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
311	Pioneer Springs Community School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	9232 Bob Beatty Rd.	Charlotte	28269	Mecklenburg County	Pioneer Springs Community School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 494-0777	558	47	11.8		336 (60.2%)	70 (12.5%)	92 (16.5%)	16 (2.9%)	6 (1.1%)	1 (0.2%)	37 (6.6%)								48.8	58.4	243	68		370035903337
312	Gaston Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Magnet, Alternative	K-12	1 Learning Place	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	Yes	Yes	No	(704) 836-9125	283	21	13.7	57.6%	152 (53.7%)	82 (29.0%)	28 (9.9%)	5 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (5.7%)	$5,154			$290			$4,864	48.7	60	233	79		370162003433
313	Franklin High	Public	9-12	100 Panther Drive	Franklin	28734	Macon County	Macon County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 524-6467	996	47	21.2	46.3%	685 (68.8%)	8 (0.8%)	260 (26.1%)	6 (0.6%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (3.4%)	$9,457			$662			$8,795	48.6	52.7	283	30		370276001138
314	Hyde Academy	Public	9-12	20392 Hwy US 264	Swanquarter	27885	Hyde County	Hyde County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 926-0221	47			93.6%	18 (38.3%)	4 (8.5%)	25 (53.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,313			$1,946			$19,367	48.4	59.3	237	77		370228003025
315	North Duplin Junior Senior High	Public	7-12	1388 West NC 403 Highway	Mount Olive	28365	Duplin County	Duplin County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 658-3051	609	38	16	99.5%	199 (32.7%)	50 (8.2%)	335 (55.0%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (2.6%)	$9,828			$420			$9,408	48.2	36.5	397	82		370120000500
316	Orange High	Public	9-12	500 Orange High Rd	Hillsborough	27278	Orange County	Orange County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 732-6133	1,161	59	19.6	46.3%	596 (51.3%)	193 (16.6%)	285 (24.5%)	15 (1.3%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	70 (6.0%)	$9,879			$469			$9,410	48	50.7	294	22		370348001447
317	South Garner High	Public	9-12	8228 Hebron Church Rd	Garner	27529	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 694-7711	1,835	105	17.4	61.5%	230 (12.5%)	872 (47.5%)	620 (33.8%)	54 (2.9%)	2 (0.1%)	5 (0.3%)	52 (2.8%)	$10,505			$368			$10,137	47.9	49	305	12		370472003472
318	Mountain Heritage High	Public	9-12	333 Mtn Heritage HS Road	Burnsville	28714	Yancey County	Yancey County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 682-6103	642	47	13.6	98.9%	503 (78.3%)	1 (0.2%)	128 (19.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.2%)	$11,483			$884			$10,599	47.8	62.9	217	101		370507002030
319	Princeton High	Public	6-12	101 Dr Donnie H Jones Jr Blvd	Princeton	27569	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 936-5011	988	52	19.1	99.2%	626 (63.4%)	90 (9.1%)	223 (22.6%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (4.6%)	$9,669			$525			$9,144	47.8	48.5	307	12		370237001023
320	Maiden High	Public	9-12	600 West Main Street	Maiden	28650	Catawba County	Catawba County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 428-8197	852	41	20.7	49.1%	528 (62.0%)	54 (6.3%)	150 (17.6%)	57 (6.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (7.4%)	$9,016			$684			$8,333	47.8	59.8	235	85		370069000285

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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

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.