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Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 28546

New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its North Carolina rankings with newly released test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

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At a glance

Schools

2,955

Students

Top rankedCarolina Forest Elementary416^th of 1,492 North Carolina elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Stateside Elementary up 183 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Hunters Creek Elementary 13 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

3★

1★

See the top-ranked North Carolina schools →

Summary:

Zip code 28546 in Jacksonville, NC is home to five elementary schools serving kindergarten through 5th grade — Carolina Forest Elementary, Stateside Elementary, Morton Elementary, Jacksonville Commons Elementary, and Hunters Creek Elementary — which together serve roughly 2,955 students in the Onslow County Schools district, a mid-range district ranked 136th out of 246 in North Carolina with a 2-star rating. These five schools do not tell a single story, however, as they split clearly into two performance clusters that have remained fairly stable over the past three years.

The higher-performing cluster is led by Carolina Forest Elementary, which ranks #416 in the state (72nd percentile, 4 stars), posts the highest average End-of-Grade (EOG) proficiency in the group at about 69%, and has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (13.4%) and the lowest share of low-income students (47.9% eligible for free or reduced-price lunch). Stateside Elementary is the most encouraging story, climbing from the 34th percentile in 2023-24 to the 67th percentile (#494) by 2025-26, with average EOG proficiency jumping roughly eight points in one year. Morton Elementary remains solid but is slipping, falling from a 4-star school in 2023-24 to a 3-star school today, and its 5th grade reading proficiency dropped sharply from 59.6% to 48.8%. At the bottom, Jacksonville Commons Elementary and Hunters Creek Elementary both carry 1-star ratings and rank near the 20th percentile, with high poverty (roughly 70-72% eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), high chronic absenteeism (23.0% and 26.7%), and average EOG proficiency around 46-47%.

Across the zip code, chronic absenteeism tracks closely with low academic performance. Higher spending also does not guarantee stronger results: Jacksonville Commons spends the most per student ($10,168) yet is one of the lowest-ranked schools, while Carolina Forest spends the least ($8,201) and performs best. Zip-wide averages run close to the district average in most subjects but fall about 10 points behind the state average in 5th grade math, and the biggest concerns for the area are the high poverty, absenteeism, and low proficiency concentrated at the two bottom-tier schools.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				EOG Mathematics (2026)			EOG Reading (2026)			EOG Science (2026)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOG Mathematics 3rd Grade	EOG Mathematics 4th Grade	EOG Mathematics 5th Grade	EOG Reading 3rd Grade	EOG Reading 4th Grade	EOG Reading 5th Grade	EOG Science 5th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Morton Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	485 Old 30 Road	Jacksonville	28546	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 353-0930	715	46	15.6	59.9%	330 (46.2%)	137 (19.2%)	154 (21.5%)	5 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	6 (0.8%)	81 (11.3%)	58.3	611^th of 1492 public elementary schools	59.0%		58.8	584^th of 1490 public elementary schools	60.8%	27	65.1	69.7	57.1	62.8	66.3	48.8	69.0	$8,688	$926	$7,762
Jacksonville Commons Elementary	Public	K-5	1121 Commons Drive North	Jacksonville	28546	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 347-1056	506	37	13.6	69.8%	165 (32.6%)	140 (27.7%)	103 (20.4%)	11 (2.2%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	83 (16.4%)	26	1169^th of 1492 public elementary schools	21.6%		30.7	1078^th of 1490 public elementary schools	27.7%	91	43.8	59.1	37.3	40.0	47.7	49.3	52.0	$10,168	$1,161	$9,007
Hunters Creek Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	3450 Hunters Trail	Jacksonville	28546	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 353-4443	585	45	13.0	71.8%	189 (32.3%)	130 (22.2%)	176 (30.1%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	86 (14.7%)	24.4	1197^th of 1492 public elementary schools	19.8%		37.7	954^th of 1490 public elementary schools	36.0%	243	41.1	36.3	39.8	44.2	53.8	51.1	55.7	$9,669	$1,315	$8,354
Carolina Forest Elementary	Public	K-5	141 Carolina Forest Boulevard	Jacksonville	28546	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 346-1778	570	39	14.6	47.9%	207 (36.3%)	140 (24.6%)	118 (20.7%)	32 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.2%)	66 (11.6%)	70	416^th of 1492 public elementary schools	72.1%		73	344^th of 1490 public elementary schools	76.9%	72	82.1	54.1	71.3	75.0	63.3	60.0	77.5	$8,201	$658	$7,543
Stateside Elementary	Public	K-5	132 Stateside Blvd	Jacksonville	28546	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 478-3460	579	38	15.1	47.8%	299 (51.6%)	98 (16.9%)	123 (21.2%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	54 (9.3%)	65.8	494^th of 1492 public elementary schools	66.9%		53.8	677^th of 1490 public elementary schools	54.6%	183	71.0	70.2	58.9	66.4	61.7	57.9	75.8	$9,013	$862	$8,151

Cities Near Zip Code 28546

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Jacksonville	0.25 mi	26	311^th
Maysville	9.49 mi	3	180^th
Richlands	11.35 mi	4	270^th
Hubert	12.8 mi	1	85^th
Swansboro	13.87 mi	4	96^th

See the top NC North Carolina cities

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.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.