Best High Schools in North Carolina

A teacher and two students give a thumbs-up in a classroom.

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.

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 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
581	Southeast Raleigh High	Public, Magnet	9-12	2600 Rock Quarry Road	Raleigh	27610	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(919) 856-2800	1,438	103	13.9	99.8%	72 (5.0%)	767 (53.3%)	516 (35.9%)	24 (1.7%)	4 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (3.8%)	$10,076			$731			$9,346	12.7	14.7	553	28		370472002355
582	Yadkin Success Academy	Public	6-12	733 East Main Street	Yadkinville	27055	Yadkin County	Yadkin County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 551-1166	43	5	8.9	86.0%	27 (62.8%)	4 (9.3%)	12 (27.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$31,264			$1,106			$30,158	12.6	4.4	622	40		370504002659
583	Ignite Online Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	5321 Ephesus Church Rd.	Durham	27707	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(919) 972-4400	363	28	12.9	58.1%	60 (16.5%)	174 (47.9%)	81 (22.3%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	42 (11.6%)								12.6	20.9	510	73		370126003580
584	Davidson County High School	Public	6-12	2061 E Holly Grove Road	Lexington	27292	Davidson County	Davidson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 242-1459	64	10	6.4	95.3%	45 (70.3%)	4 (6.3%)	13 (20.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.1%)	$16,547			$783			$15,764	12.3	5.7	613	29		370114000462
585	Military and Global Leadership	Public, Magnet	9-12	1411 Hawthorne Lane Ste A	Charlotte	28205	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(980) 343-6011	71	9	7.8	95.8%	4 (5.6%)	27 (38.0%)	39 (54.9%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,227			$794			$11,434	12	11	585			370297003042
586	Salisbury High	Public	9-12	500 Lincolnton Rd	Salisbury	28144	Rowan County	Rowan-Salisbury Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 636-1221	930	47	19.5	99.7%	139 (14.9%)	401 (43.1%)	320 (34.4%)	12 (1.3%)	6 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (5.6%)	$11,029			$745			$10,284	11.9	10.8	587	1		370405002253
587	Davidson River School	Public	6-12	970 Ecusta Rd	Brevard	28712	Transylvania County	Transylvania County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 884-9567	61	9	6.7	91.8%	44 (72.1%)	2 (3.3%)	6 (9.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (14.8%)	$16,825			$1,735			$15,090	11.9			(n/a)		370453002351
588	West Rowan High	Public	9-12	8050 NC 801 Hwy	Mount Ulla	28125	Rowan County	Rowan-Salisbury Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 278-9233	988	46	21.6	99.7%	497 (50.3%)	180 (18.2%)	221 (22.4%)	11 (1.1%)	4 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	74 (7.5%)	$9,333			$909			$8,424	11.8	11.5	580	8		370405001630
589	Parkland High	Public, Magnet	9-12	1600 Brewer Road	Winston Salem	27127	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 771-4700	1,569	106	14.8	99.8%	115 (7.3%)	587 (37.4%)	800 (51.0%)	8 (0.5%)	5 (0.3%)	3 (0.2%)	51 (3.3%)	$9,527			$1,008			$8,519	11.8	11.4	581	8		370150000631
590	Wallace-Rose Hill High	Public	9-12	602 High School Road	Teachey	28464	Duplin County	Duplin County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 285-7501	738	42	17.4	99.6%	140 (19.0%)	205 (27.8%)	364 (49.3%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (3.0%)	$12,968			$891			$12,077	11.5	18.8	524	66		370120000505

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 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

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.