Best Middle Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina middle 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 773)	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
221	Jacobs Fork Middle	Public	7-8	3431 Plateau Road	Newton	28658	Catawba County	Catawba County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 462-1827	482	30	16.3	52.9%	327 (67.8%)	28 (5.8%)	60 (12.4%)	32 (6.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (7.3%)	$8,548			$885			$7,663	68	70.3	209	12		370069001364
222	Hiwassee Dam Middle	Public	6-8	337 Blue Eagle Circle	Murphy	28906	Cherokee County	Cherokee County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 644-5115	122	9	13.5	96.7%	107 (87.7%)	1 (0.8%)	8 (6.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.1%)	$13,929			$1,973			$11,956	67.9	77.2	150	72		370078000319
223	East Lincoln Middle	Public	6-8	4137 Hwy 73	Iron Station	28080	Lincoln County	Lincoln County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 732-0761	738	45	16.2	37.8%	532 (72.1%)	53 (7.2%)	90 (12.2%)	7 (0.9%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (7.0%)	$7,305			$426			$6,879	67.9	73.8	181	42		370268001111
224	ArtSpace Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	2030 US Hwy 70	Swannanoa	28778	Buncombe County	ArtSpace Charter	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 298-2787	402	31	12.7		339 (84.3%)	3 (0.7%)	28 (7.0%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.2%)								67.6	51.1	384	160		370011702569
225	New Century International Middle	Public	6-8	7455 Century Circle	Fayetteville	28306	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 487-2001	362	24	15	97.2%	77 (21.3%)	169 (46.7%)	63 (17.4%)	15 (4.1%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	36 (9.9%)	$9,852			$814			$9,038	67.5	63.2	264	39		370001103248
226	East Wilkes Middle School	Public	6-8	2202 Macedonia Church Road	Ronda	28670	Wilkes County	Wilkes County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 651-4300	346	25	13.6	99.1%	285 (82.4%)	2 (0.6%)	39 (11.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (5.8%)	$9,876			$1,000			$8,876	67.5	53.3	356	130		370495002655
227	Cranberry Middle	Public	6-8	6230 North US Highway 19E	Elk Park	28622	Avery County	Avery County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 733-2932	202	18	11.3	96.0%	185 (91.6%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.5%)	$11,973			$1,132			$10,841	67.4	70.5	205	22		370030001723
228	Beaufort Middle	Public	6-8	100 Carraway Dr	Beaufort	28516	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 728-4520	260	22	12	98.8%	178 (68.5%)	26 (10.0%)	20 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	35 (13.5%)	$10,973			$814			$10,160	67.3	62.9	266	38		370063000251
229	Connect Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	272 Archie Rd	West End	27376	Moore County	Moore County Schools	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(910) 673-2004	283	14	20.6	34.6%	203 (71.7%)	35 (12.4%)	21 (7.4%)	3 (1.1%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (6.7%)								67.1	74.1	179	50		370309003571
230	Polk County Middle School	Public	6-8	321 Wolverine Trail	Mill Spring	28756	Polk County	Polk County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 894-2215	454	41	11.1	99.3%	339 (74.7%)	19 (4.2%)	64 (14.1%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (6.4%)	$11,233			$636			$10,597	67	73.9	180	50		370372002790

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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 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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.