Best Elementary Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina elementary 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 EOG 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 1490)	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	Peachtree Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	30 Upper Peachtree Road	Murphy	28906	Cherokee County	Cherokee County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 837-2479	166	14	11.6	97.6%	142 (85.5%)	2 (1.2%)	12 (7.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.2%)	$14,802			$1,757			$13,045	81.5	71.2	384	153		370078000324
232	Town Creek Elementary	Public	K-4	6330 Lake Park Dr SE	Winnabow	28479	Brunswick County	Brunswick County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 756-5350	702	47	14.9	99.3%	430 (61.3%)	96 (13.7%)	95 (13.5%)	10 (1.4%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.6%)	64 (9.1%)	$10,485			$1,345			$9,140	81.2	87.2	149	83		370042003134
233	Oakwood Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	366 4th Street NW	Hickory	28601	Catawba County	Hickory City Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 322-1340	336	20	16.9	99.1%	188 (56.0%)	59 (17.6%)	52 (15.5%)	10 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (8.0%)	$8,723			$1,106			$7,618	81.1	80.5	236	3		370219000948
234	River Park Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	240 St. Mary's Road	Hillsborough	27278	Orange County	Orange County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 732-9326	523	36	14.4	37.5%	309 (59.1%)	27 (5.2%)	131 (25.0%)	10 (1.9%)	6 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (7.6%)	$10,994			$454			$10,540	81	70.7	390	156		370348001442
235	Richland Creek Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	840 Wallridge Drive	Wake Forest	27587	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 554-6333	558	36	15.5	42.3%	257 (46.1%)	127 (22.8%)	94 (16.8%)	40 (7.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	38 (6.8%)	$10,554			$524			$10,030	80.9	83.3	197	38		370472003238
236	Hemby Bridge Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	6701 Indian Trl-Fairview Rd	Indian Trail	28079	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-6352	491	32	15.3	35.0%	276 (56.2%)	50 (10.2%)	75 (15.3%)	67 (13.6%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.9%)	$9,610			$803			$8,807	80.8	84.5	184	52		370462001793
237	Pearsontown Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	4915 Barbee Road	Durham	27713	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 560-3964	765	56	13.5	99.6%	276 (36.1%)	272 (35.6%)	112 (14.6%)	19 (2.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	85 (11.1%)	$11,050			$680			$10,370	80.8	88.1	139	98		370126000548
238	Pathways Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	431 Strouds Creek Road	Hillsborough	27278	Orange County	Orange County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 732-9136	371	27	13.7	54.4%	204 (55.0%)	66 (17.8%)	57 (15.4%)	6 (1.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (10.0%)	$14,700			$1,138			$13,561	80.8	52	715	477		370348002536
239	Vance Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2090 Ross Mill Road	Henderson	27537	Vance County	Vance Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 431-0440	956	65	14.6		739 (77.3%)	92 (9.6%)	66 (6.9%)	20 (2.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (4.0%)								80.7	91.1	99	140		370009602486
240	Gardners Elementary	Public	K-5	5404 NC 42 Hwy E	Elm City	27822	Wilson County	Wilson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 399-7920	280	18	15.5	98.2%	99 (35.4%)	62 (22.1%)	102 (36.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (6.1%)	$10,906			$1,587			$9,319	80.5	86.3	161	79		370502001999

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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 EOG Mathematics, EOG Reading, EOG Science 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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.