Best Middle Schools in North Carolina

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

Find the best North Carolina middle 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 EOG test scores by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 3, 2025.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 773)	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
61	Cramerton Middle	Public	6-8	601 Cramer Mountain Road	Cramerton	28032	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 836-9603	959	51	18.8	43.2%	587 (61.2%)	154 (16.1%)	117 (12.2%)	44 (4.6%)	4 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (5.5%)	$7,892			$734			$7,158	88.9	91.4	54	7		370162000679
62	Pilot Mountain Middle	Public	6-8	543 Old Westfield Road	Pilot Mountain	27041	Surry County	Surry County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 368-2641	401	26	15.5	99.3%	320 (79.8%)	7 (1.7%)	49 (12.2%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (5.5%)	$9,172			$1,003			$8,168	88.8	86.7	87	25		370441001755
63	Eno River Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1212 NC Highway 57 North	Hillsborough	27278	Orange County	Eno River Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(919) 644-6272	828	62	13.2		641 (77.4%)	36 (4.3%)	72 (8.7%)	10 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	67 (8.1%)								88.8	93.2	43	20		370003502340
64	Lincoln Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	7834 Galway Lane	Denver	28037	Lincoln County	Lincoln Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 483-6611	2,316	141	16.4		1,721 (74.3%)	129 (5.6%)	319 (13.8%)	43 (1.9%)	9 (0.4%)	3 (0.1%)	92 (4.0%)								88.8	91	58	6		370006202393
65	Ocracoke School	Public, Alternative	PK, KG-12	120 Schoolhouse Rd	Ocracoke	27960	Hyde County	Hyde County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 928-3251	139	15	9.1	42.4%	63 (45.3%)	1 (0.7%)	72 (51.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.2%)	$20,156			$1,316			$18,841	88.5	95.8	29	36		370228000979
66	Holly Grove Middle	Public	6-8	1401 Avent Ferry Road	Holly Springs	27540	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 567-4177	979	58	16.9	17.7%	594 (60.7%)	101 (10.3%)	109 (11.1%)	116 (11.8%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	55 (5.6%)	$8,219			$420			$7,799	88.4	92.3	49	17		370472003208
67	Smith Middle	Public	6-8	9201 Seawell School Rd	Chapel Hill	27516	Orange County	Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 918-2145	763	56	13.6	22.4%	322 (42.2%)	104 (13.6%)	98 (12.8%)	170 (22.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (9.0%)	$11,562			$338			$11,224	88.3	89.4	68	1		370072002600
68	Durham School of the Arts	Public, Magnet	6-12	401 North Duke Street	Durham	27701	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 560-3926	1,764	100	17.6	99.2%	612 (34.7%)	437 (24.8%)	542 (30.7%)	50 (2.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	122 (6.9%)	$10,260			$523			$9,737	88.2	89.5	66	2		370126001547
69	The Arts Based School	Public, Charter	K-8	1380 Martin Luther King Jr Dr	Winston Salem	27101	Forsyth County	Arts Based School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(336) 748-4116	663	49	13.5		408 (61.5%)	135 (20.4%)	58 (8.7%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (8.9%)								88.1	87.1	86	17		370012602611
70	Classical Charter Schools of Southport	Public, Charter	K-8	2260 Achievement Ave SE	Bolivia	28422	Brunswick County	Classical Charter Schools of Southport	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 338-4178	573	24	24		398 (69.5%)	18 (3.1%)	105 (18.3%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (8.0%)								88.1	77.3	148	78		370037803334

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

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 EOG Mathematics, EOG Reading, EOG Science 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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.