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
631	Alger B. Wilkins High School	Public	9-12	1429 Skibo Road	Fayetteville	28303	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 864-5438	159	12	13.4	89.3%	18 (11.3%)	111 (69.8%)	17 (10.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	12 (7.5%)	$13,760			$1,393			$12,367	3	4.8	620	11		370001102981
632	Bragg Street Academy	Public	6-12	504 Bragg Street	Sanford	27330	Lee County	Lee County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 775-2686	40	6	6.4	90.0%	7 (17.5%)	18 (45.0%)	14 (35.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.5%)	$20,791			$253			$20,538	2.8			(n/a)		370256001584
633	SCORE Academy	Public	9-12	5651 Dillard Dr	Cary	27518	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-8560	584	32	18.3	99.5%	164 (28.1%)	210 (36.0%)	174 (29.8%)	12 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	23 (3.9%)	$16,937			$337			$16,599	2.7	3.9	624	9		370472003444
634	Tar River Academy	Public	9-12	906 Hammond Street	Rocky Mount	27804	Nash County	Nash County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 451-2875	74	6	12.3	95.9%	10 (13.5%)	43 (58.1%)	15 (20.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (8.1%)	$22,339			$2,188			$20,151	2.7			(n/a)		370327001218
635	Hallyburton Academy	Public	6-12	205 South Main Street	Drexel	28619	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 437-4184	73	9	8.4	95.9%	45 (61.6%)	5 (6.8%)	12 (16.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	10 (13.7%)	$18,048			$1,530			$16,517	2.5	5.3	615	20		370048001005
636	STAR Academy	Public	6-12	900 11th Street	Lillington	27546	Harnett County	Harnett County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 893-4072	31	4	8.7	87.1%	6 (19.4%)	21 (67.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (12.9%)	$14,449			$1,242			$13,207	2.3			(n/a)		370201002117
637	Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	130 Haliwa-Saponi Trail	Hollister	27844	Warren County	Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 257-5853	140	10	14.4	97.9%	3 (2.1%)	23 (16.4%)	10 (7.1%)	0 (0.0%)	83 (59.3%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (15.0%)								2.1	2.6	626	11		370011502562
638	Choice Plus Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	211 East Rose Street	Smithfield	27577	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(984) 230-0500	97	11	8.6	96.9%	14 (14.4%)	49 (50.5%)	31 (32.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.1%)								1.6			(n/a)		370237003545
639	Turning Point Academy	Public	9-12	8701 Moores Chapel Rd	Charlotte	28214	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-5231	144	22	6.5	97.9%	4 (2.8%)	125 (86.8%)	7 (4.9%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (4.2%)	$30,170			$4,243			$25,927	1.2	1.1	639			370297000871
640	Dare Learning Academy	Public	9-12	100 Veterans Drive	Kill Devil Hills	27948	Dare County	Dare County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 480-8888	39	2	25	92.3%	29 (74.4%)	2 (5.1%)	4 (10.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (10.3%)	$20,105			$451			$19,654	1.2	2.2	631	9		370111002093

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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

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.