	9-12	1228 Elizabeth Avenue	Charlotte	28204	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-1118	278	10	27.8	41.4%	48 (17.3%)	114 (41.0%)	89 (32.0%)	15 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.3%)	$18,854			$1,855			$16,999	88.5	90.8	67	21		370297002842
89	GTCC Middle College High	Public	9-12	613 East Main Street	Jamestown	27282	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 819-2957	255	16	16.2	98.8%	62 (24.3%)	108 (42.4%)	59 (23.1%)	12 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	13 (5.1%)	$9,013			$587			$8,425	88.3	73.5	161	72		370192002585
90	Union Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	675 North ML King Jr Blvd	Monroe	28110	Union County	Union Academy Charter School	Yes	No	No	No	(704) 238-8883	2,186	139	15.7		1,469 (67.2%)	248 (11.3%)	299 (13.7%)	35 (1.6%)	11 (0.5%)	2 (0.1%)	122 (5.6%)								88	88.1	97	7		370011202551

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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

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.