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
181	Bandys High	Public	9-12	5040 E Bandys Road	Catawba	28609	Catawba County	Catawba County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 241-1471	935	40	23.1	40.5%	696 (74.4%)	42 (4.5%)	116 (12.4%)	17 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (6.8%)	$8,843			$732			$8,111	69.2	68.4	192	11		370069000274
182	Lake Norman High	Public	9-12	186 Doolie Road	Mooresville	28117	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 799-8555	1,905	84	22.7	19.8%	1,358 (71.3%)	132 (6.9%)	230 (12.1%)	78 (4.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	106 (5.6%)	$6,712			$326			$6,386	69.1	70.1	178	4		370231002633
183	West Stokes High School	Public	9-12	1400 Priddy Road	King	27021	Stokes County	Stokes County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 983-2099	799	51	15.6	44.7%	689 (86.2%)	11 (1.4%)	62 (7.8%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (4.4%)	$9,546			$707			$8,839	69.1	68.4	191	8		370438002485
184	West Stanly High	Public	9-12	306 East Red Cross Road	Oakboro	28129	Stanly County	Stanly County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 961-5200	800	45	17.8	99.6%	580 (72.5%)	49 (6.1%)	113 (14.1%)	10 (1.3%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	44 (5.5%)	$8,527			$469			$8,058	68.3	46	323	139		370432001720
185	Needham Broughton High	Public, Magnet	9-12	723 Saint Marys St	Raleigh	27605	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 856-7810	2,153	118	18.2	28.1%	1,259 (58.5%)	423 (19.6%)	342 (15.9%)	52 (2.4%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.0%)	74 (3.4%)	$9,028			$494			$8,535	68	56.2	253	68		370472001839
186	Summit Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	370 Mitten Lane	Cashiers	28717	Jackson County	Summit Charter	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 743-5755	315	23	13.7		234 (74.3%)	1 (0.3%)	65 (20.6%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.8%)								67.4	57.6	246	60		370002902321
187	Dixon High	Public	9-12	160 Dixon School Rd	Holly Ridge	28445	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 347-2958	1,085	57	18.8	30.9%	785 (72.4%)	41 (3.8%)	179 (16.5%)	9 (0.8%)	5 (0.5%)	2 (0.2%)	64 (5.9%)	$9,119			$727			$8,392	67.1	55.8	258	71		370345001421
188	Swansboro High	Public	9-12	161 Queens Creek Rd	Swansboro	28584	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 326-4300	1,232	65	18.8	36.7%	851 (69.1%)	71 (5.8%)	170 (13.8%)	11 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.3%)	125 (10.1%)	$9,312			$763			$8,549	67.1	74.1	158	30		370345001434
189	Porter Ridge High School	Public	9-12	2839 Ridge Road	Indian Trail	28079	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 292-7662	1,809	93	19.4	39.4%	869 (48.0%)	280 (15.5%)	492 (27.2%)	64 (3.5%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	101 (5.6%)	$7,458			$458			$7,000	67	61.8	222	33		370462002799
190	Union Pines High	Public	9-12	1981 Union Church Rd	Cameron	28326	Moore County	Moore County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 947-5511	1,462	59	24.8	31.7%	1,027 (70.2%)	116 (7.9%)	200 (13.7%)	10 (0.7%)	9 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	99 (6.8%)	$8,499			$727			$7,773	66.8	67.3	196	6		370309001328

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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:

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

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.