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
231	Wakefield High	Public	9-12	2200 Wakefield Pines Drive	Raleigh	27614	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 562-3600	2,065	106	19.5	36.1%	913 (44.2%)	577 (27.9%)	399 (19.3%)	93 (4.5%)	6 (0.3%)	6 (0.3%)	71 (3.4%)	$8,642			$337			$8,306	59.4	63.9	211	20		370472002560
232	Millbrook High	Public, Magnet	9-12	2201 Spring Forest Rd	Raleigh	27615	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 850-8787	2,498	137	18.2	33.3%	1,188 (47.6%)	572 (22.9%)	552 (22.1%)	85 (3.4%)	6 (0.2%)	4 (0.2%)	91 (3.6%)	$8,648			$382			$8,265	59.3	45.3	330	98		370472001879
233	Reynolds High	Public	9-12	One Rocket Drive	Asheville	28803	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 298-2500	1,169	65	17.9	99.0%	768 (65.7%)	133 (11.4%)	171 (14.6%)	17 (1.5%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	75 (6.4%)	$9,315			$663			$8,652	59.3	61.7	223	10		370045000133
234	Bear Grass Charter School	Public, Charter	6-12	6344 E Bear Grass Rd	Williamston	27982	Martin County	Bear Grass Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 789-1010	445	31	14.3		399 (89.7%)	17 (3.8%)	14 (3.1%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.5%)								59.1	58.8	242	8		370032203260
235	Draughn High School	Public	9-12	709 Lovelady Road NE	Valdese	28690	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 879-4200	661	24	27.3	98.2%	495 (74.9%)	13 (2.0%)	69 (10.4%)	43 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.8%)	36 (5.4%)	$9,112			$776			$8,336	59	71.4	172	63		370048002836
236	Yadkin Valley Regional Career Academy	Public	9-12	2065 E. Holly Grove Road	Lexington	27292	Davidson County	Davidson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 242-5820	167	10	16.8	98.2%	116 (69.5%)	12 (7.2%)	25 (15.0%)	7 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.2%)	$11,324			$132			$11,192	58.8	68.7	189	47		370114003257
237	Wilson Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2755 Tilghman Rd N	Wilson	27896	Wilson County	Wilson Preparatory Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 294-2533	725	41	17.6	98.6%	39 (5.4%)	566 (78.1%)	65 (9.0%)	5 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (6.8%)								58.3	33.4	419	182		370037903323
238	North Buncombe High	Public	9-12	890 Clarks Chapel Road	Weaverville	28787	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 645-4221	896	54	16.5	99.0%	689 (76.9%)	9 (1.0%)	153 (17.1%)	7 (0.8%)	5 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	31 (3.5%)	$9,935			$695			$9,241	58.3	61.2	226	12		370045000156
239	Northwood High	Public	9-12	310 Northwood High School Road	Pittsboro	27312	Chatham County	Chatham County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 542-4181	634	49	12.9	99.5%	387 (61.0%)	100 (15.8%)	94 (14.8%)	6 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	43 (6.8%)	$9,555			$397			$9,159	58.2	59.3	238	1		370075000313
240	Willow Spring High	Public	9-12	1704 Old Honeycutt Rd	Fuquay Varina	27526	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-8030	2,223	110	20.2	28.7%	1,249 (56.2%)	319 (14.3%)	465 (20.9%)	99 (4.5%)	5 (0.2%)	6 (0.3%)	80 (3.6%)								58.2	51.6	289	49		370472003570

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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

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.