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
241	North Davidson High	Public	9-12	7227 Old US Hwy 52	Lexington	27295	Davidson County	Davidson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 731-8431	935	53	17.7	41.8%	695 (74.3%)	61 (6.5%)	114 (12.2%)	25 (2.7%)	5 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (3.7%)	$8,214			$565			$7,650	58.2	60.8	229	12		370114000475
242	West Lincoln High	Public	9-12	172 Shoal Rd	Lincolnton	28092	Lincoln County	Lincoln County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 736-9453	731	45	16.1	99.3%	612 (83.7%)	9 (1.2%)	78 (10.7%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (3.7%)	$8,213			$515			$7,699	58.1	48.8	306	64		370268001124
243	Saint Stephens High	Public	9-12	3205 34th Street Drive NE	Hickory	28601	Catawba County	Catawba County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 256-9841	1,268	57	22	99.8%	560 (44.2%)	109 (8.6%)	442 (34.9%)	62 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	95 (7.5%)	$8,502			$740			$7,761	58	50.2	297	54		370069000290
244	Mountain Island Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	13440 Lucia Riverbend Highway	Mount Holly	28120	Gaston County	Mountain Island Charter	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 827-8840	1,782	95	18.7	27.4%	923 (51.8%)	503 (28.2%)	175 (9.8%)	31 (1.7%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	148 (8.3%)								58	63.5	213	31		370031703184
245	Hayesville High	Public	9-12	205 Yellow Jacket Drive	Hayesville	28904	Clay County	Clay County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 389-6532	366	28	13	99.2%	310 (84.7%)	2 (0.5%)	39 (10.7%)	2 (0.5%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	9 (2.5%)	$14,651			$1,180			$13,471	57.9	56.4	251	6		370087000333
246	Person Early College Innovation & Leadership	Public	9-12	1715 College Dr	Roxboro	27573	Person County	Person County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 322-2275	142	2	71.3	97.9%	80 (56.3%)	29 (20.4%)	24 (16.9%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.9%)	$6,717			$267			$6,450	57.8	64.2	210	36		370363003394
247	Lake Lure Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1058 Island Creek Rd.	Lake Lure	28746	Rutherford County	Lake Lure Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 625-9292	481	27	17.6		394 (81.9%)	17 (3.5%)	27 (5.6%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	37 (7.7%)								57.7	72.7	166	81		370031803187
248	Charles B Aycock High	Public	9-12	5460 US 117 North	Pikeville	27863	Wayne County	Wayne County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 242-3400	1,138	43	26.5	98.7%	575 (50.5%)	289 (25.4%)	184 (16.2%)	21 (1.8%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	63 (5.5%)	$8,936			$829			$8,107	57.5	46.5	319	71		370488001948
249	West Carteret High	Public	8-12	4700 Country Club Rd	Morehead City	28557	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 726-1176	1,095	47	23.1	99.0%	770 (70.3%)	75 (6.8%)	150 (13.7%)	13 (1.2%)	3 (0.3%)	10 (0.9%)	74 (6.8%)	$10,075			$730			$9,345	57.3	52.6	284	35		370063000259
250	Fuquay-Varina High	Public	9-12	201 Bengal Blvd	Fuquay Varina	27526	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 557-2511	1,858	98	18.9	25.1%	1,073 (57.8%)	276 (14.9%)	313 (16.8%)	105 (5.7%)	6 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	83 (4.5%)	$8,243			$402			$7,841	57.2	64.7	205	45		370472001861

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.