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
211	Pinnacle Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2401 Joes Lake Rd	Shelby	28152	Cleveland County	Pinnacle Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 740-4040	1,178	42	27.7		848 (72.0%)	122 (10.4%)	86 (7.3%)	27 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	95 (8.1%)								63.4	75	155	56		370035303291
212	Pinecrest High	Public	9-12	250 Voit Gilmore Lane	Southern Pines	28387	Moore County	Moore County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 692-6554	2,290	83	27.6	34.9%	1,367 (59.7%)	378 (16.5%)	322 (14.1%)	39 (1.7%)	23 (1.0%)	1 (0.0%)	160 (7.0%)	$7,767			$635			$7,132	63	62.7	218	6		370309001321
213	Myers Park High School	Public, Magnet	9-12	2400 Colony Rd	Charlotte	28209	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-5800	3,225	154	20.9	34.5%	1,658 (51.4%)	730 (22.6%)	640 (19.8%)	88 (2.7%)	5 (0.2%)	3 (0.1%)	101 (3.1%)	$7,885			$340			$7,545	62.8	69.2	186	27		370297001244
214	Tuscola High	Public	9-12	564 Tuscola School Rd	Waynesville	28786	Haywood County	Haywood County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 456-2408	873	43	20.3	99.7%	725 (83.0%)	16 (1.8%)	93 (10.7%)	7 (0.8%)	5 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	25 (2.9%)	$9,911			$860			$9,050	62.6	75.2	154	60		370204000910
215	Piedmont High	Public	9-12	3006 Sikes Mill Road	Monroe	28110	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-3170	1,270	67	18.8	38.3%	822 (64.7%)	102 (8.0%)	291 (22.9%)	27 (2.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (2.1%)	$8,326			$606			$7,720	62.6	62.9	216	1		370462001799
216	Pamlico County High	Public	9-12	601 Main Street	Bayboro	28515	Pamlico County	Pamlico County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 745-3151	423	26	16.4	99.3%	242 (57.2%)	80 (18.9%)	47 (11.1%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	49 (11.6%)	$14,230			$961			$13,270	62.4	54	272	56		370351001450
217	North Wilkes High School	Public	9-12	2986 Traphill Rd	Hays	28635	Wilkes County	Wilkes County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 903-4040	578	40	14.4	97.9%	457 (79.1%)	6 (1.0%)	92 (15.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (3.8%)	$9,880			$1,015			$8,865	62.3	71.1	174	43		370495001981
218	Cary High	Public	9-12	638 Walnut St	Cary	27511	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 460-3549	2,044	117	17.4	38.6%	879 (43.0%)	352 (17.2%)	597 (29.2%)	114 (5.6%)	6 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	94 (4.6%)	$8,602			$403			$8,198	62.1	50.5	296	78		370472001844
219	Middle Creek High	Public	9-12	123 Middle Creek Park Avenue	Apex	27539	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 773-3838	1,587	87	18.2	29.6%	925 (58.3%)	198 (12.5%)	360 (22.7%)	44 (2.8%)	4 (0.3%)	4 (0.3%)	52 (3.3%)	$8,441			$392			$8,048	62	59.3	239	20		370472002653
220	Chase High School	Public	9-12	1603 Chase High Rd	Forest City	28043	Rutherford County	Rutherford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 245-5883	596	29	20.7	98.7%	431 (72.3%)	37 (6.2%)	88 (14.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (6.4%)	$10,771			$989			$9,782	62	49.1	304	84		370408001636

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.